forecheck that spurred the Leafs

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LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw tied a career high with his 21st victory, Yasiel Puig homered to highlight a four-run sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West title with a 9-1 victory over the second-place San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. Fittingly, the Dodgers claimed their second straight division title behind Kershaw (21-3), the probable NL Cy Young Award winner and MVP candidate who has been the catalyst behind their success this season. He didnt pitch lights out -- getting called for a balk and wild pitch -- and he committed a throwing error in the seventh but he did a little bit of everything, including hitting and fielding to ensure the Dodgers celebrated in front of their longtime rivals. Kershaw allowed one run and eight hits in eight innings, struck out 11 and walked none in his last start of the regular season, having won his final seven starts. He became the first player to lead the major leagues in ERA (1.77) in four consecutive seasons. Kershaw tied his career high in wins from 2011. The Dodgers are 23-4 in his 27 starts this season. "MVP" chants directed at Kershaw from the sellout crowd of 53,387 broke out throughout the game, but grew loudest after he retired the side in the eighth, striking out two. Juan Uribe went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs, and Carl Crawford was 2 for 2 with three runs scored and two RBI for Los Angeles. The Dodgers snapped a 1-1 tie in the sixth, with Puig hitting a leadoff homer off Tim Hudson (9-13) to get things started. Crawfords two-run double off Javier Lopez made it 4-1 and Uribe followed with a RBI single off Jean Machi for a 5-1 lead. Puig showed off his arm in the top of the seventh. Pinch-hitter Matt Duffy singled to centre, where Puig grabbed the ball, spun around and fired to third, nailing Gregor Blanco as he slid in. The Dodgers tacked on four more runs in the eighth, when Giants pitchers walked four batters and hit another. The loss again kept the Giants from clinching a playoff berth. Hudson gave up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked one. Kershaw tied the game 1-1 with his first career triple in the fifth, scoring Crawford, who got hit in the left foot by a pitch and then stole second. Kershaw chugged into third base standing up. The Giants led 1-0 when Hunter Pence grounded into a fielders choice along the third base line in the third. Joaquin Arias scored from third, narrowly beating the throw from Uribe. Kershaw had a bit of a messy third, when he allowed four baserunners, his most of any inning. With runners on first and second he was called for a balk, allowing the runners to move up. Kershaw showed quick reflexes facing his next batter. Hudson hit a comebacker and Kershaw, down on his right knee with his back toward the plate, reached around, backhanded the ball and threw to first for the out. Kershaw gave up a pair of two-out singles in the sixth and the runners moved up on his wild pitch. He induced a groundout to the mound from Chris Dominguez to end the inning. TRAINERS ROOM Giants: C Buster Posey started at first base. He experienced tightness in his back after catching all 13 innings on Monday and eight on Tuesday. ... OF Michael Morse (strained oblique) is questionable for the San Diego series starting Thursday. Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder inflammation) is expected to throw from a mound in the next day or so, but there are no plans for him to pitch before the playoffs begin. UP NEXT Giants: Yusmeiro Petit (5-5, 3.63 ERA) starts the series opener at home against San Diego. The right-hander joined the rotation on Aug. 28 in place of Tim Lincecum. He is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA in four appearances against the Padres. Dodgers: Roberto Hernandez (8-11, 4.08) starts the series opener against Colorado. The right-hander last faced the Rockies on Sept. 15 on the road, allowing two runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, but didnt factor in the decision in an 11-3 victory. Michael Conforto Jersey . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Steven Matz Jersey . Nat Borchers headed in the sole goal in the 54th minute, getting on the end of a Kyle Beckerman free kick. The defeat cost Sporting top spot in the Eastern Conference. Even a draw would have moved the Kansas City club above Columbus. http://www.metsbaseballauthentic.com/ne ... ts-jersey/. Correia pitched six innings of one-run ball, Eduardo Escobar homered, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away late to beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3 on Saturday. Tug McGraw Jersey . 