MONTREAL - Vesa Toskala was called out by Toronto general manager Brian Burke and coach Ron Wilson last week but nobody could fault the goaltender's performance against the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night.
Toskala made 31 saves, including 26 in the final two periods as the Maple Leafs beat the Canadiens, 5-2.
"He made some saves but I'd rather talk about our game," said captain Saku Koivu. "We have to do a better job of getting people in front of him, getting the puck in deep. They were just hungrier than we were tonight."
While Toskala was solid, Montreal goaltender Carey Price was distraught after the game. He faced 41 shots and was beaten high on the glove side three times as he lost for the sixth time in eight starts since he returned to action from an ankle injury.
But teammate Christopher Higgins said it would be a mistake to heap all the blame on the goaltender, who was named as the last-minute starter after Jaroslav Halak came down with the flu.
"We gave them a lot of odd-man rushes," said Higgins. "We didn't give (Price) a lot of help."
Head coach Guy Carbonneau didn't let the goaltender off the hook.
"We're not doing anything right," said Carbonneau, whose team is clinging to fourth place in the Eastern Conference after losing seven of its last nine games. "We're having trouble scoring goals and it seems that whenever we make a mistake, the puck's in our net."
When asked what he didn't like about Price's performance, Carbonneau said: "Where do you want me to start? He let in five goals."
Price kept the score close through the first two periods but the Leafs blew the game open in the third when Jason Blake scored twice and Jeff Finger restored the Leafs' three-goal lead after Tom Kostopoulos closed the gap to 4-2.
The Canadiens had one of their trademark slow starts and were outshot 18-5 in the first period. Price let a shot by Luke Schenn through his pads at 14:37 but he was the reason the Leafs were held to a single goal.
The Schenn goal came 20 seconds after referee Eric Furlatt disallowed an apparent Toronto goal, ruling that Nikolai Kulemin used a high stick to bat home the rebound of Pavel Kubina's shot. For the rookie Schenn, it was his first NHL goal.
The Canadiens did have a couple of chances in the first period but Francis Bouillon hit the crossbar when he had an open net and Kostopoulos hit a post.
"If Francis scores, we go ahead 1-0 and maybe it's different game," said Carbonneau.
Montreal picked up the pace in the second period and Matt D'Agostini tied the score while the Canadiens were enjoying a two-man advantage at the 51-second mark. Andrei Markov set up the play when he faked a shot and then passed to D'Agostini at the side of the net.
Kulemin restored the Leafs lead when he beat Price with a 20-footer to the glove side at 2:37 and the remainder of the period belonged to Toskala. He stopped Christopher Higgins on a breakaway and deflected another Higgins shot from close range over the crossbar.
The much-anticipated battle between Belarusians Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski never materialized but Georges Laraque scored a decisive win over Brad May in a first-period scuffle.
The Canadiens will open a six-game road swing Monday in Calgary. They will visit Edmonton, Colorado, Vancouver, Washington and Pittsburgh before returning to the Bell Centre to play the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 21.
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