Toronto Wins Over Hurricanes, Red Wings Get Them Out of the Cellar

I funny thing happened when I traveled to South Carolina for my 15-year college reunion this past weekend: the Maple Leafs posted consecutive victories over the sinking Carolina Hurricanes and struggling Detroit Red Wings, moving them out of the NHL's basement.

I didn't see the games, but Jonas Gustavsson must have played pretty well for them, as he posted strong 30+ saves efforts in both games, helping his team overcome a 2-0 deficit against Carolina to prevail 3-2, and then helping Toronto to post a dominating score of 5-1 a night later against the defending Western Conference champions.

The wins give the Leafs a 3-7-5 record (3-3-4 in their last 10) for a total of 11 points (tied with Florida, but trailing them by virtue of two fewer wins) and second-to-last place overall in the standings (behind Carolina, who are in deep trouble).

If Gustavsson continues to play like this, he'll keep Toronto in a lot of games this year, and Phil Kessel looks good in the early going. B's fans will be extremely sad if the Leafs become a middle-of-the pack team, but so far, at least, the team is still in the running for the Taylor Hall/Cam Fowler/Tyler Seguin sweepstakes.