Don't look now, folks, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have an honest-to-goodness winning streak going.
For only the second time this season, the Leafs managed to win two games in succession and this time they managed to win one at home. On Saturday, the Leafs turned in their third consecutive solid effort, which paid off in a second consecutive victory, this one a 4-2 decision over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Most astonishing is that the Leafs' best stretch of hockey in this NHL season came while their fans and the media were up in arms. After an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes last week, everyone was howling for the head of Leafs general manager John Ferguson on a platter, with a sizable group wanting head coach Paul Maurice's scalp for dessert. Ferguson's boss, Richard Peddie, threw some gas on the fire by suggesting he made a mistake in hiring Ferguson.
Then again, maybe there is something to the players' time-honoured insistence they never pay attention to such things. Vesa Toskala, who tightened his grip on the Leafs' No. 1 goaltender's job with his cool outing against the Penguins, claimed he had no idea the citizenry was preparing to march on the Air Canada Centre with tar and feathers.
It continues but hopefully you're getting the point. Shoalts, inexplicably without sarcasm, is pointing to a 2 game win "streak" as a turnaround in the entire Leafs/Ferguson/Peddie disaster. Seriously - 2 games.2 games is not adversity overcome, it's mediocrity celebrated.
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