Leafs pluck Penguins with youthful exuberance

That is how most opposing defencemen view trying to stop Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins forwards are the two top scorers in the National Hockey League, with 75 and 68 points, respectively.

So when Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson told Luke Schenn that he would be matching up against the offensive snipers, no one would have blamed the rookie if he chose to fake an illness or injury.

Not Schenn.

As he has done so many times already in his young NHL career, the teenager rose to the challenge and had what may have been the best games in a 5-4 win against the Penguins on Saturday.

"How many teams would assign a 19-year-old to cover basically the two best forwards in the game?" Wilson asked in his post-game news conference. "He ended up being the difference in the game."

Indeed, Schenn was named the game's first star.

The bruising defenceman had five hits - including one where he nearly sent Malkin into the Penguins' bench - showed offensive flair by setting-up a goal, and earned the sold-out crowd's admiration by winning a fight against the much-smaller Tyler Kennedy.

Most importantly, he finished the game with an even plus-minus rating.

"The play he made that put us ahead again, obviously the hit, the fight, just the overall physicality," said Wilson. "For a 19-year-old kid to dominate the game physically is unbelievable."

For Schenn, it was just another building block in what has been a breakout rookie season.

"They gave me the opportunity to play against Crosby and Malkin," said Schenn. "You always look forward to challenges like that. You want to step up and at the end of the night you want to say that you did a good job. So I looked forward to this game from the start."

The win, which was Toronto's second consecutive, snapped a four-game losing streak at Air Canada Centre.

From the start, the Leafs seemed more energized than the Penguins. Perhaps it was because Pittsburgh had lost 4-3 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils the night before. Or maybe it was because prior to Saturday's game, the franchise honoured past captain Doug Gilmour by raising his No. 93 to the rafters.

The teams were tied 1-1 - Ian White scored for Toronto and Miroslav Satan for Pittsburgh - after the first period. But in the second, Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky put the Leafs ahead 3-1.

It was midway through the middle frame when Schenn caught the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Malkin with his head down. Shortly after the hit, a scrum developed in front of the Penguins' bench. That was when Tyler Kennedy jumped onto the ice and challenged Schenn to a fight.

"I was on my way to the bench and he bumped me and said pretty much, 'you don't touch our players like that,' " Schenn recalled. "One thing led to another and we dropped out mitts."

What bothered Wilson was that Kennedy left the bench to instigate the fight.

According to the NHL rules, that is cause for a game-misconduct penalty. Instead, Kennedy was allowed to stay in the game, and ended up scoring in the third.

"We'll see what their investigation shows," said Wilson. "He ended up scoring, but it's a tough situation for the referees when everybody is going by the bench. But (general manager Brian Burke) called the league and they're investigating."

Crosby and Malkin, as well as Toronto's Matt Stajan, scored in the third. With the game tied 4-4, Jason Blake ripped a wrist shot past goaltender Mathieu Garon for his team-leading 17th of the season.

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.

Wild three minutes nets Leafs a loss

ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the Toronto Maple Leafs, a six-day layoff during the National Hockey League all-star break served only as a brief respite from losing.

As if no time had passed since last Wednesday, the Leafs stumbled into the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night and got blasted, 6-1, by the Minnesota Wild.

Not even the presence of rookie goalie Justin Pogge - blazing-hot recently with the minor-league Toronto Marlies - could reverse a trend that has seen the Maple Leafs drop 12-of-15 games since Dec. 23.

A 3-10-2 record in that span has Toronto free-falling to the depths of the overall standings and moving increasingly closer to an anticipated roster upheaval by the March 4 NHL trade deadline.

The locals were scrambling to determine the last time the offensively challenged Wild erupted for three goals in a 2:57 span as they did in the second period to bury the Leafs.
Known for their staunch adherence to goal prevention under coach Jacques Lemaire, the Wild suddenly resembled the Montreal Canadiens of Lemaire's playing days - the dynamic, four-time Stanley Cup champions of the late-1970s.

And it took minimal effort, as the visitors completely fell apart in front of Pogge during the middle period.

After Jason Blake briefly tied the score 1-1 with his 15th goal of the season - equalling his disappointing total in 82 games last year - the Wild began to toy with the disorganized Maple Leafs.