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. Matt Harvey Jersey .J. Mayo made seven three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Milwaukee Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night.TORONTO – James Reimer chose his words carefully, but made no secret of his unhappiness. “I dont know if theres a goaltender in the league thats happy when they get pulled,” said Reimer following an eventual 5-4 shootout loss to the Red Wings on Saturday night. The 25-year-old got the hook after just 20 minutes at the ACC – in yet another sloppy first period for the Leafs – yielding three goals to the Red Wings on 12 shots. It was the fourth time in 18 starts that Reimer has been pulled and clearly it stung. “Obviously I didnt want to get pulled,” he said. “Thats the last thing I wanted. I wanted to hang in there. But thats Randys decision. And I respect what he decides. I may not like it, but thats irrelevant. Hes the one who makes those decisions.” Randy Carlyle sensed something amiss with his starting goaltender on the very first shot of the game, one that he says bounced in and out of Reimers glove. “I thought the rebounds were bouncing away from him,” added Carlyle. And though the first goal was a strike of brilliance from Pavel Datsyuk – opposite Torontos fourth line no less – he felt the final two markers were stoppable. The first, a wraparound from Joakim Andersson, was one Reimer admittedly wanted back. The second saw Tomas Jurco camped all alone in front of the net – Jake Gardiner falling down in the corner – able to tuck a backhand through the Leafs netminder. “When a goaltender is in the zone, pucks usually dont go through him,” said Carlyle, “and their third goal went through him.” Two minutes still remained in the period when Jurcos goal made it 3-1 for the Red Wings, but it was at that moment that Carlyle decided to start Jonathan Bernier in the second frame. He told Bernier as much as the team exited the ice after a disappointing opening frame. “When you do that you do that based upon not specifically the individual thats getting pulled,” Carlyle explained, “you do it for your team, that somehow you can get a spark for your team and I thought Bernier came in and did that for us.” The Leafs scored twice in a resilient second period before snatching a temporary 4-3 lead in the third on David Clarksons first goal since Nov. 23. Tomas Tatar would even the action at four with less than seven minutes to go – capitalizing on a turnover by Gardiner along the wall – before Daniel Alfredsson iced the first meeting between the two clubs in a shootout. Though Bernier stepped in and stopped 25 of 26 shots, thus backstopping the comeback, one could understand Reimers displeasure with the quick hook. First, the team in front of him was admittedly far off-point early, standing around, in the words of Carlyle, as Detroit strangled hold of the action. And then there was the effort of the Manitoba native just two nights earlier, his 34 saves effectively carrying the Leafs to an eventual two points against Phoenix. Throw in the fact that Reimer has been pulled four times already versus zero for his counterpart in Bernier (despite entering the night with slightly better numbers) and its easy to understand where some frustration might lie with the lack of rope from the head coach. “I dont know if I want to really get into that,” said Reimer, who was making three consecutive starts for the first time all season. It was Joffrey Lupul after the game against the Coyotes who observed that “the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and battle.” And on this night Reimer was not given that opportunity to battle and perhaps thats what stung most of all. “I think thats what any goaltender wants,” said Reimer. “You want that chance to get in there and fight and battle for your teammates and try and get a win. Obviously Randy had other thoughts and hes the coach and hes the one who makes those decisions. I dont. I just try and stop pucks.” Five Points 1. Glass Half-Empty The Leafs actually scored first for the 22nd time this season – Cody Fransons second of the year – but the lead evaporated less than two minutes later on the goal from Datsyuk. “Obviously we didnt have a very good first period,” said Carlyle. “We score the first goal and then we basically stood around for the rest of the period and watched them do their thing. They out-competed us badly in the first period. We thought that there was no way that we could duplicate that period again. We found a way in the second to get our game going.” “We dug ourselves a hole and it takes a toll on you trying to dig out of a two-goal hole like that,” said Lupul, who scored the third Toronto goal on a power-play. “If we take one thing from the game its probably get off to a little better start.” Toronto has been outscored 31-23 in first periods this season, capturing the lead just 10 times in 38 games. 