TORONTO – When he lines up at centre ice, James van Riemsdyk has an idea of what he might attempt, but doesnt quite know for sure. Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. He and the Leafs continue to find good fortune in the individual reality that is the shootout, now up to a league-leading nine victories following a 4-3 edging of the Sabres at the ACC on Wednesday night. "The shootout is a game in itself obviously," said head coach Randy Carlyle afterward, his team boasting a 9-4 record in such situations. "When you win them its a positive. When you lose them its a negative. Thats the bottom line. "Were fortunate this year that our record in the shootout is a real strong positive for our hockey club and its earned I dont know how many extra points." Still trying to establish who and what they are, the Leafs have needed each and every one of the nine additional points theyve gained from their success in the shootout. On a whole lot of nights, including Wednesdays against the league-worst Sabres, theyve struggled to find a complete performance only to emerge with a victory of sorts in the shootout. Carlyle assigns shootout selection duties to assistant coach Greg Cronin. His choices have narrowed recently around three shooters – van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, and Tyler Bozak – each of whom has been better than 60 per cent on the season. Leaf shooters have actually been among the most accurate in the league this season after posting the worst mark in 2013. Led by Lupul, who has scored on six of seven attempts, including the winner against Buffalo, Toronto owns a 48.6 per cent success mark in the shootout – good for second-best in the NHL. Last season, a year in which they dropped every one of their five shootouts, the Leafs had the most futile shooters in the league – just 12.5 per cent on 24 attempts. Bozak, in fact, was the lone shooter to even score. Toronto boasts eight shootout victories since the start of November, owning just five in regulation in that same span. Now streaking with wins in three consecutive games, they sit seventh in the East with 53 points. "Theres been a lot of extra points gained by it," said Carlyle of the shootout, which sealed the season series with Buffalo. "If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what our job is [to] get ourselves back [on track] and climbing into a playoff position." Five Points 1. Balance Rare is the night in which the Leafs have received offence from many different sources, but against the Sabres that was just the case. Each of the top three units accounted for a goal in victory, including Phil Kessels 22nd of the year, Nik Kulemins sixth and the second in the NHL career of Morgan Rielly, set up by generally quiet second unit (more on that below). "Its always an advantage if you can get three lines providing certain levels of offence," said Carlyle, who moved Peter Holland onto a third unit recently in hopes of spurring more of an attack. Toronto had scored eight goals in the previous three games, all of which came from a scorching top line of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak. "We need everybody contributing," Carlyle continued. "If you look at the teams that are having success theyve spread that offence around and theyve been able to get quality minutes from everyone in their lineup." Often over-dependent on that top unit – each member played more than 22 minutes vs. Buffalo – Wednesday marked just the 13th time in the past 35 games that the Leafs have managed three goals or more. 2. Second Line Slumber Aside from an occasional burst or odd contribution – the line had a hand in the third goal from Rielly – Torontos second line of Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and Joffrey Lupul has remained an infrequent source of offence. Kadri has just one goal in the past 16 games, Raymond has two goals in the past 21, and Lupul, the most effective of the group recently, has still gone pointless in 12 of the past 18 outings. A source of production for the trio earlier in the year, some of the trouble stems from lacking success on the power-play. Kadri has just one power-play point in the past 19 games, Raymond owns three in the past 21 and Lupul, just four in the previous 28 outings. 3. Reimers Night Making just his second start since Dec. 21, James Reimer showing some rust in yielding three goals on 30 shots to the Sabres, including an unlikely game-tying goal from Cody Hodgson. The first marker from Matt Ellis snuck through short side. The second goal, a Matt Moulson snipe from an odd-man Sabres rush, went post to post and under the bar, a slick shot from the former Islander. The final strike, a power-play marker from Hodgson, found an unlikely hole between Reimer and the post – one that still puzzled the 25-year-old afterward. "I still dont really know how it went in," said Reimer, who earned his first win since Dec. 19. "My foot was against the post. Thats my play. Thats what I do. Ill look at the video and see if it squeaked in somewhere where I can close it. I do that every play, every time and its never gone in." 4. Stacked Deck Jonathan Bernier has unquestionably grabbed hold of the Toronto crease in recent weeks, but theres also no doubting that Reimer has been handed a bad deck of cards. A look at the 25-year-olds five starts prior to Wednesday night and the poor performances which surrounded them: • Dec. 12 at St. Louis: 6-3 LReimers Night: 3 goals/15 shots*Post-Game Quote: "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas." – Randy Carlyle • Dec. 17 vs. Florida: 3-1 LReimers Night: 3 goals/23 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We simply got embarrassed." – Mason Raymond • Dec. 19 vs. Phoenix: 2-1 SOWReimers Night: 1 goal/35 shots.Post-Game Quote: "Thats the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and battle." – Joffrey Lupul • Dec. 21 vs. Detroit: 5-4 SOLReimers