Dein erstes Forum » sist on Bozaks eighth of the season and

TORONTO – It may have just been the last gasps of a wounded hockey club on life support, but it kept the Maple Leafs faint playoff hopes alive – barely – for another day. They hung on to win (and picked up points) for the first time in more than two weeks Tuesday night, halting a drudging eight-game losing streak with a narrow 3-2 win over Calgary at a quiet ACC. "Well, it beats losing thats for sure," Cody Franson said of the Torontos first win since Mar. 13. Masterpiece it was not. Standing nervously even with the rebuilding Flames after 40 minutes, the Leafs pulled ahead on third period goals from Dave Bolland and David Clarkson – the first for the 30-year-old Clarkson in nearly two months – before hanging on in the dying seconds of regulation. "I dont want to get too far ahead of ourselves because we didnt paint a Mona Lisa here tonight," said a relieved, but still cautious Randy Carlyle afterward. "Its been a long time. Its been too long. Its a much better feeling than what weve been able to enjoy here over the last while, thats for sure." Close and unpleasing as it may have been, it was a win no less for a club thats found all too many ways to lose amid a collapse thats all but shattered their once certain playoff entry. After their last win in mid-March – a resilient 3-2 victory in Los Angeles – the Leafs stood three points up on the Canadiens and Lightning, six ahead of the Blue Jackets and a seemingly insurmountable nine up on the physically beaten Red Wings. More than two weeks without a point destroyed that cushion and then some. Montreal and Tampa stormed far ahead for control of second and third in the Atlantic division – 93 points apiece – Toronto (82 points) trailing Columbus by a point (83) and Detroit by two (84) for the final two wild card positions in the East – both have two games in hand and more regulation/overtime wins. All of which makes their playoff hopes with five games to go razor-thin at best with an especially daunting Thursday night clash with Boston ahead – the Bruins have raced to the top of the NHL with 15 wins in the past 16 games (15-0-1). Asked before Tuesday morning if he believed his team still had a realistic opportunity to land a second straight playoff berth, Carlyle responded with whatever hope he could muster. "Its realistic if you win," he said. "Weve got to win the first one. Thats the bottom line. "We cant change whats happened. We dont like whats happened. Were not comfortable with whats happened but move on. Thats what our focus is." Carlyle said hed enjoy that first win for five, maybe 10 minutes. He knows one does little to alter the fortunes of a team clinging to the ropes and all five might not even be enough. Hope is still just hanging on for life. Five Points 1. Rare Bright Spot David Clarkson hasnt had much to celebrate in a lost first season with the Leafs, but he found a little light with a breakaway goal in the third period on Tuesday night. The goal, his fifth of the season, snapped a 16-game pointless drought and was his first since Feb. 4. "Its no secret, its been tough," he said of a season in which hes mustered just 11 points, looking lost more often than not. "Personally, Im not happy with the season. [But] I hold myself accountable. Im someone thats got to be better." "Numbers arent always everything," said Franson in defence of Clarkson afterward. "Clarkies been a guy thats gone out and worked hard every night for us. Hes tried to be very physical and create a lot on our cycles. You cant judge a guy just by numbers. I think hes brought a lot more to the table than people give him credit for." 2. Kessels Pain The stick came down on the bench, shattering into pieces at the frustrated one-hand chop of Phil Kessel. The 26-year-old had just taken another puck to the bruised right foot hes been bothered with since Saturday, storming off the ice in obvious pain and disgust. "He had the sign on his foot obviously," Carlyle said with some humour. Kessel did not practice Monday and remained off the ice ahead of the tilt with Calgary on Tuesday morning. Still searching for the first 40-goal campaign of his career, he remains stuck on 36 goals and 77 points, totaling 17 minutes and 36 seconds against the Flames – his lowest total since a Jan. 23 beatdown in Dallas. The Leafs improved to just 7-22-2 when he does not a record a point. 3. Bernier Post-Olympic Four goals had passed Jonathan Bernier in each of his previous three starts after returning from a nagging groin injury, but on Tuesday, just two of a tame 24 shots slipped by in victory. "It was nice, actually," he said of the comparatively quiet night. Stellar from October to February, Bernier actually had his worst month of the season following the Olympic break in March, compiling a .907 percentage in eight starts. It was a rare dip from a goaltender whos been ultra-consistent; Bernier posted a save percentage of at least .923 in four of the previous five months. He improved to 6-8-2 when stopping between 20-29 shots this season. 4. Distractions In hopes of distracting the mind from a playoff chance-sapping skid, Jake Gardiner opted to see a movie Monday, taking in the new Russell Crowe flick, Noah. "Its tough," he said of getting away from a losing streak that finally ended Tuesday. "You look on Twitter or TV, its pretty much what everyones talking about right now. But were kind of used to that. Weve had some ups and downs throughout the season and throughout the past, youve just got to take it in stride." 