Leafs win thanks to dull Razor

DENVER-This is the Mile High City; supposedly for the elevation, not the mountain of goals scored here last night.

In a last-shot-wins goaltenders' battle between Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft, Toskala's predecessor in the Toronto net, the Maple Leafs pulled a 7-4 win out of the thin air to snap a four-game losing streak.

Toronto got offence from the unlikeliest of sources - their first and second lines - as several of the Leafs broke out of lengthy slumps.

Nik Antropov scored his first goal in 17 games, Mikhail Grabovski potted his first in a dozen, defenceman Jeff Finger, who used to toil here in the Rockies before striking gold in Toronto, had his first in 18, while Matt Stajan found mesh for the first time in eight games.

Who knew all it would take is Raycroft's presence (or should that be presents) to cure Toronto's scoring woes?

Actually it probably wasn't a huge surprise to Leafs' fans watching on television. They'd seen him swim around his crease like this on many nights in Toronto.

"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," said the beleaguered goaltender afterwards.

It was a tough night for the good-natured netminder who had actually been playing rather well here - at least up until last night. Toskala wasn't exactly sharp at the other end but this was one of those rare nights when the Leafs' triggermen made his mistakes less significant.

The winner was scored by Toronto's hottest shooter as Jason Blake buried his sixth in the last six games to make it 5-4 early in the third.

"He's been tremendous the last couple of months," said Leaf coach Ron Wilson. "He goes to the net hard. He's killing penalties, on the power play. He's easily been our best player and he's supposed to be."

Dominic Moore had Toronto's other two, giving him a career-high 11 on the season.

The Leafs got a break early in the third when it appeared Milan Hejduk had finished off a hat trick to tie the game at 5-5. The goal was waved off when referee Don Koharski called Ryan Smyth for goaltender interference but replays showed that Toronto defender Luke Schenn guided Smyth into Toskala.

"It was Ryan Smyth and he's known for doing that. He's got a reputation and the referee was watching," said Wilson. "Yeah, Luke bumped him a little bit but (Smyth) had his stick right between the goalie's legs. It's a penalty."

Raycroft, reinventing himself here after being bought out by the Leafs, was initially looking forward to this reunion.

"You want to do well against your former team. It's just human nature," he said before the game, a likely understatement given that Raycroft was often the butt of jokes as his time wound down in Toronto.

But the snickers undoubtedly started again when the first shot he faced went in. That goal was a huge relief for Antropov who, after the puck went in, looked skyward and muttered, likely thanking the heavens that Colorado started Raycroft.

"It helped set the tone," said Antropov, who came up empty despite eights shots Tuesday against Minnesota. "I haven't scored for 16 games. I only got one shot today and it was a good one."

The game see-sawed back and forth and Finger said it wasn't as fun as it looked as it got confusing even for the players.

"During the game, it's hard to remember who has the lead and what the score is after that many goals," he said.

Ex-Leaf Darcy Tucker played 15 minutes but did not pick up a point against his former team.