2. Glass Half-Full “If were looking at positives, its the way we battled back in the second,” said Lupul.dddddddddddd. Just as he did on the opening goal from Franson, it was the effort of Peter Holland on the forecheck that spurred the Leafs second goal and subsequent comeback. Holland freed the puck from Kyle Quincey behind the Detroit goal before it eventually found its way to Dion Phaneuf for a one-time blast. Quincey was then whistled for a high-stick on Kadri later in the period propelling Lupuls game-tying power-play marker, his 11th this season. Clarkson gave the Leafs a brief lead in the third, crashing the crease of former Leaf Jonas Gustavsson, who made 19 saves. “Coming back against a good team like this it should be a huge confidence [boost],” said Bernier. Toronto has outscored the opposition 44-33 in second periods this season and has led 16 times after 40 minutes. 3. Clarkson Snaps Drought Clarkson had gone 12 consecutive games without a goal and had just one assist in that span, but he broke the spell with his third this season against Detroit. Earlier in the day he remarked on his struggles to generate offence. “A lot of athletes go through a lot of ups and downs no matter what sport it is,” he said. “Youll see a guy hit well for a long time and all of a sudden hes on a lull.” Just as he had against the Coyotes, the 29-year-old remained in a shutdown role against the Red Wings. Paired with Jay McClement and Nik Kulemin, Clarksons line was pegged to play up against Detroits top unit of Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi and the aforementioned Tatar. Datsyuk did find the scoresheet, but managed to do so with the Leafs fourth line and third defensive pairing on the ice. “Youre pleased when you win,” said Clarkson, asked if he was happy to find some offence. “Its not an individual game or an individual effort.” 4. Kadris struggles on the Draw Of the 88 centres who qualify for the league faceoff crown, only four have been worse this season than Nazem Kadri, who sits 84th overall. Kadri, who finished 4-14 on the draw against the Red Wings, has won only 42.3 per cent of the 494 faceoffs hes taken this season. The 23-year-old is down slightly from the 44 per cent mark he posted last season. Jerred Smithson, a career 55 per cent marksman, said the biggest lesson hed offer to a young centre in need of advice is “compete level”. “Its just wanting to win the battle more than that other guy,” he told the Leaf Report. “Thats the biggest thing for me anyway. You know theres always different techniques, but just the will and the compete going into the circle and wanting it just that much more.” Smithson acknowledges that different tricks and techniques also make a difference, but notes that “if youre going to start with one thing its just the battle. For me its so much harder when I know a guys coming in there and hes going to battle his butt off to win that draw. For me, that would be the starting point.” 5. Kadri on the Top Line Kadri had a pair of goals against Dallas on Dec. 5 when he replaced an injured Tyler Bozak on the Leafs top unit. But since that point, the 23-year-old has been quiet offensively alongside Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, totaling just three points over the next nine games. “Youre asking a young player in Kadri to fill some shoes of a veteran player,” said Randy Carlyle of the shift from Bozak to Kadri. “Hes a young player still cutting his teeth to become a higher level first line, second line centre, whatever word you want to describe an offensive player. Were asking a lot of a young player right now where last year we were able to use Nazzie more as a third line option and protect him from having to play up against the top two lines of other hockey clubs.” Squaring off mostly against third and fourth lines, Kadri had 14 goals and 35 points through the first 34 games last season. Through the same number of games this season, matched mostly against first and second units, he has 10 goals and 22 points. Bozak is due to return from an oblique injury on Dec. 29. Stats-Pack 4 – Number of times James Reimer has been pulled this season. 31-23 – Deficit for the Leafs in first periods this season. 3-10-1 – Leafs record when trailing after the first period. 44-33 – Advantage for the Leafs in second periods this season. 12-8-1 – Leafs record on home ice this season. 4-14 – Nazem Kadri in the faceoff circle against the Red Wings. 3 – Goals from Dion Phaneuf this season. Phaneuf snapped a 25-game drought with the Leafs second goal on Saturday. 4-5-2 – Leafs record versus the Atlantic division. 34-16 – Shot advantage at even-strength for Detroit. 17 – Number of times in the past 24 games that the Leafs have allowed at least three goals. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-4Season: 23.1% (4th) PK: 1-1Season: 77.8% (27th) Quote of the Night Up Next The Leafs visit the Rangers at MSG on Monday night, their final game before the Christmas break. Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys From China NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '