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 Geplaatst: 23-03-2019 03:28:10 Onderwerp: TORONTO - Jonathan Bernier came back to try and help end a l |
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TORONTO - Jonathan Bernier came back to try and help end a losing streak. Cheap Paul Molitor Jersey . By the time the goaltender and the Toronto Maple Leafs left Air Canada Centre, they were out of a playoff spot. Bernier returned from a five-game absence and did his best to keep the Leafs in it against the St. Louis Blues. But a plethora of other mistakes against one of the NHLs top teams Tuesday night ultimately resulted in a 5-3 defeat, their sixth in a row. "Its a hard league," Blues goaltender Ryan Miller said of the Leafs struggles. "Youve got to keep it all together." Things have seemingly fallen apart in just under two weeks time. The loss, coupled with the Blue Jackets beating the Red Wings and the Capitals picking up a point against the Los Angeles Kings, dropped the Leafs out of a wild-card position. Though all four teams have 80 points, Columbus and Detroit held the wild-card spots at the end of the night, ahead of the Capitals and then the Leafs because of games played. Not long ago Toronto was second in the Atlantic Division, and now it looks like the season is slipping away. "Certainly were afraid of letting it slip away," said winger Joffrey Lupul, whose early goal was the first time Toronto opened the scoring in eight games. "The whole year weve thought we were a playoff team, and we still believe that now. ... Theres reason for concern, but its not completely time to panic. Were still right there." Winger James van Riemsdyk, whose goal at 15:54 of the third period cut the Leafs deficit to a goal, said that the team has "100 per cent" faith that things can turn around with just eight games remaining. "We have a lot of confidence in our abilities and a belief in ourselves and believe in the guys in the room," van Riemsdyk said. "This thing is obviously far from over." At some point the Leafs (36-30- must show that instead of just talking about it. They were unable to do that against the Blues, who passed the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the league thanks to a hat trick from David Backes and one goal apiece from T.J. Oshie and former Leafs forward Alex Steen. Though Bernier allowed four goals, his return from a groin injury was more memorable for some of the big saves he made among his 44. The 25-year-old No. 1 goalie gave his team a chance, but too much continued to go wrong in front of and around the net. Lupul said a good team is supposed to bail its goalie out and vice-versa. That didnt happen for James Reimer in the first five games of this slide, and that continued with Bernier. "When you get in a slide like this its easy to start pin-pointing individuals, which is fair, but as a group we look at it like, if theres a mistake made by someone, someone else steps up and makes a play for them," Lupul said. "And we just havent been doing quite enough of that right now." Captain Dion Phaneuf hesitated twice to clear the puck on a late-first-period penalty kill before the Blues forced a turnover and scored, then was beaten by Steen in front of the net on the fourth goal St. Louis scored. Phaneuf was not made available to speak to reporters, leaving coach Randy Carlyle to answer for some of the defencemans poor play. "He and (Cody) Franson have been the top pairing on our blue line, as far as the offensive side of it, all year," Carlyle said. "In tonights situation, he had a rough night." Phaneuf could be blamed for at least two goals against, but he wasnt alone in having a rough night against the Blues (49-16-7), who showed early and often why theyre a Stanley Cup contender. "It was a 5-3 game where I think we couldve scored 10 goals tonight," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said in a nod to Bernier. "We had so many scoring opportunities, and I thought for the most part until we got careless and started to get fancy around the net instead of burying it that we were really playing one of our top games." During the first period, St. Louis hemmed the Leafs in their own end, putting 23 shots on net, a season high for Toronto. "I dont know," Lupul said. "We couldnt break their cycle, we couldnt get the puck." Had the Leafs managed to go into the first intermission tied 1-1, as Carlyle pointed out, they would have been fortunate. But Phaneufs mistake led to a power-play goal by Backes with 32.3 seconds left. Backes had to beat Bernier, too, but he did that twice and added an empty netter for his second career hat trick. "Theres something about this barn and this stage," Backes said. "Theres obviously a special thing about being in Toronto. The buzz in the air and everyones talking about the Leafs. Every establishments got a neon Leafs sign of some sort. This is kind of the Mecca for hockey here in Toronto." Hockey Mecca includes many more people panicking even after the Leafs lost to a much better team in the Blues. Van Riemsdyk repeatedly pointed out that the Blues are "a heck of a hockey team." Theres no disputing that, only that the Leafs couldnt find a way to end their skid. Bernier knows nothing should have to be said after this one. "If were missing motivation, at this time of the year everyone should have some," he said. "Obviously we knew it was not going to be easy. Thats a good team out there — theyre first and they showed it tonight." The Leafs showed something in trimming a three-goal deficit to one in the third period. And while thats the biggest thing theyll take from Tuesday night, its not nearly enough with the frustration building up. "Youve got to try and