They exploited numerous breakdowns in defensive coverage to score four goals in a period for the first time in 2008-09. But, the quick three-goal eruption - courtesy of Marc-Andre Bergeron, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Andrew Brunette - all but assured a fourth consecutive defeat for the Maple Leafs by the time 7:47 had elapsed in the second period.

Former Leaf Owen Nolan scored his 12th goal of the season for Minnesota in the final period.

For now, Pogge will return to the Marlies, perhaps with a sigh of relief. Though he was not at all sharp against the Wild - Cal Clutterbuck beat him with a routine shot to the short side and Bouchard completely fooled him on a breakaway - the 22-year-old had little chance in his second NHL start.

Another brutal defensive performance by his teammates offset a 6-2 triumph for Pogge in his big-league debut, Dec. 22 at Atlanta.

With the 22-year-old scheduled to see more action in the NHL as the season progresses, the future of veteran Curtis Joseph becomes increasingly muddled.

Joseph - 1-5-1 with a 3.89 GAA this season - did not dress Tuesday night, has not played since the third period of a 6-2 loss in Montreal on Jan. 8, and has not started since losing 4-1 to Buffalo on New Year's night.

"The Leafs told me last summer I would play a limited number of games and asked if I wanted the job," Joseph recalled. "Of course, I said yes. With this team, you quickly become a mentor to younger players - not just goalies. I'm still enjoying the experience."

Forward Nik Antropov's dreadful slump continued - his scoring famine reaching 16 games - but he had a pair of dandy opportunities in the first period as he was twice rebuffed on clear breakaways by Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom.

Defenceman Mike Van Ryn returned to the Leafs' lineup for the first time since Dec. 18, when he suffered his second concussion of the season at Boston. He missed 16 consecutive games and has played in only four of the past 33 matches. Still recovering from shoulder injuries are defenceman Jeff Finger and forward Jeremy Williams.

The Leafs now move on to Denver for a meeting with the Colorado Avalanche on_Thursday night, and a first encounter with ex-teammates Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft.

Maple Leafs' apprentice plan for Pogge

The assessment of goaltender Justin Pogge's future with the Maple Leafs is about to begin in earnest.

Pogge, long viewed as Toronto's top prospect, was called up from the Marlies yesterday. He will start tonight when the Leafs play the Minnesota Wild at St. Paul.

In an odd twist, however, no matter how the 22-year-old performs, the decision already has been made to immediately return him to the AHL after that game. Coach Ron Wilson said Pogge will be called up periodically between now and the end of the season to play games he has pencilled in for the young netminder.

Wilson said Pogge will play "enough to know whether he's an NHL goaltender or not."

The games he has in mind will present Pogge with a variety of experiences meant to give team management a reading on his potential in the big leagues.

"Different tests, different teams, different challenges, different venues; stuff like that," Wilson said.

Pogge has played one previous NHL game, a 6-2 win over Atlanta in which he made 19 saves. He said the confidence he gained in that NHL debut on Dec.22 stayed with him when he returned to the Marlies. In 10 AHL starts since Christmas, Pogge has gone 5-3-2 and allowed only 21 goals overall.

He was solid while making 21 saves in a 3-1 win over Chicago on Saturday.

"Things are just starting to come together, I guess," said Pogge, who struggled earlier in the season with the Marlies. "Our team has been playing really good down there. I can't take all the credit, but I feel like my game has been coming along."

Pogge's apprenticeship will further squeeze out veteran Curtis Joseph, the classy backup who rarely plays. Vesa Toskala likes to start as often as possible. So, with Pogge getting more games, Joseph isn't likely to get many more opportunities to spell the No.1 netminder.

Joseph wasn't available for comment yesterday - the team was hustling to get to the airport after a late-afternoon practice - but Toskala said he can see the wisdom in what the Leafs are planning.

"In many ways, it makes sense to give (Pogge) games and give him a chance to play in this league," he said. "It's easier to play every second night once you find that rhythm, but we have lots of back-to-backs and I understand what the team is doing."

For the Leafs, it is a smart way to take advantage of the proximity of their farm team. They can keep Pogge from becoming stagnant as a backup to Toskala and easily slip him in for games as desired.

"He's a young goalie. He needs to develop, he needs to play," Wilson said. "Because he's right in our own backyard we can get him some games and experience in the NHL as well."

