arry Drew is glad a national audience wi
arry Drew is glad a national audience wi
TORONTO -- Things looked bleak for the Maple Leafs, coming off a losing performance in St. Louis that coach Randy Carlyle termed "brain-dead" and with the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks in town. But the form sheet was thrown out the window Saturday as Joffrey Lupul and Peter Holland each scored twice and combined with linemate Mason Raymond for 11 points to lift Toronto to a commanding 7-3 win over the Stanley Cup champions. Toronto lost 6-3 to the Blues on Thursday with the scoreline flattering the losers. Toronto had played a strong game the previous night but was still beaten 3-1 by the visiting Los Angeles Kings. A 5-2 home defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins started a three-game slide. "We really felt we needed a win," Lupul said of the Chicago contest. "Its a hard stretch for us, a lot of games in a short stretch of time so Saturday night at home with a day of rest, we came into the game feeling like it was pretty close to a must-win for us. Things were kind of starting to snowball the other way." Tied 1-1 after the first period, Toronto outscored Chicago 4-1 in the second to pull ahead for its first win in regulation time since Nov. 19, a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The victory also snapped an eight-game losing streak to Chicago that dated back to February 2003. Jerry DAmigo, Nikolai Kulemin and Phil Kessel also scored for Toronto (17-14-3) before a season-high announced attendance of 19,603 at the Air Canada Center despite a cold, snowy night. Toronto outshot the opposition for just the fifth time this season, holding a 32-28 edge on the night. It was a welcome sharing on offence for the Leafs, who have had to count on their top line of Kessel, Nazem Kadri and James Van Riemsdyk in recent weeks. Lupul finished with two goals and two assists while Raymond had four assists and Holland two goals and an assist on a breakout night for the newly assembled Leafs second line. Patrick Kane, with two, and Brandon Saad replied for Chicago (23-7-5), whose league-best offence sputtered on the night. The Blackhawks had arrived riding a three-game win streak during which they had outscored the opposition 19-6. The Hawks were also 9-0-2 against Eastern Conference opposition. "We were not very good," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville. "They were much better than us. We got what we deserved tonight. We still got ourselves back in the game, 1-1 at the start of the second period and put ourselves in a decent spot.... But basically we got what we deserved because we werent ready to play." The Leafs came into the game in a nose dive, with just two regulation wins in their last 19 outings. It was water under the bridge as they welcomed the Hawks with a season-high seven-goal scoring spree. The lack of pushback in the St. Louis performance had been a particular low for the Leafs. "They werent very proud of our performance. They knew we didnt do a lot of things that we set out to do," Carlyle said of the Blues game. "I thought our hockey club responded the way they needed to respond. They took responsibility for our actions and thats a good sign. The most encouraging thing for us tonight was our work ethic and we stuck to out system and played it." The game was Carlyles 100th as Leafs coach, improving his record at the Toronto helm to 49-40-11. Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf returned to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for boarding Boston defenceman Kevan Miller. The Leafs revolving door kept turning, however, as forward David Clarkson was handed a two-game ban earlier in the day for an illegal hit to the head of St. Louis forward Vladimir Sobotka. Finnish rookie Antti Raanta got the start again for Chicago in the absence of the injured Corey Crawford and Nikolai Khabibulin. He was pulled from his eighth career NHL game with the score 5-2 after two periods in favour of Kent Simpson, a 21-year-old from Edmonton making his NHL debut. "I think you could say that Chicagos goalies had a rough night ... and you have to take advantage of that when it comes your way," said Carlyle. It was a horrific start for the Blackhawks, who drew three straight penalties in the first period. But some indiscipline by the home team later in the period evened the score. Toronto was on its second power-play before Chicago got its first shot on net, some seven minutes into the game. Holland made the Hawks pay for the Andrew Shaw tripping call, tapping in a Lupul feed across the crease after a nice pass by Raymond at 7:14. "Not the start we wanted, getting the penalties and getting down a goal, then probably thinking too much offence as the game went on," said Kane. "The start wasnt good, especially the first 10 minutes. Three penalties kind of takes you right out of the game. "We tried to fight back and get ourselves into it but it was too little too late." Toronto faced a 58-second five-on-three after Raymond was called for tripping behind the Chicago goal while killing off a penalty to Holland. The Blackhawks scored 29 seconds later when a sprawling Phaneuf redirected Kanes pass from the side of the net past Jonathan Bernier into the goal at 16:14. It was his 18th goal of the season and marked the eighth straight game Chicago has scored on the power play. Kane, the leagues first star in the month of November, has collected points in eight straight games and 20 of his last 21. Van Riemsdyk could have made it 2-1 near the end of the period but, with a good portion of the Chicago goal empty after a pretty passing sequence, he couldnt connect on a Kessel feed that took a nasty bounce. Toronto had the first five shots of the game but the shot count was tied at 11-11 after 20 minutes. DAmigo made it 2-1 on the Leafs 13th shot just 42 seconds into the second period when he tucked in a Kulemin rebound that dropped out of Raantas glove. It was the first goal of