TORONTO – The difference was as simple as special teams on this night.
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2016 For Sale . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually
quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at
the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. “Theres a responsibility thats borne out
by special teams in tonights hockey game,” said Randy Carlyle after the 5-2 loss
to Boston, which snapped a brief two-game win streak. Combative with their top
rival for much of the 60 minutes, the Leafs were ultimately undone by both
special team units. Their once prideful penalty kill allowed two more power play
goals – falling to fifth-worst overall – while a typically potent man advantage
stood empty in four chances. “Our PK just let us down again,” said Jay McClement
after the loss. “Its a huge momentum builder for us and right now its going the
other way. Its killing our momentum.” Up 1-0 on the Bruins after a period – on a
goal from Peter Holland – the Leafs veered off the road when penalties to
Carter Ashton and Carl Gunnarsson struck early in the middle frame. Boston
scored twice in less than two minutes with the consecutive power plays, momentum
spiraling downward in rapid order for the Leafs. “It was bang-bang,” said
Carlyle. “All of a sudden they score two goals and the life went out of our
hockey club.” The Bruins scratched out another marker at even-strength late in
the period, a puck from rookie Kevan Miller squeezing through the pads of
Jonathan Bernier. And though they would claw back to cut the deficit to 3-2 on
McClements first of the year, the Leafs failed to score with consecutive man
advantage opportunities in the third. “We made a few mistakes on our penalty
kill and thats the difference against top teams,” said a terse Dion Phaneuf. At
equal with the Atlantic division-leading Bruins for the most part at
even-strength – the shots were 32-25 in Bostons favour – the failure on special
teams proved disappointing, especially in light of the daunting schedule that
lays ahead. The Leafs clash with the Kings, Blues, Blackhawks and Penguins over
the next week, clutching just two regulation victories in their past 17 games.
Five Points 1. Penalty Killing Funk Countering the effects of a potent Toronto
power play (more below) is an increasingly ineffective penalty kill, one that
surrendered two more goals to the Bruins on Sunday night. The unit, now
stumbling at just 77 per cent, has allowed an astounding 13 goals over the past
eight games – at least one in all eight – and two or more in five of the past
10. “Our penalty kill is something that definitely needs work,” said
Jake Gardiner, the 23-year-old leading the Leafs with over 25 minutes against
the Bruins. “Youve seen that in the past few games or even weeks I guess so its
something we need to work on.” Simple mistakes were punished. The Leafs failed
to clear pucks on each of the two Boston power play goals; Dion Phaneuf moments
before the first marker from Carl Soderberg, Mason Raymond shortly before the
second from Torey Krug, a blast that ricocheted off the shin-pad of Gardiner.
“Those two specifically came back to haunt us,” said Carlyle. His team has
allowed a league-leading 28 power play goals this season. 2. More Penalty Kill
Carlyle slightly altered the composition of the penalty kill in the past couple
games, cutting down on the minutes of the increasingly over-worked
James van Riemsdyk while inserting rookie Jerry DAmigo, a mainstay for years on
the Marlies typically strong unit. Personnel aside, the confidence of a group
that finished as the leagues second-best last season has simply vanished in
recent weeks. “I think when were going really good with it – last year and then
the start of this year – we had almost a swagger when we went out there,” said
McClement. “We expected to kill it and we were all working together. And right
now were just making tiny little mistakes and it seems like we just cant get
away with anything so we have to correct those [mistakes].” Not helping matters
much either is the amount of penalties taken. The Leafs have earned more power
play opportunities than their opponent in just one of the past nine games. 3. A
Little Depth The Leafs entered the night with 83 per cent of their offence
emerging from just seven different sources, but against the Bruins they finally
managed to find some depth. Energizing the fourth line – and later moved up to
the third unit – Peter Holland scored his second goal with the Leafs, setting up
McClement with his first this season in the third. “Obviously weve been relying
on our big guys pretty much completely all year,” said McClement, who has just
three points all season after posting 17 in 48 games last season. “Its huge if
we can get contributions from the rest of us and take the weight off our big
boys a little bit.” 4. Power Play Right up there with goaltending, the Toronto
power play has been a consistent hub of success so far this season. Though it
came up empty against the Bruins, the unit still ranks third-best in the NHL
through 31 games. “We work on it a lot and we focus on trying to execute
cleanly,” said Cody Franson prior to the game, the 26-year-old leading the team
with 11 power play points. “When you can do that it enables things to speed up a
little bit and its harder to defend as a penalty kill.” “Just movement, lots of
traffic, timely goals,” said Nazem Kadri, asked whats made it effective to date.