Night: 3 goals/12 shots* Post-Game Quote: "Obviously we didnt have a very good first period." – Randy Carlyle • Jan. 9 at Carolina: 6-1 LReimers Night: 6 goals/36 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight." – Randy Carlyle *Pulled after the first period 5. Riellys Progress Morgan Rielly is now 40 games into his NHL career, adding his 13th point against the Sabres. The 19-year-old has, according to Carlyle, "taken some steps and then has taken a few sideways", evaluated with a similar lens as his 23-year-old defence partner Jake Gardiner. "Our expectations for Morgan arent as high as they are for Jake at this point just being where he is in his career," said Carlyle. "Theyre both talented young players. We think that theres a future for those two guys to be a big part of our defence. We want to make sure were handling them the right way." Unlike Gardiner, who was pulled from the lineup last week, Rielly has played in every game since early December, when he sat for three consecutive games with World Junior speculation swirling. Stats-Pack 9 – Shootout victories this season, most in the NHL. 48.6 per cent - Effectiveness of Toronto shooters in the shootout this season. 1 – Goals in the past 16 games for Nazem Kadri. 5-6-0 – Record in the second end of back-to-back sets this season. 2 – Goals in the past 21 games for Mason Raymond. 3-1-1 – Record versus Buffalo this season. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel. Kessel has two goals and eight points in that span. 23:33 – Ice-time for Kessel against the Sabres, most among forwards. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 22.1 per cent (5th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Youre in the same locker room then youre in the same bus, the same plane, the same hotel. The hardest part is trying to stop it from going through the entire team. Those guys have kind of been quarantined off and the rest of us have been just washing our hands and trying to stay away from it." -Joffrey Lupul, on stopping the spread of the flu bug through the Leafs dressing room. Up Next The Leafs host Montreal at the ACC on Saturday. Alexander Mattison Vikings Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Dalvin Cook Vikings Jersey . The Redblacks host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-9) Friday night in their last home game of the year and as of Thursday afternoon, the team was anticipating a ninth consecutive sellout. You can watch all the action on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Jalyn-holmes-vikings-jersey/ . Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday. Brian ONeill Jersey .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. Adam Thielen Vikings Jersey . But Paul Osbaldiston, Hamiltons assistant special teams and kicking coach, said the team still relished the championship game workout.HOUSTON -- James Harden had 32 points and Chandler Parsons scored eight points in overtime to lift the Houston Rockets to a 130-125 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night. Denver led by one in overtime when Houston made three consecutive 3-pointers to make it 130-122 with less than two minutes left. Parsons made the last two and high-fived with fans on the front row as he ran down the court after sinking the second one. Houston had a franchise-record, 47-point second quarter, but Denver overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to tie it at 88 entering the fourth period. The Rockets then trailed by eight late in regulation before using a 9-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Harden under heavy pressure from Randy Foye, to tie it at 117 with 7.1 seconds remaining. Foye made one of two free throws for Denver before Hardens shot. Foye had a chance to win it in regulation, but his jump shot was short. Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Aaron Brooks added 24 points and 15 assists against his former team. Brooks, who was traded to Denver on Feb. 20 for Jordan Hamilton, started for Ty Lawson, who was out with a left ankle sprain. The game was still tied with about nine minutes to go when the Nuggets scored 11 straight points to make it 106-95 midway through the quarter. Fournier made two 3-pointers in that span and Brooks had one. Jeremy Lin scored 19 points, Omer Asik had a season-high 18 points and tied a career best with 23 rebounds, and Parsons finished with 155 points.dddddddddddd Quincy Miller scored a career-high 19 for the Nuggets and Kenneth Faried added 16 points with 13 rebounds. The Rockets, who have already clinched a playoff spot, were playing without Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley, who both missed their fifth straight games. Howard has missed eight games recently because of a left ankle strain and Beverley is out indefinitely with a torn meniscus in his right knee. The game was tied at 88 entering the fourth quarter. Houston was ahead by 15 when Denver took over, using a 13-2 spurt to get within 79-75 with four minutes left in the third. Miller led the Nuggets in that span, scoring the first seven points of that run. Houston missed three shots and had three turnovers as Denver cut into the lead. A 14-4 run by the Rockets to start the second quarter gave them a 36-31 lead. Omri Casspi and Isaiah Canaan both made 3-pointers in that stretch. Brooks made a layup after that before Casspi hit another 3-pointer to make it 39-33 with about eight minutes left in the first half. The Nuggets got within a basket after a jump shot by Brooks about 2 1/2 minutes later. But Houston responded with a 9-2 run, powered by five points from Harden, to extend the lead to 52-44. Lin had seven points in the last 42 seconds of the first half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to push Houstons lead to 69-52 at halftime. NOTES: The Nuggets made 14 3-pointers, with six from Fournier. ... Canaan had a career-best 15 points. ' ' '