manage that," van Riemsdyk said. "If you play in a frustrated type of way youre no good out there. Weve got to continue to learn from things and look at the positives and kind of go from there." One positive Lupul sees is two games ahead at the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night and then back home against the Red Wings on Saturday night. "You win those two games, all of a sudden things look a lot different," he said. Until the Leafs manage to do that, things look bleak. NOTES: With Bernier back, the Leafs sent goaltender Drew MacIntyre back to the AHLs Toronto Marlies. ... Defenceman Paul Ranger was scratched for the third straight game with a neck injury. Cheap Jesse Barfield Jersey . Hicham Khalouas late goal improved Almerias chances of avoiding relegation in a match dominated by contentious calls, including three penalties. One day after Barcelonas 4-3 win at Real Madrid featured three penalties, referees again dominated a wide-open game that saw Almeria ultimately move out of the relegation zone and one point ahead of Getafe which took its place. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. http://www.cheapbluejaysjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-roy-halladay-jersey .Y. -- Florida Panthers captain Ed Jovanovski finally has something to show for all the pain he went through in overcoming a string of injuries that kept him sidelined for much of the past two years.LONDON, Ont. -- The Guelph Storm booked a ticket to the Memorial Cup final with a 6-3 win over the Val-dOr Foreurs on Monday. At 2-0, the Ontario Hockey League champions were assured a berth in Sundays championship game. The Storm conclude the round-robin Wednesday against the winless London Knights. The Foreurs and Western Hockey Leagues Edmonton Oil Kings were both 1-1 and meet Tuesday night. Kerby Rychel, Zach Mitchell, Jason Dickinson, Robby Fabbri, Pius Suter, and Tyler Bertuzzi all scored for the explosive Storm, who have 11 goals in two games in the tournament. Scott Kosmachuk had three assists for Guelph. Mitchell, Brock McGinn and captain Matt Finn each had two assists. Timotej Sille replied with a goal and an assist for Val-dOr. Anthony Beauregard and Randy Gazzola also scored for the Foreurs. Storm goalie Justin Nichols made 30 saves for the win. Val-dOr goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped 30 of 36 shots. He was replaced after two periods by Keven Bouchard, who turned away all 13 he faced. Storm defenceman Chadd Bauman was tossed from the game in the third period for knee-on-knee contact with Val-dOr defenceman Guillaume Gelinas. The Foreurs assistant captain favoured his left knee as he was helped from the ice. Guelph opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over the Oil Kings on Saturday. The Storm were the highestest scoring major junior team in Canada this season with 340 goals. They continue to demonstrate their speed that stretches a defence as well as a wealth of scoring talent, led by Rychel with three goals and an assist in the tournament. The Storm rattled off four unanswered goals, including three within the first six minutes, before the Foreurs could counter in the second. The team with the best record at the conclusion of the round robin gets the bye to the final. Its an advantage in winning the Cup, but less so than it once was. Since a day of rest between the semifinal and final was incorporated into the tournament format in 2007, the team with the bye hoisted the trophy four of seven years. The teams finishing second and third meeet in Fridays semifinal. Cheap George Bell Jersey. Two teams tied for third will require a tiebreaker game Thursday. So the host Knights need a win over Guelph on Wednesday or their tournament is over. The Storm eliminated the Knights in the second round of OHL playoffs on Apr. 11. The Memorial Cup went to a four-team tournament with the addition of a host club in 1983. When the semifinal and final were played on back-to-back days, the team with the bye won the Cup 17 of 24 years. The Guelph Storm are looking for their first Memorial Cup in their 23-year history. The Guelph Platers won the Cup in 1986 before relocating to Owen Sound, Ont. Bibeau stopped all 51 shots in Val-dOrs 1-0 win over the Knights to start the tournament, but he gave up three goals on the first seven shots he faced Monday. The Foreurs had just three days between winning Game 7 of their QMJHL final in Baie-Comeau, Que., and their first game in London. But even with two days of rest after their opener, Val-dOr wasnt as tenacious on the puck as the Storm and the defence around their own net was sloppy. Beauregard finished a tic-tac-toe passing play for a power-play goal during Baumans five-minute major midway through the third period. Guelphs Bertuzzi had time for two swings at a rebound and scored with seven seconds to go in the second period to make it 6-2. Fabbri took a backhand pass from Mitchell and whipped the puck by Bibeau at 16:04. Sille poked a loose puck by Nichols during a goal-mouth scramble at 12:55 to temporarily shrink Guelphs lead. Gazzolas wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle beat Nichols for a power-play goal at 11:59. Guelphs Suter batted a rebound into a backhand at 8:13. The Foreurs allowed Dickinson to buzz across the top of the offensive zone and into the slot, where his off-speed shot squeaked through Bibeaus pads at 5:50 of the first period. Mitchell beat Bibeau with a sharp-angled wrist shot four minutes into the game. Fabbri fed Rychel at the side of the net and the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect chipped the puck in 59 seconds into the game. 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