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Geregistreerd op: 14 Okt 2019
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 Geplaatst: 03-12-2019 07:33:35 Onderwerp: after a Toronto turnover in |
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| Mike Babcock was a man with a plan on Saturday. Cheap Nike Shoes Free Shipping . The Canadian mens Olympic hockey team head coach arranged to take in some mens curling with a bunch of players before shuffling off to the nearby Bolshoy Ice Dome to scout the Russia-United States mens hockey game. Sometime in the evening he planned to assemble goalkeepers Roberto Luongo and Carey Price to inform them who would start in Canadas game against Finland on Sunday. Babcock would not reveal at his noon-hour (local time) press briefing whether it would be Luongo, the incumbent, or Price, who has been more consistent this season and played better in the games leading to the Olympic break. But the Canadian coach did remark that he arrived in Sochi with a plan — and nothing transpired in the wins over Norway and Austria to alter his blueprint. "Ive had lots of time,” he said. “We as a management team, and a coaching staff, we watched the NHL all year and we picked the two goalies that we think have got an opportunity. We brought [Mike Smith] to be in the role [of third goalie] and now well just go from here and watch. “We did the same thing last time. We had a plan. We understand and I said this a number of times you get one change in this tournament and you can still win." Like in Vancouver four years ago. Babcock chose veteran Martin Brodeur to be No. 1, but after he faltered in Canadas third game of the tournament — a 5-3 loss against the United States — Roberto Luongo moved in to win four games in a row to help Canada strike gold. Luongo or Price isnt the only entry on Babcocks checklist. There has been some clamour to find captain Sidney Crosby some new linemates. Chris Kunitz, who plays on the left side with Crosby in Pittsburgh, hasnt exhibited much in his first tour-of-duty with the Canadian Olympic team. "The first line in the last two games has generated a ton of scoring chances, point-blankers, they havent gone in,” Babcock said. “Do we worry that much about that or do we just know good players score in the end? "Lots of times in the Stanley Cup playoffs your team goes a ways and your best players have no points in the first round. Someone else picks them up, but by the time its all over theyre leading the thing in scoring. Its not about that, its about finding a way to be the best team." Babcock gave his players Saturday off to recharge. The 25 of them already played a combined 1,392 NHL games this season before landing in Sochi. The coaching staff put them through three long practices before the Olympic tournament opener against Austria on Thursday, so they needed a break. “A big part of it was the NHL schedule,” Babcock said. “You can just imagine the amount of meetings with their own NHL teams to prepare for each and every game. I just know from our team it seems like we played every single game. It was exhausting. “Then you travel over here. Then you jam in all the information and then we practiced them hard. We practiced for 56 minutes the day before our first game. That would never happen in the NHL. “Everybody needs to breathe.” Another adjustment has been the late starting times for Canada – 9 p.m. Sochi time. “We tried to turn 9 oclock into 7 oclock over here,” Babcock said. “But its 2:30 in the morning and youre sitting around every night. I saw [Canadian defenceman] Duncan Keith this morning and Dunc said he had to race over to McDonalds to get an egg mcmuffin. So he had to get up early. Priorities, right?” Discount Nike Shoes . Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest. Nike Shoes Sale . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/ . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.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 earlieer in the day for an illegal hit to the head of St. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale. . 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. ' ' ' |
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