TORONTO – When he lines up at centre ice, James van Riemsdyk has an idea of what
he might attempt, but doesnt quite know for sure.
David Pastrnak Bruins Jersey . Now tied for
second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the
opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. He and
the Leafs continue to find good fortune in the individual reality that is the
shootout, now up to a league-leading nine victories following a 4-3 edging of
the Sabres at the ACC on Wednesday night. "The shootout is a game in itself
obviously," said head coach Randy Carlyle afterward, his team boasting a 9-4
record in such situations. "When you win them its a positive. When you lose them
its a negative. Thats the bottom line. "Were fortunate this year that our record
in the shootout is a real strong positive for our hockey club and its earned I
dont know how many extra points." Still trying to establish who and what they
are, the Leafs have needed each and every one of the nine additional points
theyve gained from their success in the shootout. On a whole lot of nights,
including Wednesdays against the league-worst Sabres, theyve struggled to find a
complete performance only to emerge with a victory of sorts in the shootout.
Carlyle assigns shootout selection duties to assistant coach Greg Cronin. His
choices have narrowed recently around three shooters – van Riemsdyk,
Joffrey Lupul, and Tyler Bozak – each of whom has been better than 60 per cent
on the season. Leaf shooters have actually been among the most accurate in the
league this season after posting the worst mark in 2013. Led by Lupul, who has
scored on six of seven attempts, including the winner against Buffalo, Toronto
owns a 48.6 per cent success mark in the shootout – good for second-best in the
NHL. Last season, a year in which they dropped every one of their five
shootouts, the Leafs had the most futile shooters in the league – just 12.5 per
cent on 24 attempts. Bozak, in fact, was the lone shooter to even score. Toronto
boasts eight shootout victories since the start of November, owning just five in
regulation in that same span. Now streaking with wins in three consecutive
games, they sit seventh in the East with 53 points. "Theres been a lot of extra
points gained by it," said Carlyle of the shootout, which sealed the season
series with Buffalo. "If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what
our job is [to] get ourselves back [on track] and climbing into a playoff
position." Five Points 1. Balance Rare is the night in which the Leafs have
received offence from many different sources, but against the Sabres that was
just the case. Each of the top three units accounted for a goal in victory,
including Phil Kessels 22nd of the year, Nik Kulemins sixth and the second in
the NHL career of Morgan Rielly, set up by generally quiet second unit (more on
that below). "Its always an advantage if you can get three lines providing
certain levels of offence," said Carlyle, who moved Peter Holland onto a third
unit recently in hopes of spurring more of an attack. Toronto had scored eight
goals in the previous three games, all of which came from a scorching top line
of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak. "We need everybody contributing," Carlyle
continued. "If you look at the teams that are having success theyve spread that
offence around and theyve been able to get quality minutes from everyone in
their lineup." Often over-dependent on that top unit – each member played more
than 22 minutes vs. Buffalo – Wednesday marked just the 13th time in the past 35
games that the Leafs have managed three goals or more. 2. Second Line Slumber
Aside from an occasional burst or odd contribution – the line had a hand in the
third goal from Rielly – Torontos second line of Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and
Joffrey Lupul has remained an infrequent source of offence. Kadri has just one
goal in the past 16 games, Raymond has two goals in the past 21, and Lupul, the
most effective of the group recently, has still gone pointless in 12 of the past
18 outings. A source of production for the trio earlier in the year, some of the
trouble stems from lacking success on the power-play. Kadri has just one
power-play point in the past 19 games, Raymond owns three in the past 21 and
Lupul, just four in the previous 28 outings. 3. Reimers Night Making just his
second start since Dec. 21, James Reimer showing some rust in yielding three
goals on 30 shots to the Sabres, including an unlikely game-tying goal from
Cody Hodgson. The first marker from Matt Ellis snuck through short side. The
second goal, a Matt Moulson snipe from an odd-man Sabres rush, went post to post
and under the bar, a slick shot from the former Islander. The final strike, a
power-play marker from Hodgson, found an unlikely hole between Reimer and the
post – one that still puzzled the 25-year-old afterward. "I still dont really
know how it went in," said Reimer, who earned his first win since Dec. 19. "My
foot was against the post. Thats my play. Thats what I do. Ill look at the video
and see if it squeaked in somewhere where I can close it. I do that every play,
every time and its never gone in." 4. Stacked Deck Jonathan Bernier has
unquestionably grabbed hold of the Toronto crease in recent weeks, but theres
also no doubting that Reimer has been handed a bad deck of cards. A look at the
25-year-olds five starts prior to Wednesday night and the poor performances
which surrounded them: • Dec. 12 at St. Louis: 6-3 LReimers Night: 3 goals/15
shots*Post-Game Quote: "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a
lot of areas." – Randy Carlyle • Dec. 17 vs. Florida: 3-1 LReimers Night: 3
goals/23 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We simply got embarrassed." – Mason Raymond
• Dec. 19 vs. Phoenix: 2-1 SOWReimers Night: 1 goal/35 shots.Post-Game Quote:
"Thats the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and
battle." – Joffrey Lupul • Dec. 21 vs. Detroit: 5-4 SOLReimers Night: 3 goals/12
shots* Post-Game Quote: "Obviously we didnt have a very good first period." –
Randy Carlyle • Jan. 9 at Carolina: 6-1 LReimers Night: 6 goals/36
shotsPost-Game Quote: "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight." –
Randy Carlyle *Pulled after the first period 5. Riellys Progress Morgan Rielly
is now 40 games into his NHL career, adding his 13th point against the Sabres.
The 19-year-old has, according to Carlyle, "taken some steps and then has taken
a few sideways", evaluated with a similar lens as his 23-year-old defence
partner Jake Gardiner. "Our expectations for Morgan arent as high as they are
for Jake at this point just being where he is in his career," said Carlyle.
"Theyre both talented young players. We think that theres a future for those two
guys to be a big part of our defence. We want to make sure were handling them
the right way." Unlike Gardiner, who was pulled from the lineup last week,
Rielly has played in every game since early December, when he sat for three
consecutive games with World Junior speculation swirling. Stats-Pack 9 –
Shootout victories this season, most in the NHL. 48.6 per cent - Effectiveness
of Toronto shooters in the shootout this season. 1 – Goals in the past 16 games
for Nazem Kadri. 5-6-0 – Record in the second end of back-to-back sets this
season. 2 – Goals in the past 21 games for Mason Raymond. 3-1-1 – Record versus
Buffalo this season. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel. Kessel
has two goals and eight points in that span. 23:33 – Ice-time for Kessel against
the Sabres, most among forwards. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 22.1 per
cent (5th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Youre in the
same locker room then youre in the same bus, the same plane, the same hotel. The
hardest part is trying to stop it from going through the entire team. Those guys
have kind of been quarantined off and the rest of us have been just washing our
hands and trying to stay away from it." -Joffrey Lupul, on stopping the spread
of the flu bug through the Leafs dressing room. Up Next The Leafs host Montreal
at the ACC on Saturday.
Ryan Spooner Bruins Jersey . "Right now were
kind of looking at him at the end of the rotation right now," said pitching
coach Pete Walker. "Not indicative of how hes doing or how hes feeling. Its
just, it seems like the spot we want him right now.
Bobby Orr Bruins Jersey . -- Kansas City
Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will
sideline the pitcher for the season.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Washington forward
Drew Gooden has been fined $15,000 by the NBA for attempting to throw the Lakers
Nick Young to the floor during the Wizards victory Friday night. League
president of operationss Rod Thorn says Saturday that Gooden committed an
unnecessary act when he clamped Youngs arm with 2:14 remaining in the game.
Gerry Cheevers Bruins Jersey. Gooden was
called for a flagrant 2 foul and automatically ejected.
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