With wins against Carolina and Detroit this past weekend, the Toronto Maple Leafs have catapulted themselves ahead of the now-last-place Hurricanes and have a four-point lead over them. The Leafs have points in seven straight games, after failing to get a point in seven straight before that. They have 10 points in their last seven, and 11 points overall this year. The Leafs have definitely been one of the most inconsistently consistent teams in hockey this season. With their next game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, who are the last-place team in the Western Conference, the Leafs are in a prime position to earn more points and rise one step closer to a playoff spot.

Phil Kessel is being pushed as the savior of the Maple Leafs, with GM Brian Burke having given two firsts and a second round draft pick to the Bruins in exchange for him. Kessel debuted against the Lightning last Tuesday and took 19 shots, 10 of which were on net, none of which went in. He played in the two weekend games against Carolina and Detroit, and picked up a goal and two assists. If Kessel can play with that kind of consistency going forward and his teammates can find ways to get him the puck, the Maple Leafs might turn around their fortunes quickly.

Toronto’s other big acquisition in the summer was that of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, nicknamed “The Monster”. After a slow start and sharing time with Toronto’s other goalie Vesa Toskala, Gustavsson has really turned it up lately. He’s 2-0-3 in his last five games, has allowed just 12 goals and has a .929 save percentage, directly leading to Toronto’s recent success. His overall numbers are still not very impressive, but the 25-year-old Swede is in his first season in the NHL and will be the primary netminder for the first time in his career. All he needs is some time to find his bearings and he’ll be one of the better goalies in the league.

The Maple Leafs are far from being a contending team, and they are far from the contending teams. But additions like Kessel and Gustavsson not only bring them closer to their goal of making the playoffs for the first time since the lockout, but also gives them a fighting chance against the other struggling teams of the league. The key to success for a team that is rebuilding is beating the weak and competing with the strong, and Toronto did just that this past weekend. They have passed a test, but if they are to win in the long-term, there’s still a lot more work to be done.