5. Distractions II Almost at the end of his rookie season in the NHL, Morgan Rielly has learned at least one tool to insulate himself from the often high-pitched noise of Toronto. "I dont check Twitter as often," Rielly said. "Its hard though because when youre out eating at Earls or something, its on TV and theres people talking about our skid, trade rumours or how weve been playing. But honestly, you cant really worry about it too much as you all know. Its just a matter of keeping concentrated on just playing the game and not what everybodys saying." Avoiding Twitter was a lesson the 20-year-old picked up in training camp, "when youre not sure if youre going to make the team or not and theres tweets about you not making the team or theres tweets about you on the team," he said. "You cant be too concerned about whats going on out there. Youve just got to worry about what youre able to control and all that is is playing hockey." Stats Pack 2-9-0 – Leafs record in the past 11 games. 17:36 – Ice-time for Phil Kessel on Tuesday, his lowest since Jan. 23. 16 – Consecutive games without a point for David Clarkson, a drought snapped Tuesday with his fifth goal of the season. 7-22-2 – Leafs record this season when Phil Kessel does not record a point. .907 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier in March. 17 – Games without a goal for Jay McClement, who snapped that drought Tuesday with his fourth of the season. 15:10 – Minutes for Paul Ranger, who returned to the lineup as the seventh defender against Calgary. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-1Season: 20.3% (7th) PK: 2-2Season: 78.6% (28th) Quote of the Night "I dont want to get too far ahead of ourselves because we didnt paint a Mona Lisa here tonight." - Randy Carlyle, following a 3-2 win over the Flames. Up Next The Leafs host the Bruins at the ACC on Thursday night. Marcus Peters Jersey . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. Joseph Noteboom Jersey . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. http://www.officiallosangelesramsfootbal...s-jersey-womens. It was a loss. But it was also a learning experience. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson had 24 points each to lift Brooklyn to a 94-87 win over the Raptors, making their first playoff appearance since 08. "I thought we played a little bit as expected as it is our first playoff game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. Brian Allen Jersey . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Orlando Pace Jersey .A. Happ is coming off his first start of the year, a win at Philadelphia Monday. The former Phillie allowed three hits in five scoreless frames of a 3-0 triumph.BOSTON – The scene was eerily familiar. Less than six minutes remained on the clock at TD Garden with the visitors warily protecting a one-goal lead. Exploding from the loud speakers was a rowdy tune from the Dropkick Murphys, the sea of black and yellow in attendance shouting along boisterously in support of the home side. But unlike in that infamous Game 7 collapse last May, the flu-ridden Maple Leafs found a way to hang on and remain on top Tuesday night, scoring a rare 4-3 victory in front of the ravenous hometown fans of their fiercest rival – their first in the regular season since Mar. 2011. "It almost felt like it was the playoffs again and this time we came out on top," said Jake Gardiner, who scored the second of two power-play goals against the Bruins. "Its just too bad it wasnt last year that it happened." "Hopefully it bleeds some of the demons out of us," added Randy Carlyle of the victory, just the third in the past 15 road games for his team. It took every last bit of will to hang on against the best team in the Eastern Conference, a Bruins squad which had won 10 of its previous 11 games at home. Manhandled in the final frame – they were outshot 15-6 – the Leafs required a pair of blocked shots from Tim Gleason to survive the one-goal victory, just the fifth in regulation for the club since the outset of November. "Im probably not going to give you 20 goals," said Gleason with a grin, "so thatll give you an idea of what I can do." One win in January will in no way excuse what took place so painfully for the Leafs in this building last spring, but it should, at the very least, offer a jolt of confidence to a team thats struggled to find its way all year and especially in the past couple of months. "Theyre better efforts, thats for sure," Carlyle said of the past three games, which include the most recent back-to-back wins. "Weve raised our compete level and were going to have to continue to do that to get points. The most frustrating for our hockey club has been that we havent been able to achieve that with any consistency." Back in a playoff position after falling out for the first time all year last week, Toronto knows it can ill afford to rest on the fleeting satisfaction of a needed road win. Asked afterward what he hoped his team would grasp from the victory, Jonathan Bernier responded simply. "Maturity," he said. "Its not easy to come in this building, especially what they went through last year losing in Game 7. It shows a lot of character for that team to come here and win it." Five Points 1. Rare Road Win The road has been a cold and unforgiving place for the Leafs since the opening month of the season. In fact, Tuesday marked the clubs first victory in regulation away from the ACC since Oct. 30, a stretch that includes 12 losses in 15 games. "To be a good team, to be a playoff team, to be a team thats going to challenge, you have to win on the road," said Carlyle afterward. 