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GLENDALE, Ariz. – Mats Sundin was the captain. Paul Maurice was behind the bench. Andrew Raycroft was starting in goal. And Alex Steen was scoring the game-winning goal as the Maple Leafs reeled off their fifth consecutive win in St. Louis. That was Feb. 6, 2007, a long and often dark run of seven years since the club last won five in a row. But with another standout performance from Jonathan Bernier, among other things, they would finally match the mark again in the Arizona desert on Monday night. “Its always nice to get a couple wins in the backpack,” said Carl Gunnarsson after a 4-2 victory over the Coyotes, “but weve got a long ways to go here. Were not satisfied. We just know that if we keep doing this we can continue this win streak.” The Leafs have been a different team since they were dropped handily by the Hurricanes in Raleigh earlier this month. What was then their third straight loss (en route to four) and a low point in a season veering off the rails seems to have proven a turning point. “We found out winnings fun,” said Jake Gardiner with a large grin. “Practice the other day was light – we had a three-on-three scrimmage and we want more of that. Hopefully we can keep winning.” Though they were outplayed by the Coyotes in the back half of Mondays outing – outshot 29-15 over the final two periods – a once lackadaisical group has found, in recent days, the necessary will to start earning wins with more consistency. Compete was the word head coach Randy Carlyle tossed around repeatedly as the losses mounted in the early days of 2014, but of late, that tenor has changed for the better. “We knew we were a great team – we just didnt compete enough,” said Bernier, who made 39 saves. “Thats the main thing. I think were doing it right now.” Continued brilliance from the 25-year-old between the pipes has also helped, not to mention a scorching run from Phil Kessel, who scored his team-leading 24th goal in the win. “We feel that this group can continue to grow and play to a higher level, but its enough talking about it,” said Carlyle. “Action speaks louder than words. Weve got to continue to grow this group to be a playoff hockey club. That was a statement we made before and were going to continue to make it because we believe in this group; we believe we can play to a higher level; we believe weve got more; and I think they believe theyve got more.” The win streak has nestled the club into the first wild card position, now with 57 points in 51 games. Five Points 1. Berniers Zone Bernier improved to 3-0-0 lifetime against the Coyotes while bumping his save percentage up to .927 this season with the 39-save performance at Jobing.com Arena. His efforts throughout the night were the ultimate difference in the game. “We had some turnovers tonight that were pretty juicy and he definitely bailed us out,” said Gardiner, bailed out in one such instance by Bernier in the opening frame. “I think this is probably one of his better games.” Entrenched as the Leafs first option in goal at the moment, Bernier stopped all 27 shots in the opening two periods, including 15 in a one-sided second frame. His stop on Radim Vrbata with just over eight minutes to go in the third kept the score at 3-1. Nazem Kadri would increase the lead back to three just a few minutes later. “I thought I was seeing the puck pretty good tonight,” said Bernier, who owns a 17-14-4 record this season. 2. Five Straight Only five players from the last Leafs squad to win five straight are even in the league today: Steen, Matt Stajan, Carlo Colaiacovo, Hal Gill, and Nik Antropov. 3. Kessels Scorching Run Phil Kessel had two points before the first period even closed in Phoenix, extending his point streak to six games. The 26-year-old has four goals and 12 points in that span, now up to 50 points in 51 games this season – good for seventh (tie) in league scoring. “When he gets hot hes one of those guys that everything he shoots has a chance to go in,” said Carlyle of Kessel. “Hes got a skill-set that the puck follows him around. Those are signs of great players.” 4. Source of Success Cody Franson described what he believed to be the source of the teams recent success. “I think weve played a tighter brand of hockey,” said Franson before Mondays game. “Weve managed the puck a little better and weve really just had everybody get on the same page and buy in. We havent had any nights where guys were trying to do a little too much or we didnt have any passengers. Just the whole team coming together as one has made it a little easier for us to execute our game-plan.” 5. Gardiners Showing Jake Gardiner had yet to post a multipoint night this season before boasting his fourth goal of the season and an assist against Phoenix. But despite the fine offensive numbers, the 23-year-old had his share of struggles in the desert, especially with the puck. A giveaway early in the first preceded a terrific opportunity for Vrbata – one that was turned away by Bernier – and then later that period another giveaway led to Lauri Korpikoski ringing one off the cross-bar. Gardiner would score the games opening goal moments later. “I had some good plays, had some bad plays,” said Gardiner, who played just under 19 minutes. “Both Morgan [Rielly] and I werent very happy about the way we played, but we got the win and as a team we played pretty well.” Stats-Pack 19-6-3 – Leafs record when scoring first this season. 6 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel, who has four goals and 12 points in that span. 82 – Games between goals for Carl Gunnarsson, who scored his first of the year on Monday. 6 – Power-play goals for the Leafs in the past five games. 11 – Games between goals for Nazem Kadri, who scored for the first time since Dec. 23 against the Coyotes. 3 – Consecutive games with a point for Kadri, who has five points in that span. 10-7-1 – Record versus the Western Conference this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-6Season: 22.8% (4th) PK: 3-4Season: 77.3% (28th) Quote of the Night “We found out winnings fun.” -Jake Gardiner, on the difference in atmosphere around the team in recent days. Up Next The Leafs head to Colorado for a Tuesday date with the Avalanche. T. J. Leaf Jersey . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Darren Collison Jersey .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. http://www.authenticbasketballshoppacers...rs-jersey/.Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. Reggie Miller Jersey . -- Even as Chris Paul remained evasive about his future, he did what team leaders are expected to do. Cheap Indiana Pacers Jerseys . - Kentucky freshmen Stanley Boom Williams, Dorian Baker, Drew Barker and Tymere Dubose have been charged with disorderly conduct for their involvement with air pistol shots being fired near a residence hall on the South campus Sunday night.With James Taylor forced to retire due to a heart condition and Nick Compton solid rather than spectacular in South Africa this winter, spots are up for grabs in Englands middle order. So just where might the selectors be looking ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Thursday, May 19?Whether the decision-makers want wise old heads or fresh faces, there are a fair few options… Ian Bell Michael Atherton makes the case for Ian Bell to re-join the England test side for the series against Sri Lanka When left out of Englands tour of South Africa, many wondered whether it might be the end of the 34-year-olds Test career, especially as hed pondered his retirement from international cricket following Englands most recent Ashes triumph, the fifth of his career. What else is there for him to achieve?But with the sad news of Taylors enforced exit, suddenly there is a spot open for Bell and he is hungry to fill it, scoring 174 in Warwickshires opening County Championship game of the season against Hampshire. Also, lest we forget, Bell loves batting at five! In the 60 of his 205 Test innings he has batted there, Bell has hit nine of his 22 hundreds - his average of 48.25 bettering his career 42.69.Gary Ballance Ballance and Joe Root could be reunited in Englands middle order Potentially the next cab off the rank is Ballance, who played understudy as the spare batsman for the tour of South Africa. Dropped mid-Ashes last year when struggling to perfect a top-order technique batting at three, a move lower down the order could see him feel considerably more comfortable.Plus, Ballance hardly failed too greatly in his early efforts in Test cricket, scoring 1,194 runs in his first 15 Tests at an average of 47.76, so he would argue he deserves another shot. It could come at five, or perhaps England look to plug him in again at three, with doubts remaining over Compton, a man yet to get going this season.James Vince Nick Knight has called for England to pick Hampshires James Vince at three for the first Test against Sri Lanka Vince is another potential floating option should England choose for a greater middle-order shake-up.dddddddddddd Long earmarked for Test success, the 25-year-old is a regular in Englands white-ball squads. Squads being the optimum word, as Vinces role has mainly been that of chief benchwarmer, with just four T20I - albeit impressive - performances to his name, and one rained off ODI against Ireland last summer.While its obvious the management like having him around the set-up, the main hindrance to Test recognition was seemingly a poor 2015 in the County Championship for Hampshire, Vince averaging only 28.58 as he struggled with the step-up from Division Two. But he has started well this year, striking a vital 119 against the reigning county champions no less, having come to the crease with his side 9-1 following Yorkshires mammoth 593-9 declared.Jonny Bairstow Could England pick Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler? Bairstow smashed a first-class career-best 246 in that Yorkshire innings, before smiting 198 against Surrey on Monday. Moving the wicketkeeper-batsman back up to five in the order would free up space for England to bring back Jos Buttler at seven. It would also mean that Bairstow - who had a tricky time of it behind the stumps in South Africa - can give up the gloves and focus solely on batting.It may be that Buttler is still absent from the side for the first Test against Sri Lanka, what with his IPL commitments for Mumbai Indians, but England could still choose to relieve Bairstow of the gloves and perhaps give an opportunity to talented keeper-batsmen like Adam Wheater of Hampshire or Surreys Ben Foakes.Jason Roy Surreys Jason Roy starred for England at the World T20 His place in Englands white-ball sides seemed under threat after a poor series in South Africa with just a combined 120 runs over seven ODI and T20I innings at the top of the order, but he bounced back emphatically at the World T20. Roy smashed 183 runs in six innings, at a strike-rate of 148.78, producing three particularly vital knocks to help England navigate their way to the final.Roy hit 43 off 16 balls in the record run-chase against South Africa, 43 off 39 against Sri Lanka to help book a semi-final spot, and then 78 off 44 in that semi win over New Zealand. His opportunity in Test cricket could come far sooner than expected. Trevor Bayliss is a big fan, and first division cricket this year batting at five for Surrey could be enough to persuade him to plump for Roy. Who would YOU pick in Englands middle order? Let us know by commenting below if viewing on skysports.com or tweet us @SkyCricket...Then head to Sky Sports News HQ and Sky Sports digital platforms on Thursday morning for first news of Englands Test squad to play Sri Lanka. 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