shots for the win. Joe Hicketts scored the lone goal for Victoria (1-1-0) and Patrik Polivk | Forum

NEW YORK – Jonathan Bernier had one thing running through his mind amid an avalanche of shots in what was a wildly tilted second period for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Salomon XT Hornet . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. "I thought Bernie stood on his head and gave us a chance to steal another point," said Randy Carlyle after the 2-1 shootout defeat, the teams 10th loss in the past 11 games on the road. Nudging a puck past the pads of rookie Cam Talbot, Nazem Kadri evened the score at one with less than two minutes to play in regulation. His efforts would have been for not if it wasnt for the sterling play of the 25-year-old between the pipes. The Rangers outshot the Leafs 22-5 in a penalty-filled second frame, firing 18 shots in a span of just 12 minutes. "We had a bit of a rough stretch there," Kadri said, "but thats why weve got great goaltenders. We werent worried because we know Bernie can hang in there and make some big stops for us. Obviously weve got to find a way to tone that down, but he gave us a chance to win the game." Toronto goaltending has been that kind of rock through hard times all season, the lone bit of solace amid continued spurts of inconsistency. The bookends of Mondays performance were solid for the Leafs, nearly undone though by a second frame under siege. "Im just trying to keep it close," said Bernier of the experience in the second. "I know were going to score one goal and Im just trying to do my job and go shot by shot." It was the fourth 40-plus save performance for Bernier in 22 starts this season. He now boasts a .929 save percentage on the year, good for seventh-best in the NHL. But the Quebec native wouldnt go so far to say hell stole a point for his team. In fact, he couldnt help but lament the two goals that snuck by in the shootout. "I didnt steal one," he said. "I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." Five Points 1. Bernier Shootout Struggles Bernier dropped to 3-8 lifetime in the shootout and 2-4 this season. His career .500 save percentage is amongst the worst of any active goaltender (tied for 68th in a class of 77). He was beaten on this night by Mats Zuccarello, who flipped a shot over his left shoulder, and Derek Stepan, who potted the eventual winner. "I thought the first two I was a little bit impatient," said Bernier. "Ive got to go get that extra point for my team." 2. Road Woes The road has offered nothing but misery for the Leafs since the start of November. With Mondays shootout defeat, theyve now dropped 10 of the last 11 games away from the ACC (1-6-4), outscored 36-20 in that span. Their lone victory in that stretch came on Dec. 7, a 4-3 shootout triumph over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Now 6-8-4, the Leafs have the fourth-worst road mark in the Eastern Conference. 3. Means to Victory Saved often by the efforts of Bernier and James Reimer, the Leafs now sit 13-1-2 on the year when theyve yielded two goals or less. Conversely, their record is just 5-15-3 when theyve allowed three goals or more. 4. Christmas Break "This is the dog days of hockey when you get close to the 40-game mark," said Carlyle. And with a three-day break lying in wait for the holidays, he and the Leafs are just hoping to reset with an increasingly taxing second half ahead. "Its been a real hectic schedule here for the last three weeks, Ill tell you that," Carlyle said of a stretch which saw his team play 12 times in 23 days. "It seems like we play every second day and theres no relaxing time and then theres very limited practice time." With just one regulation victory in the past 18 games, theyll need to find a path towards improvement. "You just cant look at all the negatives," said Kadri, who scored his 11th goal of the year in defeat. "Youve got to look at the positives. I know thats a bit cliché, but its the right thing to do. You also point out the negatives and you go to the chalkboard and you work on it. But I think a few of those games weve played some of our better games of the year and still come out with losses. Thats just how this league works." 5. Lengthy Shift For one stretch in the Rangers dominant second frame, Dion Phaneuf was caught on the ice for a taxing two minutes and 56 seconds. New York fired five shots on goal before Peter Holland was finally whistled for roughing, the first of four penalties for the Leafs in the period. "Not very good," said Phaneuf, asked how he felt during the near-three minute shift. "When you get stuck out that long its tough. "I was trying to change obviously. I wouldve liked to not get stuck out there for that long, but its part of what happens. Sometimes teams are able to hem another team in and thats what happened tonight." Stats-Pack .929 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier this season, seventh-best in the NHL. 3-8 – Career record in the shootout for Bernier. 1 – Regulation victory for the Leafs since Nov. 19. 1-6-4 – Leafs record on the road in the past 11 games. 5-4 – Shootout record for the Leafs this season. 13-1-2 – Leafs record when yielding two goals or less this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 22.4 per cent (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 78.4 per cent (26th) Quote of the Night "I didnt steal one. I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." -Jonathan Bernier, following his 42-save performance. Up Next The Leafs are off three days for the Christmas break, returning to host Buffalo on Friday night. Chaussure Salomon Promo . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Salomon Speedcross 3 Cs Rouge . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.salomonchaussuressoldes.fr/salomon-xt-wings-3.html . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play.SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. -- The Swift Current Broncos took advantage of their power-play chances on Saturday as they edged the visiting Regina Pats 3-2 in Western Hockey League action. All three of the Broncos (2-0-0) goals came by way of the man advantage, including Graham Blacks winner at 13:43 of the third period. Colby Cave and Jake DeBrusk also scored for Swift Current while Julius Honka picked up three assists. Chandler Stephenson and Dyson Stevenson scored for the Pats (0-2-0). Landon Bow made 18 saves for the win as Teagan Sacher turned aside 29 shots in a losing cause. Swift Current went 3 for 6 on the power play while Regina scored twice on five chances with the man advantage. --- Wheat Kings 3 Warriors 1 BRANDON, -- Eric Roy set up all three of his clubs goals and Curtis Honey made 40 saves as the Wheat Kings defeated Moose Jaw. Chad Robinson had a goal and an assist for Brandon (2-0-0) while John Quenneville and Taylor Cooper added a goal apiece. Brayden Point scored a power-play goal for the Warriors (0-2-0) late in the third period to snap Honeys shutout bid. Justin Paulic turned away 28-of-31 shots in defeat. --- Raiders 6 Blades 5 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Leon Draisaitl scored once and set up two more as the Raiders edged Saskatoon. Sawyer Lange, Dakota Conroy, Matteo Gennaro, Gage Quinney and Dylan Busenius also scored for Prince Albert (2-0-0) as Cole Cheveldave stopped 24 shots for the win. Collin Valcourt led the Blades (0-2-0) offensively with two goals and an assist while Brett Stovin chipped in three assists. Matt Revel, David Nemecek and Ryan Graham each scored once for Saskatoon and Troy Trombley made 26 saves in defeat. --- Rebels 6 Ice 3 RED DEER, Alta. -- Rhyse Dieno, Brooks Maxwell and Lukas Sutter each had a goal and two assists as the Rebels doubled up Kootenay. Brady Maxwell had a goal and an assist for Red Deer (2-0-0) while Adam Musil and Matt Bellerive added a goal apiece. Sam Reinhart, Kyle OConnor and Luke Philp supplied the offence for the Ice (0-2-0). Patrik Bartosak made 29 saves for the win as Mackenzie Skapski stopped 35 shots in a losing cause. --- Tigers 6 Hurricanes 2 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. -- Logan McVeigh had a goal and two assists and Daniel Wapple made 23 saves as the Tigers beat Lethbridge. Blake Penner, Chad Butcher and Trevor Cox each had a goal and an assist for Medicine Hat (2-0-0) while Cole Sanford and Dylan Bredoo added singles. Salomon Speedcross 3 Cs Soldes. Josh Derko Giorgio Estephan scored for the Hurricanes (0-2-0) as Christopher Tai stopped 29-of-35 shots in defeat. --- Silvertips 8 Cougars 3 EVERETT, Wash. -- Joshua Winquist had three goals and an assist as the Silvertips crushed Prince George. Dawson Leedahl and Manraj Hayer each scored twice for the Silvertips (1-0-0) while Tyler Sandhu added a single goal. Matt Pufahl, Brayden Low and Ivan Nikolishin chipped in two assists apiece as Austin Lotz stopped 29 shots for the win. Klarc Wilson scored twice for the Cougars (0-2-0) and David Soltes had the other. Brett Zarowny took the loss after giving up four goals on 20 shots through 21 minutes of action. Ty Edmonds replaced Zarowny and stopped 18-of-22 shots in relief. --- Rockets 5 Blazers 2 KELOWNA, B.C. -- Tyson Baillie had two goals and four points as the Rockets downed Kamloops. Madison Bowey, Nick Merkley and Cole Linaker also scored for Kelowna (2-0-0) while Jesse Lees chipped in two assists. Mitch Lipon and Joe Kornelsen supplied the offence for the Blazers (0-2-0). Jordon Cooke made 24 saves for the win as Bolton Pouliot turned away 37-of-41 shots in defeat. --- Thunderbirds 4 Winterhawks 3 (SO) KENT, Wash. -- Justin Myles made 39 saves and Branden Troock scored the shootout winner as Seattle slipped past Portland. Roberts Lipsbergs scored twice in regulation for the Thunderbirds (1-0-0) while Jerret Smith added the other. Ethan Price, Chase De Leo and Oliver Bjorkstrand supplied the scoring for the Winterhawks (1-0-1) and Taylor Leier had two assists. Brendan Burke stopped 37-of-40 shots in defeat. --- Chiefs 6 Americans 2 KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Mitch Holmberg scored three times and set up one more as Spokane beat Tri-City. Liam Stewart, Mike Aviani and Connor Chartier each had a goal and an assist for the Chiefs (1-0-0) and Jason Fram had two assists. Beau McCue and Taylor Vickerman scored for the Americans (0-1-0). Eric Williams stopped 23 shots for the win while Eric Comrie took the loss after giving up six goals on 37 shots. --- Giants 2 Royals 1 VICTORIA, -- Carter Popoffs second period goal stood up as the game winner as Vancouver edged the Royals. Rob Trzonkowski also scored for the Giants (1-1-0) while Payton Lee stopped 30-of-31 shots for the win. Joe Hicketts scored the lone goal for Victoria (1-1-0) and Patrik Polivka made 19 saves in the loss. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '