Brett Festerling and Mark Flood

Posted in IYH Forums by fangxu0220 at 06:31, Jun 19 2015

TORONTO - What a difference three days made for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the Winter Classic they played in front of 105,491 fans, many of whom drove several hours to Michigan Stadium to watch the spectacle amid frigid temperatures. Saturday night against the New York Rangers they were booed off the ice multiple times in an embarrassing 7-1 loss at Air Canada Centre that snapped the Leafs winning streak at three. "Getting booed off the ice in the first period, second period and the end of the game — and we deserved it," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "We were not good in any aspect. We dont feel very good about ourselves right now." There wasnt much to feel good about as the Leafs (21-17-5) experienced the worst kind of let-down from the high of the Winter Classic. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who had been stellar lately, was pulled for the first time all season, David Clarkson and Carl Gunnarsson left with injuries and everything fell apart at the seams. "Sometimes you have losses where you take some positives out of: some guys played well, you did certain things well, you didnt do other things well," said Lupul, who had Torontos only goal. "Tonight we did nothing well. Theres not much we can take out of this other than just not wanting to have this feeling in here again." The feeling of the loss led to the home locker-room being closed to the media much longer than usual. Coach Randy Carlyle called his teams lack of a push-back the "most disappointing thing" as goals piled up from Carl Hagelin, Dominic Moore (two), Benoit Pouliot, Chris Kreider, Brad Richards and Brian Byle. He shared the same sentiment with players. "My message was it was unacceptable to play and to feel that we were not embarrassed by what our performance was," Carlyle said. "And I stressed we." There was plenty of soul-searching after the Leafs most lopsided loss of the season, and as Lupul pointed out, plenty of blame to go around. Bernier, who had stopped 181-of-190 shots since relieving James Reimer on Dec. 21 against the Detroit Red Wings, gave up five goals on 32 shots to the Rangers before getting yanked for the first time this season. Moores first goal from a bad angle, which made it 2-0, was the softest he has allowed in a long time. Still, this one couldnt be pinned on Bernier, or even Reimer, who didnt fare much better in allowing two goals on 18 shots. "They had the freedom to roam about the ice and do what they wanted to do, and we didnt engage in the competitive side of it of limiting their space, stepping in front of anybody, skating in front of anybody to impede the progress," Carlyle said. "Obviously we left our goalies hanging high and dry." With the Leafs rarely in control of the puck and players being a step slow at times, the Rangers (21-20-2) pounced. They scored at least six goals for the first time this season and could have had as many as nine if Rick Nash finished on an empty net early and a late goal by Pouliot wasnt called back for Boyle interfering with Reimer. It was a real bounce-back effort for New York after losing 5-2 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. "I know the guys were ready last night and turned the page on it, analyzed it, we got ready, the guys came out, moved the puck well, got some good opportunities and we were able to finish a couple," coach Alain Vigneault said. It stuck out that the Leafs couldnt keep pace with the Rangers, who travelled and were playing the second half of back-to-back games. "Its always disappointing when you give up seven goals, and especially they played last night," Bernier said. "They were just quicker and faster than us." All night the Leafs had no answers for what the Rangers were doing in the offensive zone. Defenceman Cody Franson, who was burned a couple of times on plays that led to goals, knew he and his teammates were on their heels from the get-go. "We got outworked, to put it mildly," Franson said. The Leafs certainly didnt do enough work to put pressure on Rangers backup goaltender Cam Talbot, who stopped 25 of the 26 shots thrown on net. It was another steady outing from the rookie, who improved to 9-3-0 with a 1.66 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. "Ive always just kind of started as a backup and then started playing more games, so Ive been in these situations before and you learn from every situation youre in," Talbot said. Theres not much the Leafs can learn from this one. They lost Clarkson to a left foot injury after he got hit with a shot from Rangers defenceman Michael Del Zotto and Gunnarsson to an upper-body injury following a hit from Hagelin. "No offence to those guys, but I dont know if they wouldve been helping tonight," Lupul said. "You never like to see guys go down, and those are two veteran guys and were hoping theyre all right. ... Thats certainly not an excuse for how we played tonight." Getting beaten so handily right after the Winter Classic was a ready-made excuse, even though Lupul and Carlyle noted that the Leafs were relieved to be done with the hype that came with the game and HBOs "24/7." Carlyle ended his post-game news