It was three weeks of heartbreak as Leafs fans saw players and games lost. It all changed last Tuesday night as the Leafs picked up a big win over the Nashville Predators.

Does this mean the parade is back on in Leafs Nation? Not quite yet — there is still a lot of work left to do for general manager Brian Burke.

"It's just the pre-season ... Will everybody just chill out?" bemoaned Carey Price. Oh Price, they have chilled after that solid week of goaltending. Price helped the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the high-powered Vancouver Canucks.

Speaking of those Canucks, they didn't do too badly in Eastern Canada, picking up wins over the Leafs and Ottawa Senators before falling to the Canadiens.

Marion Gaborik decided to wake up and earn his paycheck, scoring three goals and adding one assist after coming back after injury. A pair of Leafs also stepped up: Clarke McArthur continued his playmaking ways, and Kris Versteeg, who was brought into help with scoring, finally did.

The Leafs also made it into the bad books this week on two occasions. The first was Vancouver's Mason Raymond's game-winning goal that was on the ice from the blue line. The second was Toronto's Brett Lebda on Tuesday falling on the power play and letting Nashville score.

Scott Gordon was also having a rough week. With the New York Islanders having not won in 10 games, it was time for the coach to go packing as he was fired early last week.

The third star of the week was Tampa Bay's young sniper Steven Stamkos, who continues to light the lamp just like he did in junior. The second star is Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals, the lesser known of the Alexes, he continued his scoring ways and now has more goals than counterpart Ovechkin. The first star this week goes to Montreal's Price, who went a perfect 3-0 this week, including wins over Vancouver, Philadelphia and Carolina.

The three big games coming up this week are: Toronto and Montreal — an Original Six matchup, the budding rivalry between Chicago and Vancouver, and Chicago and San Jose in a rematch of last year's conference finals.

My predictions for the week are:

Toronto in Montreal: The monster is in net for the Leafs who will have a newfound confidence and should be able to win a shoot out.
Toronto 4-3 (SO)

Philadelphia in Washington: Two top teams right now in the NHL: Big Bob against The Great 8. Look for Ovechkin and the Caps to welcome the rookie to the NHL.
Washington 7-3

Chicago in Vancouver: Regaining the jump they had last year, the Hawks are flying right now. This one should be close.
Chicago 5-3

Boston vs. Tampa Bay: The best goalie this year takes on one of the best snipers in the league. Stamkos should be able to propel the Bolts to a win.
Tampa Bay 4-1

Chicago in San Jose: A rematch of the Conference finals last year that the Hawks won pretty easily. Look for this game to be a little bit closer than the series.
Chicago 2-0