t. 2. Winnik Effect Surely the Leafs best li

PHILADELPHIA -- Despite a poorly timed losing streak, Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle still believes Toronto can turn its season around before its too late. The Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision on Friday to the Philadelphia Flyers, their seventh straight loss, and remain outside of a post-season berth. Carlyle, however, said that his team just needs to clean up the little things and they should be fine with seven games remaining in the regular season. "Theyve proven to us before that they can play the game at a high level," said Carlyle. "If we can tidy up the turnover situation...we got to win more one-on-one battles for the puck. Those are the things at this juncture in the season thats imperative, that we win those battles. And right now were not winning enough." Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk, who scored his 29th goal of the season on Friday, agreed with his coach. "I think our work ethic has been good, we havent quit," said van Riemsdyk. "Weve played hard to the end, sometimes were just not getting the bounces." Vinny Lecavalier, Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, while goaltender Steve Mason stopped 32 shots for the win. David Bolland also scored for the Leafs and Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves in defeat. Lecavalier opened the scoring for Philadelphia 5:35 into the first period as Toronto tried to kill off 1:36 of a 5-on-3 power play. Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf was forced to take the face-off after centre Jay McClement was tossed from the draw. After Phaneuf lost the faceoff to Giroux, Lecavalier one timed the puck past Bernier after being set up by defenceman Kimmo Timonen. "They score a five-on-three goal, our centre gets kicked out, I dont know if we could have covered it differently," said Carlyle. Van Riemsdyk responded for Toronto just four seconds into the second period, tying the NHL record for the fastest goal to start a period. After centre Tyler Bozak won the draw forward, van Riemsdyk skated ahead and put the puck past Mason to even the score. "Bozie made the play pretty much, he decided he was going to push it ahead," said van Riemsdyk. "He made a great play and I just fired it on net." "It was a big spark," Carlyle said of the goal. "We had a lot of momentum for our hockey club but we just werent able to carry it through." Hartnell killed any Toronto momentum when he gave Philadelphia the lead back at 11:03 of the second after a backhand tip on a shot from Timonen. Giroux made it 3-1 at 4:55 of the third period when he fired a slapper from the circle over Berniers right shoulder. Bolland brought the Leafs within a goal at 6:18. Simmonds, however, put the game out of reach at 12:39. "I look at it as we came here to work, we worked hard," said Carlyle. "Were we smart enough in some areas? No. But we gave ourselves a chance." Toronto is in a four-way tie for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference, but sit outside a post-season position because of playing more games than any of the other three clubs. One of those teams is the Detroit Red Wings, who the Leafs will face on Saturday. Carlyle knows a win over the Red Wings is as big as it gets. "We have an opportunity tomorrow night, its the biggest game of the year." Wilson Ramos Jersey . - Jesse Shynkaruk scored a hat trick as the Moose Jaw Warriors snapped a seven-game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders in Western Hockey League action on Saturday. Tom Seaver Jersey . -- Cole De Vries had a couple of key strikeouts during what could have been the inning that doomed him to defeat against the Kansas City Royals, allowing him to escape further damage and keep the game tied up. http://www.metsbaseballauthentic.com/pet...so-mets-jersey/. "Uuufff," was all shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria could come up with after Stantons latest mammoth shot. Steven Matz Jersey . Theres little time for rest, too. The Flyers and Rangers play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Simmonds scored in the first period and twice more in the second for his first career post-season hat trick. Mason survived a busy first period and stopping 31 straight shots until Carl Hagelin scored late in the third. Pedro Martinez Jersey . -- Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf has been suspended two games for his hit from behind on Kevan Miller of the Bruins.TORONTO – Stephane Robidas isnt making any excuses. Not about the more than five months of rehab and recovery from another broken right leg. Not about missing training camp. Not about the one exhibition game he was able to play before making his