It's all about offence

The Toronto Maple Leafs want Nazem Kadri to be more of a complete player, but at the end of the day, they drafted him to score goals.

"Hands down; definitely I'm an offensive player and that's what they need me for," Kadri said. "If it's not scoring it's at least generating chances and setting up plays. I felt pretty good today and hopefully I can carry it into tomorrow."

The player of the month in the American Hockey League in November made a statement upon his recall to the NHL by scoring the game-winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres as the Leafs edged their divisional rival 3-2 Thursday night. Kadri took a drop pass from Clarke MacArthur and snapped a 20-foot shot through a crowd and past Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.

"I think there were two guys that tried to lie in front of the shot," Kadri said. "I saw the first guy and he tried to play goalie on me and block the shot so I just dragged it to my right a little bit and let the shot go and found the net."

This is a big opportunity for Kadri to once and for all make a positive impression to remain in the NHL with the Maple Leafs. In 29 games last season with the Leafs he had three goals and 12 points. Given the fact he was the seventh overall pick in the 2009 entry draft, expectations are that he will be a contributing top-6 forward. So far he really hasn't given any indication he's up to the task.

But with the Leafs having been bitten hard by the injury bug, they turned to him in hopes he could bolster the offence. They opted for Kadri over Joe Colborne who accounted very well for himself in a nine-game call-up earlier in the year.

Are the Leafs showcasing him for a potential trade? Perhaps. But the reality is, other than Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, the Leafs need some additional goal-scoring. Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin, whom the Leafs tried to pass off as first-liners early in the season, have been disappointing thus far.

There's no doubt about the fact there is pressure on Kadri to produce. He knows it and he felt he answered the bell. This kid has no shortage of confidence -- and that is a good thing.

"I felt great," Kadri said. "It was nice to come in here and have an immediate impact. Before the goal I thought I was controlling the puck pretty well. I thought I had some poise with it; I wasn't rushing my plays. When I did get my touches on the puck I didn't make any turnovers and I made smart plays. I drew a penalty just by chipping the puck. These are the things I've learned and that kind of shows that I'm ready for this next step."

Playing right wing (he's a natural centre) on a line with Tim Connolly in the middle and MacArthur on the left side, Kadri finished the night with a goal and plus-1 on 18 shifts and 13:43 ice time.

"He made plays and he was good along the wall in our zone and that's what he has to do," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "He's smart up the ice. He sees the ice and has confidence. He skates into holes and distributes the puck really well."

Added winning goaltender James Reimer: "Naz is a good guy. I know he's been trying real hard and ever since he got called up yesterday he's been working hard in practice. Hard work pays off so I was really happy for him."

While Kadri was understandably pleased with his evening, it very nearly went up in smoke when he took a lazy tripping penalty at 15:59 of the third period with his team clinging to its one-goal lead. Time always seems to click off the clock slowly when you have the lead and very fast when you are trailing.

Was Kadri nervous about potentially going from hero to goat?

"Yeah, definitely…definitely," he said. "I was holding my breath the whole time I was in the penalty box. It wasn't the greatest penalty on my part, but once again our PK and the boys bailed me out."

And in his first game back in the NHL, Kadri bailed the Leafs out.

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