Wilson said starting tonight against the Wild makes sense because his other two netminders have both been off the ice since last Wednesday's shootout loss to the Bruins because of the all-star break. Toskala is expected to start Thursday night when the Leafs finish their two-game road swing against the Avalanche in Denver.

"I can have a couple of good practices and then play games. It's a good plan," Toskala said.

The 31-year-old said over the break he went "somewhere warm ... just to not think about hockey; give the body a little bit of a rest and a little mental break, too."

It's understandable why he wanted to get away. The Leafs have won only three of their last 14 games and Toskala's numbers have been disappointing. It was expected he would be the one solid part of Toronto's game but, facing better shots behind a weaker defence, he has a 3.29 goals-against average and a poor .885 save percentage.

Pogge gets the call

Justin Pogge will get a second shot to prove himself as an NHL goaltender when the Toronto Maple Leafs return to action on Tuesday evening.

Pogge will get the start in goal when the Leafs visit Minnesota for a date with the Wild. Head coach Ron Wilson felt that it was a good time to give the 22-year old another shot in goal because the layoff over the All-Star break kept Vesa Toskala and Curtis Joseph from playing or skating for four days.

Wilson said that Pogge will return to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League following Tuesday's game, regardless of his performance.

Four years after Toronto drafted him 90th overall, Pogge finally got his first shot in the bigs last December when he was called up to replace an injured Toskala. Pogge won his rookie debut, a 6-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Maple Leafs called Pogge up on January 11, 2008, but he saw no playing time before being reassigned to the Marlies the following day.

The Leafs will also welcome defenceman Mike Van Ryn back in the lineup Tuesday evening for the first time since Dec. 18. The London, Ontario native has been sidelined with his second concussion of the season and recently passed a baseline test, clearing him to play.

Other news on the injruy front; Jeremy Williams (bruised left shoulder) and Jeff Finger (upper body) are still not ready for game action, although Finger may be ready for Thursday's tilt against the Avalanche.

Winger Niklas Hagman skipped today's practice, along with defenceman Tomas Kaberle who was given the day off because he didn't get the break over the weekend. Hagman is fighting the flu but is expected to play Tuesday.

A few players high on Brian Burke's To-Move list

Nik Antropov is one of several players who could be moved prior to the NHL trade deadline. Antropov got off to a torrid start this season, but now is mired in a 14-game goal drought. Here are the players expected to be high on the To-Move list.

NIK ANTROPOV

The 6-foot-6 Kazakh's play has dropped considerably since the arrival of GM Brian Burke, believed to be sour on European players. Antropov, 28, is also an unrestricted free agent July 1, so the Leafs may want to get something for him if they're afraid he'll bolt. His $2 million salary makes him an easy fit on any team; his skill and size make scouts drool. Burke might hope for a bidding war that could land him a first-round pick and a prospect.

ALEXEI PONIKAROVSKY

Everything said about Antropov is true for Ponikarovsky, except the 6-foot-4, 28-year-old Ukrainian has another year left on his deal at a very reasonable rate ($2.1 million). That might make him even more palatable to another team. A high-end prospect, or two high draft picks.

TOMAS KABERLE

The puck-moving defenceman landed in Ron Wilson's doghouse, but who hasn't? He is said to be willing to waive his no-trade clause, but won't ask to be traded. Burke has said he won't ask. A cat-and-mouse game going on here. But would it be wrong to keep Kaberle, who, at $4.25 million a year for the next three years, has a reasonable salary, and at 29 is reasonably young enough to be part of a rebuild? But Burke likes tough, not Kaberle's strength. If his price last year was Jeff Carter and a first-round pick, then Burke should say let the bidding begin there: a young NHLer and a top pick.

PAVEL KUBINA

A no-trade clause stood in the way of a trade to San Jose last year, but that was only for salary cap reasons. Ron Wilson liked him enough to convince Cliff Fletcher to trade Bryan McCabe instead of Kubina last summer. There are no salary cap pressures on Burke to move the 31-year-old, who earns $5 million a year and has another year on his contract. His stock has risen with steady play and offensive output. A handful of picks - not necessarily including a first-rounder - would do the trick.