“Theres a few things that have been contributing; the way we bring the puck up
the ice to set up the power play. Its definitely been working for us and one of
our strengths of the year. But weve got to keep going and weve got to keep
putting pucks to the net. Sometimes maybe we get a little too cute and sometimes
were just better off just looking for those bang-in rebounds around the crease.”
Especially potent on home ice – save Sunday – the Leafs have clicked on 31.9 per
cent of their power plays at the ACC, tops in the league this season. Of note is
the limited number of penalties drawn, just 97 on the year, seventh-fewest in
the NHL. 5. Critical Areas Harping on the need to cut down on goals against from
the critical areas, Carlyle was bothered by the various locations of the Bruin
markers on Sunday. “The disappointing part for us as a coaching staff is where
the goals are scored from,” he said. “We have got to have better coverage in
those areas. If they score them from the outside those are going to happen … Its
where theyre scoring the goals from is the most important thing for us to attend
to right away.” After yielding 50 shots in consecutive wins against Dallas and
Ottawa, the Leafs allowed a comparatively scant 39 on Sunday night against
Boston. Stats-Pack 13 – Power play goals against the Leafs in the past eight
games. 8 – Consecutive games in which the Leafs have allowed at least one power
play goal. 25:21 – Ice-time for Jake Gardiner, leading the Leafs against the
Bruins. 28 – Power play goals against the Leafs this season, most in the NHL.
14-19 – Jay McClement in the faceoff circle against the Bruins. 32-25 – Shots
advantage for Boston at even-strength. 3 – Points for Peter Holland in nine
games with the Leafs. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4 Season: 26.7% PK: 1-3
Season: 77% Quote of the Night “Our PK just let us down again.” - Jay McClement,
following the 5-2 loss to the Bruins. Up Next The Leafs host the Kings at the
ACC on Wednesday night.
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arent going to press their 31-year-old forward for an answer, either. Peverley
said Tuesday he would have to undergo testing that would include workouts to
elevate his heart rate.
Nike Air Max Zero Au . Crippled by a series
of injuries to key players and struggling at home this season, Dortmund was far
from convincing in a 2-1 defeat to Zenit on Wednesday. However, the 4-2 victory
in the first leg in St. Petersburg was enough for Juergen Klopps side to win 5-4
on aggregate and seal its place in Fridays draw.BALTIMORE -- Carmelo Anthony had
22 points in the first game hes played in his hometown to lead the New York
Knicks to a 98-89 preseason win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
Bradley Beal had 21 to lead Washington, which is 1-3 in the preseason. The
Knicks (2-2) outscored the Wizards 12-2 in the first seven minutes of the second
on their way to a 30-16 quarter. They led 59-46 at halftime. Washington began
the third quarter with a 16-2 run to take a 62-61 lead with seven minutes to
play, but New York answered with a 17-6 spurt to lead 78-68 after three. The
game drew a sellout crowd of 12,376 to Baltimore Arena, where the Buullets
played for 10 years before moving to Landover, Md.
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They became the Wizards in 1997. Many in the crowd were there to see Anthony,
whose ties to the city where he was raised were remembered by the fans who
cheered lustily for him. Before the game, Knicks coach Mike Woodson said he knew
it would be big night for Anthony and planned to play him 20-25 minutes. He
played 29. New York guard Iman Shumpert sprained his right elbow late in the
first quarter when he got tangled up with Beal. Nene, who stayed behind in
Brazil after Washingtons game in Rio De Janeiro, did not play for the second
straight game.
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