Stepping it up

Injuries? Huh, no big deal.

Not when you have the NHL's leading scorer and a sidekick who is playing lights-out.

And not when you have support players who, upon being thrust into more significant roles under difficult circumstances, take advantage of their opportunities.

That was the storyline Saturday night when the Toronto Maple Leafs laid an old butt kicking on the slumping Washington Capitals before a cheerful audience at Air Canada Centre winning 7-1.

The Leafs were without goaltender James Reimer (concussion-like symptoms), defenceman Mike Komisarek (broken arm) and forwards Colby Armstrong (sprained ankle), Matthew Lombardi (upper body), Mikhail Grabovski (lower body) and Mike Brown (mystery ailment). Under normal circumstances that would mean a long night when pitted against the normally explosive Capitals, but these are not normal circumstances.

The Capitals opened the season 7-0-0, but have lately fallen to eighth place in the East. The spanking they received from Toronto was Washington's fourth loss in a row. Although struggling superstar Alex Ovechkin had eight of his team's shots, he was barely noticeable through the first 40 minutes and really only stepped up to the plate when his team was on the power play. Make that four games in a row without a goal for the, uh hum, Great 8.

Leading the way for the Maple Leafs -- once again -- was Phil Kessel, who added to his league-leading points total with a goal (his 14th) and assist (13th), along with Joffrey Lupul, the Leafs best skater, with a goal and three assists. Lupul was rightfully chosen the first star of the game.

Truth be told, we have come to expect such offensive outbursts from this suddenly dynamic duo. What was surprising, though, was the contribution of others who have, at times, played well but have not been productive.

Start with goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who made 40 saves while claiming his fifth win of the year. Gustavsson was particularly solid in the final 40 minutes when his team was out-shot 33-13. He displayed a confident calmness that has not been evident in many of his performances this season.

Then there was right winger Matt Frattin who played his way onto the team with a brilliant pre-season showing, but was demoted to the minors for not scoring in the team's first 11 games. Frattin did score a game-winning goal in a shootout, but those goals, as we all know, don't count toward individual statistics. His official first goal of the year at 19:16 of the opening period was a game-winning goal that does count.

Also standing up to be counted was defenceman Cody Franson who is getting a chance to play regularly with Komisarek out for at least eight weeks. The hard-shooting blue-liner ripped a slap shot from the point that eluded Michal Neuvirth at 19:29 of the second period.

Finally there was Joe Colborne, called up earlier in the day from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Colborne was leading the AHL in scoring when he was injured recently, but did return to action against Rochester Friday night. The big centre made a wonderful cross-ice pass to set up Frattin for his goal.

While Lupul was clearly the best player in the game, the performance by Gustavsson certainly bought him some time. Although Reimer returned to the ice for a brief workout Friday, there's no telling when he'll play again. Ben Scrivens, who started the year in the minors, is serving notice he'll contend for the starter's job down the road, so it was a relief for Gustavsson to answer the bell.

"This is his fourth game against Washington and he's actually played fairly well, although his goals-against average isn't great," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "He faced a lot of rubber. Any time you face Washington you're going to have to make a lot of saves and he did tonight. He was solid when we needed him."

Gustavsson, naturally, was pleased with his night.

"They have so many skilled players and they put pressure on us," Gustavsson said. "It was a fun game. Maybe it's a little bit easier to play as a goalie when you have a couple of goals lead. You feel like you are going to win, but I tried to keep those thoughts away. I tried to see it as a 0-0 game, even when we were up a couple of goals. If they score a couple of goals they have enough skill to get back into the game."

Gustavsson didn't exactly see it as a season-turning moment for himself.

"I felt comfortable out there, but I have felt comfortable in other games this year when the result didn't go my way," he said. "My confidence hasn't been as bad as a lot of you guys are telling me it is. You know as a goalie you are going to have ups and downs. You try to work hard to keep the down times shorter. The last game I played I lost and the game before that I won, so it's not like I can't get my wins. It's a team game; when the team plays good it helps the goalie and when the goalie plays good it helps the team relax and play good. I'm just trying to do my part."

Toronto had dropped four in a row at home before the stumbling Capitals came to town so maybe it wasn't such a huge surprise that Gustavsson would start; especially with the Leafs playing at 5 p.m. Sunday in Carolina. Gustavsson's success was applauded by the man who stole the spotlight on offence.

"It's a big performance for him." Lupul said. "He was our back-up goalie at the start of the year and Scrivens came in and has played well. I'm sure Gustavsson would have liked to have played those games. It just shows what type of a guy he is and what a competitor he is. He practiced hard and obviously stayed sharp."

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.