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wh3171 · AnaGod Geregistreerd op: 26 Okt 2019 Berichten: 195

TORONTO -- While his players and Leaf Nation might be looking forward to Wednesdays Winter Classic against Detroit, Toronto coach Randy Carlyle is playing the role of Scrooge when it comes to the holiday season outdoor game. Cheap Raptors Jerseys . "I wasnt waving the pom-poms to be involved with it to start with," Carlyle said after a 5-2 win over Carolina on Sunday night. "Its been a trying time. "Specifically we havent played as well as wed like to hang our hat on. Our group, we believe, has got lots of room to grow, so that always put added pressure on. And then youre much more under the microscope if you can believe it. Were under the microscope with you (media) guys alone and then you add the element of HBO and then the event, theres a lot of factors. "Again were here to win hockey games and thats the most important thing and our focus is going to be on the game." Friends and family will be enjoying the event more than the actual participants, he suggested. The Leafs (20-16-5) head to Ann Arbor, Mich., on a winning note and having picked up points in their last five games. But they needed a pair of goals from sniper Phil Kessel, solid goaltending from Jonathan Bernier and a few lucky bounces to dispose of the Hurricanes before a crowd of 19,452 at the Air Canada Centre. Carolina (14-16-9) outshot Toronto 43-27 on the night, only to see its winless streak stretch to five games. The Hurricanes have won only one of their last nine outings (a stretch that has featured four OT losses). "We had enough chances to win a hockey game," lamented Carolina coach Kirk Muller. "The chances were there. They scored and we didnt." Carlyle agreed it had been a loose performance from the Leafs. "I thought at times we seemed like we were overmatched in a lot of areas," he said. The Hurricanes followed a popular, simple strategy against Toronto -- dumping the puck in and forcing the Leafs to play defence. "We havent been able to handle that or manage the game properly in that area and we have to get better at it," Carlyle said. Kessels second goal allowed him to reach the 20-goal plateau for the sixth straight season and he could have had more on the night, missing on two breakaways. Toronto also got goals from Nikolai Kulemin, Paul Ranger and Dion Phaneuf, with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining. Nathan Gerbe and Justin Faulk replied for Carolina. Centre Tyler Bozak returned to the Leafs top line after a 12-game absence due to an oblique injury. He showed off some of his playmaking skills with three assists and made an important backcheck, snuffing out a Hurricanes threat. The Leafs were loose on defence and were fortunate the Hurricanes did not punish them more. "We had some lapses in the D-zone," said Bozak. "We got some good bounces as well ... The puck was kind of following us around tonight." The game marked the halfway point of the season for Toronto, while setting the table for playing in front of an expected crowd of 100,000-plus at the Big House. "Its going to be a pretty cool event," said Bozak. "I know most guys have lots of family here, including me. Im excited to get to Detroit and see what its all about." Added Ranger: "I think its going to be fun ... Backyard rinks, thats where I spent most of my childhood. Its just a bigger backyard rink." Leafs forward David Clarkson went to the dressing room in the second period to have his elbow stitched up but returned in the third healthy enough to smash Tuomo Ruutu to the ice. "Probably the best period of hockey hes played for us," said Carlyle. The Leafs previous four games were shootouts -- a club-record streak that featured two wins and two losses. After surviving a horrendous start against Buffalo to win via a shootout Friday, it seemed like more of the same Sunday for the Leafs. Leading the league in giveaways with 475 going into the game, Toronto coughed it up 15 more times against the Hurricanes. Toronto also did not manage a shot on net until 11-plus minutes into a first period that saw the Leafs wobble at times in their own end. Bernier seemed the lone defender on duty and Toronto was lucky not to go down. The Leafs went ahead after a faceoff when Bozak dug the puck out to Kessel, whose backhand from behind the goal-line somehow went in off goalie Cam Ward for his 19th of the season at 16:56. It was perhaps payback for the freak goal that gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 win in Toronto in October when a bad bounce off the boards on a shoot-in bounced in off Bernier with the Leafs thinking icing might be called. The five-foot-five Gerbe tied it up at 1:36 of the second period after talking a pass from Alexander Semin in the corner and beating Bernier from near the faceoff dot. Semin outmanoeuvred Jake Gardiner to set up Gerbes ninth