2. Bozaks Enduring Hot Streak Inked to a five-year deal worth $21 million in the summer, Tyler Bozak continues to thrive through one of the more productive stretches of his NHL career. Bozak scored twice and added an assist against the Bruins, giving him 17 points in the past 14 games and 22 points in 24 games this season. The 27-year-old has nine goals on just 32 shots, scorching with a 28.1 per cent shooting accuracy. "Obviously getting some good bounces," said Bozak, scoring his first of the night on a rebound, the second from a nifty backdoor feed from James van Riemsdyk. "Just found myself going to the right areas at the right time and pucks have been squirting out and Ive been able to get some sticks on them. But also the guys Im playing with have been making great plays to me and been creating space for myself, so I think thats been helping a lot too." His linemates (for the most part Tuesday,) van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel,, have been heating up as well.dddddddddddd With a goal and an assist Tuesday, van Riemsdyk now has three goals and five points in the past three games. Kessel, meanwhile, had three assists in his third consecutive multipoint game. The 26-year-old actually entered the game with six career assists against the Bruins (reg. season), scoring three alone on this night. 3. Flu Bug According to Carlyle, up to eight Leafs have been suffering from the flu over the past three days, including Colton Orr, who was forced to miss Tuesdays game and David Clarkson, who was sick on Monday night and missed the morning skate. "I think Morgan [Rielly] gave the whole team the disease," joked Bozak afterward, "so hes been getting a lot of grief from some of the guys." 4. Strategy Creative efforts were made by the Toronto coaching staff in the playoffs last spring to free Kessel from the potential grips of Zdeno Chara, who had thoroughly dominated the Leafs sniper previously. Such efforts, which found success in the first round of the seven-game series, continued Tuesday night. Kessel was removed from his usual spot alongside Bozak and van Riemsdyk from the games opening faceoff – replaced by Joffrey Lupul – and paired instead with Nazem Kadri and Mason Raymond. He bounced back to his usual line from time to time, but the message was clear. "…if they want to play Chara against Phil, then well put him with Kadri and have another formidable offensive line that we think can provide offence," said Carlyle. With Chara on the bench, Kessel scored an assist on Bozaks eighth of the season and first of the game. 5. Better Opportunity for Holland Upon reassigning Peter Holland to the Marlies last week, Carlyle insisted that employing the 22-year-old on the fourth line was "probably hurting his development curve". "On the way dow,n they just said that they were happy with me, not to read into [the decision] too much, but they just didnt want me playing three or four minutes a night – they wanted me to have some more ice-time," said Holland, recalled by the Leafs Monday after scoring three times in two games with the Marlies. In his first game back with the club, Holland moved up in the lineup, replacing Jay McClement alongside Nik Kulemin and David Clarkson against the Bruins. Carlyle suggested before the game that McClement, who entered the night averaging nearly 17 minutes per game, was being overused. "We think at times were overtaxing Jay McClement," said Carlyle. "Were playing him way too much and the results come back in our penalty-killing and his ability to continue to provide energy. Hes been a real solid player for us, but when we acquired him, we looked at him as being more of a fourth-line player that would step up and be our top penalty killer." Carlyle spoke briefly with Holland at the end of Tuesdays morning skate. His advice? "Just be a little bit more physical, just get inside on guys, just fight for a job," said Holland, who played nearly 11 minutes on Tuesday. Stats-Pack 1-2-0 – Record versus Boston this season. 3-8-4 – Road record since the start of November. 17 – Points for Tyler Bozak in the past 14 games. Bozak has six goals and 11 assists in that span. 1 – Regulation road victories since Oct. 30. 5-5-1 – Record on the first half of back-to-back sets this season. 10:26 – Ice-time for Peter Holland in his return to the Leafs on Tuesday. 1 – Goals for Nazem Kadri in the past 15 games. 3 – Consecutive multipoint games for Phil Kessel, who has seven points in that span. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-5 Season: 22.4% (5th) PK: 3-3 Season: 77.8% (27th) Quote of the Night "Hopefully it bleeds some of the demons out of us." - Randy Carlyle, on the significance of winning in Boston. Up Next The Leafs host the Sabres Wednesday in the second end of a back-to-back. 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