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uch time hitting people and try
in General Chat Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:26 pmby yyys123 • | 1.470 Posts
TORONTO - Its too early in his tenure as interim coach to know what a Peter Horachek-coached team looks like, but the Toronto Maple Leafs gave a pretty good indication of the new standard in his second game behind the bench.In beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 Friday night at Air Canada Centre, the Maple Leafs responded to an early deficit, out-shot an opponent and kept pressing with the lead. In other words, Horachek hockey helped end a three-game losing streak.I definitely feel like thats how we need to approach every game, for sure, said Horachek, who was awarded the teams camouflage hoodie by players after his first win as Leafs coach. Its not going to be perfect all the time, but what we want them to do is play more in that direction that we played tonight.The Leafs out-shot the Blue Jackets 32-20. The 20 shots were the second fewest of the season (10 vs. Buffalo Oct. 28) and the second time in 42 games Toronto allowed under 24 shots in a game.That itself was an accomplishment.I think its all part of the process, defenceman Cody Franson said. To keep a team to under 25 shots takes a lot of work. But the work that youre doing allows you to play a less exhausting game. If you play hard in your D-zone you dont spend as much time down there, and therefore you dont have to spend as much time hitting people and trying to defend. You can get in the offensive zone and not necessarily have to be as physical.When the Leafs (22-17-3) got chances, they took advantage. Tyler Bozak, Daniel Winnik, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk scored on 2013 Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, and van Riemsdyk added an empty-netter for good measure.All that came after Blue Jackets centre Ryan Johansen scored 3:15 in on the first shot on Jonathan Bernier, who finished with 18 saves. Horachek told his team to stick with it, dont let anything bother you and just keep going, and players listened.Our team really responded, captain Dion Phaneuf said. We stuck with the way that we had to play. We didnt give up a whole lot all night and it was start-to-finish probably one of our strongest games that weve played as a team.For a team striving for some measure of consistency, this was it. General manager Dave Nonis blamed fits of inconsistency for the firing of coach Randy Carlyle on Tuesday.Leafs president Brendan Shanahan delivered the same message in speaking with players Friday morning, that this isnt good enough. The group that took the ice against Columbus (18-18-3) looked like it took that message to heart.Hes the boss of our organization and the president of our team, so when he addresses the team, the team listens with open ears, Phaneuf said. It wasnt a negative meeting, but it was about what he expects from our team — very straightforward, professional, and I thought our team responded well and in the right way.The Blue Jackets didnt respond the way coach Todd Richards would have liked. Two Toronto goals came as a result of the puck going in off a defenceman, and the Leafs two power-play goals came after some poor discipline.They were bad penalties, Richards said. We lost too many battles on the walls, in the corners. I think we took four penalties so youre giving a team, plus the five-on-three just off of a line change. So, bad penalties. You arent giving yourself a chance to win.Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was playing his first game since signing a US$29.7-million, four-year extension earlier in the day. Bobrovsky stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced and couldnt be faulted much for the loss.It was tough, Bobrovsky said. Tough game. Tough start, but weve got to find a way.The Leafs found a way by committing to the kind of defence-first style Horachek wants. Its not that theyre suffocating in their own zone, but keeping shots against down by keeping the puck and dictating the pace is part of the plan.They always say when youre in the offensive zone, its tough for them to score some goals, Winnik said.Scoring two power-play goals for the first time in over a month, the Leafs showed they could make a team pay for penalties. But perhaps the most impressive part of this victory was how they didnt go into a shell after building a three-goal lead.Instead, the Leafs kept pushing and limited the Blue Jackets opportunities to get back into the game.I think thats been one of our faults this year is when we have leads like that, we sit back, Winnik said. But I thought we did a great job of just taking it to them.The Leafs embark on a four-game road trip that takes them to Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose and St. Louis. They face the Stanley Cup-champion Kings on Monday.Horachek has been around the game long enough to know its impossible to play this kind of game every night. But his players can try.Thats the kind of game that were striving towards on an every-night basis, Franson said. If we can play like that as a group, we spend less time in on our own zone and were a much better team because of it.Notes — Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier finished with 18 saves for his 16th victory of the season. ... Referee Dean Morton was upended by David Clarkson in an accidental collision early in the first period. Morton flipped in the air and went down to the ice in pain. After being attended to by training staff, Morton was helped off and did not return. Marc Joanette worked the rest of the game with linesmen Greg Devorski and Mark Shewchyk. ... Kessel was playing in his 406th consecutive game, second in Leafs history behind only Tim Horton (486). ... The late J.P. Parise was honoured on the video screens in the first period. Parise, a member of Canadas 1972 Summit Series team, died Wednesday night from lung cancer. He was 73.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Vincent Lecavalier Lightning Jersey .com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Alex Killorn Jersey . Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Brayden-Point-Jersey/ . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Nikita Kucherov Jersey . -- One shot came out of bottom of a cactus, the other from the base of a desert bush with rocks scattered around it. Ryan McDonagh Jersey . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex.ADELAIDE, Australia - Australias top-ranked junior player has been banned for a year by a Tennis Australia tribunal for taking the party drug ecstasy. Brad Mousley, 18, is the first Australian tennis player to be sanctioned for drug use in the decision announced Thursday. The Adelaide-based Mousley, ranked the 17th junior in the world, admitted taking the drug at a birthday party in March. He was drug tested two days later after a qualifying match for a Futures tour event in Melbourne.dddddddddddd Mousley tested positive for the banned stimulant methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy. He faced a two-year suspension but told the tribunal he had not taken the drug to enhance his performance. The suspension was backdated to May 30, when he accepted a provisional ban. ' ' 'd." Marmol has an 8.10 ERA, having allowed 12 runs on 16 hits over 13 1-3 innings. "I didnt work out," Marmol said. "You got to get people out here. Its tough. Theres not much to say. I tried my best on the mound and it didnt work out." Casey McGehee hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Marlins, whose road record dropped to 3-12, worst in the majors. Eric Stults (2-3) allowed two runs on six hits over six innings. The switch-hitting Headley came into the game batting just .186 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 70 at-bats. He was one of four San Diego regulars hitting below .200. NOTES: The Padres have scored just 10 runs while Stults was in the game in his eight starts. . The Marlins came into the game with an 8-2 record against left-handed starters, tops in the majors. . Padres RHP Hector Ambriz, designated for assignment on Thursday, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso on Saturday. . Marlins RHP Henderson Alvarez (2-2, 2.62 ERA) faces Padres LHP Robbie Erlin (1-4, 4.95) in Sundays finale. ' ' '
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