Maple Leafs debut. Not about the quality of competition. Not about the challenge of revving the engine back up after such a significant injury at the crisp old age of 37. Its up to me, said Robidas after his team squeaked out an overtime win against the Avalanche on Tuesday night. Its my job to get ready and be a good player for this team and help this team. Im not doing that right now. Its something Im going to work on and Ill get back to where I should be. Robidas is feeling fine physically – great most days he says – but theres a sharpness to his game thats lacking right now and he knows it. Whether its making the wrong read or the wrong pass or getting beat for a puck that should be his – Sidney Crosbys first goal in a Saturday night loss to Pittsburgh – theres an element thats not there right now. Perhaps its the predictable rust of a player who spent nine months in less than a years time recovering from two different knee injuries, including the longest stretch from mid-April until the point of his exhibition debut on Oct. 3. Robidas wont go there though, that would be an excuse. Its not easy doing what hes doing – we know that, said head coach Randy Carlyle prior to Tuesdays game. He missed a good part of training camp [and] he only got to play one exhibition game so all those things are hurdles that he has to overcome in this situation. And its not like were hiding him in our lineup, hes playing and hes playing big minutes and hes playing up against some of the oppositions best lines. Or at least that was the case until Tuesday evening. Robidas had been playing with Dion Phaneuf on the teams top pairing for the first three games of the regular season, but against the Avalanche, he was shifted onto the third unit with second-year defender, Morgan Rielly. And while Carlyle said the move was more about the performance of Cody Franson on Sunday, its evident that the real aim was to lighten the load and pressure on Robidas. Its a wise move given the circumstance. Robidas didnt look sharp against Colorado. He was forced to take a penalty on the very first shift of the game and nearly cost the Leafs a chance at victory when he gave the puck away to Matt Duchene in the final frame of regulation – Duchene failed to score on the breakaway – with his team trailing by a goal. He finished with less than 14 minutes of ice time for the second time in four games, fewest among the Leafs six defenders. Im always making the wrong read and making the wrong plays or the wrong pass at the wrong time, he said. Im not where I want to be. It was a tough one again tonight for me. I dont know really know how to explain it. Robidas broke his right knee twice in a span of four months last season, a crazy set of bad luck for a player who donned the Dallas Stars uniform proudly for 11 seasons. He was carted off the ice in his last shift for the Stars, reinjuring the knee once more as a Duck against Dallas in the playoffs. Given his age and the severity of the injury, the Leafs took a risk in signing him to a three-year pact this past summer, but were confident that he would overcome the injury and offer the valuable veteran presence they had been lacking on the back-end. He can still be that guy, but its clear it will take some time. Its all the little things that Im not doing right, Robidas concluded. I cant blame anyone but me. Its up to me to find a way to be better. Im going to keep working at it and Ill get better. Five Points 1. Game-Winner Phil Kessel was point-less and totally displeased with his early performance after two games and two losses. Since then, hes scored twice and totaled five points in back-to-back wins, including the Leafs first on home-ice Tuesday. He beat Semyon Varlamov five-hole in overtime for his 37th career game-winning goal. Hes a dynamic player, said Joffrey Lupul of Kessel. You can not notice him for a stretch of time and then he gets the puck with speed and has an ability to change a game in a matter of seconds. Not many guys in the league have that. 2. Winnik Effect Surely the Leafs best line of the early season is the trio of Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Winnik. The unit dominated possession against Colorado – approaching 70 per cent at even-strength – with Lupul scoring the game-tying goal midway through the final frame. That goal was instigated by Winnik, who pressured Avalanche defender Brad Stuart into turning over the puck in the defensive zone. Winnik, a former member of the Avalanche who spent the past two seasons in Anaheim, has been sneaky good in his early Leafs tenure. He has killed penalties effectively (including more than four miinutes Tuesday) – and has yet to be scored on in four games.dddddddddddd And hes provided a valuable puck-hounding and trustworthy presence alongside Kadri and Lupul. Hes had a good effect on the whole team, said Lupul. Hes a veteran that knows what to do in the big situation, any situation really. Winnik currently boasts an even-strength possession rating that exceeds 60 per cent, amongst the best on the team through four games. 