"One homecoming down, one to go.

For Dion Phaneuf, making his first appearance in a Maple Leafs uniform in his native Edmonton, the evening could not have gone much better on a snowy Tuesday night at Rexall Place.

Opening the scoring at 5:55 of the first period, Phaneuf's first goal of the season propelled the Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the Oilers, setting the stage for the captain's return to Calgary on Thursday.

"It has been a while. It felt good," Phaneuf said of the goal. "The big thing was the screen. (Colby Armstrong) did a great job.

"It was just a huge win for our team."

But this game was more than just about Phaneuf.

With several thousand blue-and-white clad Toronto fans chanting "Go Leafs Go" for much of the evening, the Leafs "Alberta contingent" gave their friends and family in attendance plenty to cheer about.

There was Phaneuf, of course, who now prepares himself to face his former Flames team for the first time since being traded to Toronto on Jan. 31.

There was Clarke MacArthur, the native of Lloydminster, Alta., who fed Mikhail Grabovski at the tail end of a brilliant give-and-go to put the Leafs up 2-1 at the middle of the second period.

And there was Lethbridge native Kris Versteeg, who scored Toronto's third goal and assisted on Phil Kessel's third-period marker to finish off a two-point night.

Obviously, with so many westerners on the Leafs roster, the west is best - at least for one evening.

Not to be forgotten is Leafs goaltender J-S Giguere, who held the Leafs in the game in the first period when the young Oilers attacked them in waves.

For coach Ron Wilson, who has seen his special teams sputter on far too many nights, one of the most pleasant sights must be the two power-play goals his team registered, courtesy of Grabovski and Kessel."