his six-game NHL career. Both the puck and DAmigos stick will be displayed in a frame soon. "You guys cant see it but Im just going crazy inside here now," said DAmigo. A Chicago goal minutes later was called off for being directed into the goal by a Hawks hand (and then Phaneufs stick). Holland scored his second at 12:09 of the second period, left to finish all alone after taking a nice pass from Raymond. Kane replied at 13:30, snapping a wrist shot past Bernier after a Toronto turnover in the neutral zone. But Kulemin restored the Leafs two-goal advantage at 14:36, on a low shot from a Jay McClement feed. Lupul increased the lead to 5-2 on the power play, tipping in a Jake Gardiner shot from the point for his ninth of the season at 17:08. Simpson gave up a goal on his first shot when Lupul, just 28 seconds in, beat him from the faceoff dot after doing some good digging behind the goal. Holland had a chance at his hat trick but shot wide on a breakaway. Seconds later, Saad pulled one back for Chicago with a tip-in at 7:38 for his 12th of the season. Kessel made it 7-3 at 8:35 with a quick shot from the slot for his 17th of the season. Toronto heads to Pittsburgh next for a game Monday. The Hawks return home to host Los Angeles on Sunday. Cheap Stan Smith China Wholesale . The Mariners ace allowed just one hit over eight innings while striking out nine, and Robinson Cano backed him with a two-run homer as Seattle earned a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. Cheap Stan Smith Free Shipping . He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season. http://www.wholesalestansmith.com/. The Toronto Argonauts running back hurt his left ankle during the teams practice Friday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Wholesale Stan Smith . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. Stan Smith Clearance . The Heat centre scored 10 of his 30 points early in the first quarter to silence the Toronto fans as Miami defeated the Raptors 113-101 on Friday night.MILWAUKEE -- Goran Dragic tumbled to the floor after a hard foul. When he finally got up, he was holding his elbow. That didnt stop him from sealing the game for the Phoenix Suns. Dragic scored 10 of his 30 points in the final 3:28, helping the Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-117 on Wednesday night. "Emotions," Dragic said. "You are so much in the zone, the adrenaline keeps you going." Dragic hit the floor hard after a late foul by Larry Sanders, but was able to stay in the game -- and keep scoring, including a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. But he was on the bench with a wrap on his left elbow in the closing minutes, and was escorted to the locker room with 52 seconds remaining. Dragic said an X-ray was negative, but his elbow was swollen. "Im a little bit concerned," Dragic said. "Right now it is too soon. We will see how I am feeling in the morning. Im a quick healer." Gerald Green scored 23 and Marcus Morris had 16 points off the bench for the Suns, who have won the first three games of a four-game road trip. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek wasnt pleased that his team frittered away a few big leads. "When we get up, we have a tendency to relax," Hornacek said. "If you are not scoring, at least play defence." Ersan Ilyasova scored 27 points and Brandon Knight added 24 for the Bucks, who have only one win in January. A sign of the times in a tough season: The biggest ovation of the night went not to a Bucks player but rather to former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver, who was sitting courtside. Still Bucks coach Larry Drew was pleased with the way his team responded from a pair of blowout losses. "There were some positives to come out of this game, and were going to continue to try to build on the positives," Drew said. And Drew was plenty impressed by Dragic. "I think a lot of people used to look at him as a reserve," Drew said. "But he has shown that hes a starter. Not only is he a starter, butt he has emerged as one of the top point guards in our league.dddddddddddd" Leading by 12 at halftime, the Suns let the Bucks back in the game during a third-quarter spurt led by Knights ability to draw fouls and hit free throws. Milwaukee cut the lead to six before Green drained three 3-pointers in a stretch of just over two minutes -- gesturing to the crowd with three fingers on his way back down the court -- but Milwaukee hung close and went into the fourth quarter trailing 91-84. Green said he enjoyed going back and forth with the crowd. "Loved it," Green said. "Best part of the game to me. It kept fueling me up. It got me going. It is exciting playing against a crowd like that." The Bucks cut the lead to five on a fast-break slam dunk by rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo with 7:27 left in the game, but Phoenix responded with a 7-2 run. Dragic hit a 3-pointer with 4:04 left, giving the Suns a 114-102 lead, and hit two more 3-pointers to seal the game. Sanders played for Milwaukee despite a recent illness, coming off the bench to score 14 and grab nine rebounds. "They really capitalize on mistakes," Sanders said of the Suns. "They get out in the open floor and they run, they finish in transition and get fouled -- make something happen." Milwaukee was without guard O.J. Mayo because of flu-like symptoms, and forward Ekpe Udoh continued to sit out with a sprained left ankle. The Suns led by 12 at halftime, thanks to a second-quarter surge led by Dragic and Morris, who caused fits for Antetokounmpo on defence. A 25-7 run in the middle of the second quarter powered the Suns to a lead as large as 23 before the Bucks made up some ground going into the half. Notes: Antetokounmpo was selected to play in the "Rising Stars Challenge" during All-Star weekend. Coach Larry Drew is glad a national audience will get a chance to watch him. "It gives everybody a chance to see who he is now," Drew said. ... 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