3. Healthy Scratch Two seasons ago – during the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign – Jake Gardiner, then struggling through his second NHL season, was made a healthy scratch on 10 different occasions. He was scratched twice last year and again, for the second straight game, on Tuesday night. This happens, Gardiner said Tuesday morning. Its happened to me a few times before. It happens to everybody. You cant play great all the time. Just rebound the next time I get an opportunity. Those are coachs decisions that you have to deal with, Carlyle said. We feel that we have a quality hockey player that can play to a higher level and he agrees with that. So to me, thats end of story. Theres a history of disconnect between player and organization here, stemming from a stream of trade rumours, trips to the Marlies, lineup decisions and performance. The 24-year-old also just started a new five-year contract worth more than $20 million, a real show of faith to someone who wondered about his future in Toronto previously. Carlyle insists hes just sticking to the philosophy of meritocracy pushed at training camp, but theres a careful line he has to walk between alienating Gardiner and guiding him along in what the Leafs hope will be a fruitful career. 4. Jumping into the NHL Now 324 games into his NHL career, Cody Franson offered a detailed perspective on the challenges of jumping into the league as a young defenceman – much like 21-year-old Stuart Percy: If youre a defensive guy youre going to notice how quick and strong and shifty players are. When youre in the minors you can push guys around a little bit, youre playing against some younger kids sometimes and guys that arent at that [NHL] calibre. And then when you try to be a defensive guy in the NHL youre playing against guys like Datsyuk and Crosby, Malkin, and all those guys who can do unlimited things with the puck while being extremely strong on it. You cant just manpower them. If youre a defensive guy youll notice that. And if youre an offensive-minded guy youll notice how one little mistake can end up in the back of your net. You have to be very smart with the puck in this league. You really have to pick your spots; you cant just go, go, go. When you do that in the minors you can get away with things here and there. Obviously in that league theres guys that arent quite at this calibre and you might be able to get away with a turnover here or there, but here more times than not it ends up in your net. Percy played nearly 24 minutes against the Avalanche, trailing only Dion Phaneuf among Leafs. 5. First Week in the NHL Just about through his first week in the NHL, training camp sensation Brandon Kozun has learned a few things about life in the top league. I think the biggest thing that stands out is the pace, he said. The pace definitely is a step higher. Thats something that Ive had to adjust to. But I think overall that helps me. Playing at a higher pace forces me to keep my feet moving and when Im doing that Im most effective. Kozun, who started the year with Kadri and Lupul before moving to the teams fourth unit, is looking to shoot the puck more often as his rookie campaign rolls on. He had two attempts on goal in the opener – one leading to a goal from Kadri – but hasnt landed a shot on goal since. His NHL audition continues. The Leafs are closely evaluating the 24-year-old, intent on determining whether he can sustain his energetic presence and effect against the games top talent. Though he played just under six minutes Tuesday, Kozun did make his presence felt late against the Avalanche. His pressure on a third period penalty kill forced a holding penalty on Alex Tanguay, one that led to a dangerous power-play for the Leafs which Carlyle labeled the turning point of the teams first home win. Stats-Pack 23:34 – Ice-time for Stuart Percy on Tuesday, second-most among the Leafs. 6 – Points through four games for Tyler Bozak, including a pair versus Colorado. 11-16 – Faceoff mark for Nazem Kadri against the Avalanche. 31-12 – Shots advantage for the Leafs over the final two periods. 13:28 – Ice-time for Stephane Robidas on Tuesday. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-5 Season: 29.4 per cent PK: 3-3 Season: 75 per cent Quote of the Night Play better. -Randy Carlyle, on what Jake Gardiner needed to do upon returning to the lineup. Up Next The Leafs host the Red Wings Friday before visiting Detroit on Saturday. ' ' '