JASON BLAKE

The odds have come down considerably with much-improved play over the last two months by Blake. He's the pesky Blake of old and scoring again. Teams might be fearful about his recent brush with cancer and the fact he still has another three years on his contract. Although the Leafs don't have salary cap worries, they might like to get out from under the length of this deal considering that Blake is 34 years old. The best offer lands him.

VESA TOSKALA

The Finnish netminder has been hot and cold this year. When he's good, he's very, very good. When he's bad, he's awful. Again, keeping Toskala wouldn't be the worst thing that Burke could do. If he turns his game around, all the better. If he doesn't, John Tavares would look good in a Leaf uniform. And Toskala can fill the space until Justin Pogge's ready. But the trade deadline can be a funny thing, and if a Stanley Cup contender finds itself with a goalie injury on the eve of the deadline, then Toskala becomes incredibly marketable. Hey, if Andrew Raycroft could find a steady gig again ...

Leafs suffer fourth straight home loss

TORONTO - The night before their teams played against each other, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke had dinner with Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli.

It was a chance for the two fishing buddies to catch up on old times, share a few laughs and compare managerial philosophies.

For Burke, who has been charged with the task of rebuilding a franchise that has gone 41 years without a championship and has missed the playoffs for past three seasons, there might be no better brain to pick than Chiarelli's.

The Bruins, who defeated the Leafs 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday night, were among the worst teams in the Eastern Conference when Chiarelli was hired in 2006. Three years later, they sit comfortably atop the standings. Though no one expected Boston to improve this quickly, it shows that a rebuild does not have to be a long, painful process.

The question is whether the Leafs can accomplish a similarly swift turnaround.

"Peter Chiarelli's done a masterful job," said Burke. "They've got a multi-faceted team. They've got speed, they've got size, they can move the puck well and they've got good goaltending. This is a formidable team."

Wednesday night, the Bruins did not look so fearsome, but they still managed to hand the Leafs their fourth straight loss on home ice.

Toronto, which had been shut out in its last two games at Air Canada Centre, ended a 41-minute-and-49-second scoring drought on a first-period goal from Jason Blake. Lee Stempniak and Brad May added goals in the second period to put the Leafs ahead 3-1, but Boston, which received goals from Blake Wheeler, Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara, forced overtime in the third period.

While Stempniak and Blake both scored for Toronto in the overtime shootout, Boston picked up the extra point on goals from Wheeler, Martin St. Pierre and a nifty wrist shot from Michael Ryder.

The Leafs, who have the next five days off, head into the all-star break at a crossroads: not enough wins to contend for the playoffs and too many points to qualify for the lottery draft pick.

"Obviously, we would rather be in a better position," said Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle. "It's a learning process. We have a young team."

For a rebuilding team, the entry draft offers the easiest path to improvement. That is how the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks all transformed from bottom-feeders to top dogs.

The Bruins, who have only had one top-five draft pick in the last 10 years, chose a different approach.

"When I took the job, I said that we're retooling, not rebuilding, because the Boston market demands a competitive team," said Chiarelli. "Tanking was never a consideration."

Instead, the Bruins surrounded whatever youngsters they had in their system with proven veterans.

Leading scorer Marc Savard, goaltender Tim Thomas and captain Chara were all acquired through free agency. Several others - goaltender Manny Fernandez, defenceman Wideman and winger Chuck Kobasew - arrived via trade. And with the exception of Phil Kessel, who was selected fifth overall in 2006, most of the team's homegrown players were selected in the later rounds of the draft.

"That's the great thing about this salary cap era," said Leafs defenceman Ian White. "It doesn't have to take five or six years. We're making progress."

Constructing a team in this fashion may have worked for the Bruins, but Burke does not believe the Leafs have the foundation to support a similar structure.

"The pattern or the blueprint that I use to rebuild isn't quite like that," said Burke. "I'm not going to look at Boston. Whatever they did has worked and that's good for them. But that's not how I approach it."

This is not Burke being stubborn.

Unlike the Bruins, who had up-and-coming youngsters such as Kessel, David Krejci and Milan Lucic in their system, the Leafs are currently short on blue-chip prospects.

"The cupboard is somewhat bare with us and we have to replenish what's missing in the cupboard," said Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. "You can't, unfortunately, go down to the supermarket and pick stuff off the shelves right now. You have to be patient and do it through the draft."