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Scorching offense pacing Maple Leafs surge

Dec 23, 2008 - 11:19 AM Dallas (13-14-5) at Toronto (14-13-6) 7:30 p.m. EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are using a suddenly hot offense to forge victories.

The Maple Leafs go for their sixth win in seven games on Tuesday when they host the streaking Dallas Stars.

Matt Stajan scored two goals and set up another while Nik Antropov added three assists, leading Toronto to a 6-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday.

With the six-goal outburst, the Maple Leafs have scored 26 goals en route to a 5-1-0 record over its last six games. Toronto's lone loss over that span was an 8-5 setback to the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins on Thursday.

The Maple Leafs' performance on Monday helped Justin Pogge earn the win in his NHL debut. Pogge, who finished with 19 saves, got the nod after starting goaltender Vesa Toskala was sidelined with a groin injury in Saturday's 7-3 triumph the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It was a huge win," Pogge said. "First start, I was glad the guys kept scoring. I was pretty nervous before they dropped the puck. I was just glad I got this one over with."

The Stars have pulled within one point of the fourth-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division by earning points in seven of their last 10 games, going 6-3-1 over that span.

Dallas had a chance to record its first three-game win streak on Saturday, but dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Ottawa Senators.