conference blowing off any excuses. "I just look at tonight, you could go forwards, defence, you could go to our whole group, and we didnt have the competitive edge thats required to have success," he said. "Everything that I say is going to be an excuse, so Im not here to make an excuse for anybody." With answers lacking and excuses thrown out, Lupul passed along to reporters what was said in the locker-room afterward. It wasnt pretty. "Were not proud of that game, its embarrassing," he said. "I apologize to people who paid money to see us play like that. Its one game and were going to feel pretty bad about this tonight and then hopefully tomorrow come back and practise and get some life and try to turn the page on it." After so much notable progress in recent games, the Leafs were outshot 50-26. The loss stunted any momentum they had been building. "We felt that we were becoming more competitive," Carlyle said. "And this one kind of sent an A-bomb." NOTES — Newly acquired defenceman Tim Gleason was a healthy scratch as Carlyle stuck with the same lineup from the Winter Classic. Gleason took warm-ups, but Carlyle announced Saturday morning that the former Carolina Hurricanes blue-liner would not play unless there was a late injury or illness. ... Talbot got the start after Henrik Lundqvist played Friday night in Pittsburgh and allowed five goals in a loss to the Penguins. Al Horford Jersey . The Vikings announced Saturday they downgraded Peterson from doubtful on the original injury report to out against Detroit Sunday, when the Vikings and Lions will play the last game at the Metrodome. Mike Bibby Hawks Jersey . The top-seeded Halep dropped four straight games to lose the second set, and staved off a break point in the first game of the third to eventually make her fourth final of the year. http://www.nbahawksofficial.com/womens-demarre-carroll-basketball-jersey/ . The Jets (30-29-9) have 69 points and trail the Stars (32-23-11) by six points for a Western Conference Wild Card playoff spot. Pete Maravich Hawks Jersey . The (27-25-5) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 59 points. Dallas and Nashville also have 59 points, the Stars have two games in hand on the Jets and Predators. Adreian Payne Hawks Jersey . The 30-year-old Jaffray played a shortened 2010-11 season with the AHLs Manitoba Moose.There are many theories when it comes to winning in hockey. Good teams find ways to win is one of them. Finding ways to win masks problem areas is another. Having your goaltender steal games falls in there somewhere as well. Ondrej Pavelec was brilliant against the Islanders on Thursday. Especially in the second period when he stopped 19 shots, and when the Jets killed off a penalty that carried over from the second, the game was done. Pavelec had flat out destroyed the New York Islanders will to win. The Isles had scored but 7 goals in their last 5 games, had been shut out twice this season, and - try as they may - Pavelec was in their heads, recording his 7th career shutout in a 3-0 win. "The first two periods was about them," is how Pavelec explained it. "But our penalty killing was huge, we were better in the third and we found a way to win." The Jets have done that on this trip. They gave up a lead late in Philly then scored late to win. They gave up a lead in the third, tied it late and won in a shootout in Florida. And tonight, they outshot the Islanders 28-14 after two, and then outshot the Islanders 12-6 in the third. The penalty kill was 3-for-3 and the Jets never had a power play, although Evander Kane did have a first period penalty shot but hit the post. That after his fifth goal in six games opened the scoring. The Jets fell to 0-for-2 in penalty shots this season. There were many other story lines to this game, as well. Blocked shots, (including oone that may have Randy Jones on the shelf), key faceoff wins by Brian Little, a great performance from Johnny Oduya (rewarded with a goal at 16:04 of the third), and getting quality minutes out of call-ups Brett Festerling and Mark Flood all played a part in this game.dddddddddddd Throughout the game Jim Slater, Chris Thorburn, Nik Antropov and Jones all left the ice in pain because of blocked shots with all but Jones returning. He will be re examined Friday. "Pav was terrific," added Coach Claude Noel. "We didnt play very well in the second, but we had some major blocks and found a way to win. The guys sacrificed their bodies." The Jets were already without Tobias Enstrom (broken collarbone), Mark Stuart, Ron Hainsey and Derek Meech, and now they wait for word on Jones. The "D" is certainly getting banged up. Chris Mason did take shots over the last two days, but Peter Mannino still dressed as the back up. For the second straight game the Jets scored first and for the second straight game it came on their first shot on goal. Kane, who appears to be heating up, is now 1-for-4 on penalty shots in his career. And the Jets power play has been good producing at 29 percent over the last eight games. So, the Jets have banked six of a possible eight points so far on their current road tip, with three to go, starting Saturday in New Jersey. Next up on TSN Jets is Sunday night against the Rangers. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '