After Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala buckled against the Canadians, Toronto fans gave Curtis Joseph the hero’s welcome when he took over in the third period.

And Cujo stopped the bleeding for this team. But coach Ron Wilson remains solidly behind Toskala as his starting goaltender.

“Not taking anything away from Cujo … the breakaways, they hit the post a few times,” Wilson told the Toronto Sun. “But he did make a couple of saves, and that was good for Cujo’s confidence, that he didn’t give up anything. He’s had a couple rough outings in the pre-season.”

Blues fans saw that first hand at Scottrade. But Joseph insists the poor preseason didn’t rattle him.

“I’ve had indifferent pre-seasons before,” he said. “It was nice to get in there. Now we’re 1-1 and Monday’s a new game.”

ALL THE KINGS’ MEN

Locking up Anze Kopitar was a big step for the Kings, but Yahoo! Sports notes that LA will soon lose interest in this perpetual rebuilding project.

The Kings have lots of cap room. Why not spend a little more to compete this season?

NO LEAGUE FOR OLD MEN

The Boston Globe further explained why so many mid-caliber veteran free agents can’t find work in the NHL this season. Good stuff.

AROUND THE RINKS: Old friend Pavol Demitra didn’t play a great game in Calgary Saturday night, but he did manage to finish off an overtime rush for the game-winning goal, Demitra is a key piece of GM Mike Gillis’ ongoing renovation . . . Mathieu Garon enters this Oilers season as a solid No. 1 in nets. “Every time I come to training camp, there’s always doubts,” he told the Edmonton Sun. “The last two years, I had good seasons, but it’s always the same questions — people wonder if I can do it again, if I can play lots of games. It’s great to have the challenge, it adds to the motivation. Myself, I’m really confident. I know I can do a good job like last year, or even better.” Former Blues farmhand Dwayne Roloson remains the high-priced back-up . . . Red Wings power forward Johan Franzen appears poised for a breakout season as he steams toward unrestricted free agency. With Henrik Zetterman and Marian Hossa also due for new deals, Detroit will have to turn the page on at least one of its cornerstone players . . . The already green Flyers defense didn’t need to lose Randy Jones for up to four months with a major hip injury . . . Not only did the Blackhawks keep Nikolai Khabibulin, the team started him in the second game of the season – in part because Cristobal Huet was far from great in the season opener . . . Jumbo Joe Thornton raves about the impact of newcomers Dan Boyle and Rob Blake to the blue line. “As a left-handed shot, having two righties on the power play is really going to help me,” Thornton told the Toronto Globe and Mail. “Blakie is so solid and Boyle skates like the wind. They’re explosive. They’re going to be a huge difference for our team, two defensemen that can play 25 to 30 minutes a game. If you look at who’s won the last two years, Detroit with Lidstrom and Anaheim with Niedermayer and Pronger. It’s nice for us to have two guys like that now that can play in every situation. We haven’t had that before.”