goal. Toronto pulled ahead with two goals in 76 seconds in the second period. A pretty passing play between Kessel and James Van Riemsdyk made it 2-1 at 13:42 with JVR unselfishly sending the puck back to Kessel from in-close. Kulemin then beat Ward with a shot from the top of the circle at 14:58 to make it 3-1, prompting Muller to call a timeout in a bid to stop the bleeding. It was Kulemins fifth of the season. A four-on-three helped the Carolina cause with Faulk scoring his third of the season on a slap shot with 2:17 remaining in the period to close the gap to 3-2. Ranger added an insurance goal at 4:58 of the third, firing a low shot through traffic that eluded Ward for the defencemans second goal of the season and the 100th point of his NHL career. For Toronto, it was Berniers 28th appearance of the season, compared to 18 for James Reimer. Bernier has started nine of the last 15 games, with Reimer pulled during two of his six starts during that stretch. Carlyle refused to interpret the numbers when asked what it meant that Bernier had started three straight. "Hes played three straight games. That what it says." Toronto Raptors Gear . "That was a great lift for the staff," Padres manager Bud Black said. Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal homered, and Chase Headley drove in three runs, as the Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 on Friday night. Raptors Jerseys 2019 . -- Olympic medallist Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . JOHNS, N.CHICAGO -- It was a night of individual achievements for the Kansas City Royals and another step closer to a dubious distinction for the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Royals pitcher James Shields struck out 10 and scattered four hits over seven innings for his 100th career win, and the Royals beat Chicago 6-1 to ensure the White Sox of their worst record since 1970. Shields (13-9) gave up just one run and walked one as Chicago lost its fourth straight. "Im really excited I got my 100th win today," Shields said. "Im just proud of my season this year. A hundred wins in the big leagues is a pretty special moment." Also receiving accolades was Royals third baseman Jamey Carroll, whose fourth-inning double was the 1,000th hit of his major league career. "Its something one day you can look back and have a lot of pride in, when your kids are asking what that balls for or what that jersey is all about," Carroll said, adding with a laugh, "only 22 more years to 3,000." Carrolls teammates put a bottle of 1,000 Island salad dressing in his locker as a memento of his achievement. The mood in the White Sox locker room was more sombre. At 62-98 and with two games remaining, the White Sox will finish with the second-most losses in franchise history, ahead of only the team that went 56-106 more than four decades ago. "Nobody wants that," manager Robin Ventura said before the game of reaching 100 losses. "Is it going to be the big difference going into next year? Probably not, but nobody wants that." The White Sox will finish last in their division for the first time since 1989 (69-92), and will end the season with a losing record against every team in the American League. Billy Butler led the Royals with three hits and two RBIs, while Emilio Bonifacio drove in two runs with two hits. The Royals 85th win is their most since 1989 when they were 92-70. The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the first off White Sox starter Chris Sale (11-14). Bonifacio walked and stole second, moved to third on Eric Hosmers single, and both scored on Butlers double. Butlerr scored on Lorenzo Cains single. Stitched Raptors Jerseys. "To give Shields a 3-0 lead in the first, its quite comforting," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes given us not only No. 1 starter stuff, hes provided great leadership, has been a great example for our guys. Hes a big part of our season and why were at 85 wins now." Kansas City, which has won 21 of its last 31, made it 4-0 in the fourth on Carrolls milestone double and scored on Bonifacios single. Sale was lifted with one out in the top of the sixth. He gave up four runs and nine hits, walked one and struck out five. He also hit a batter. "I think thats a reoccurring theme every year: My last (start is) always a bad one," Sale said. "Hopefully, I can fix that next year. I just didnt have it tonight." Sales replacement, Jacob Petricka, promptly gave up two runs. Alcides Escobar singled and scored on Alex Gordons double. Gordon scored on another single by Bonifacio. Chicagos run came on Gordon Beckhams fifth home run of the season in the sixth. The following batter, Alexei Ramirez, appeared to follow with another homer, but Gordon grabbed the ball at the fence in left field. NOTES: Having fallen out of the wild card race, the Royals are playing out the string this weekend. But Yost is proud of what his team accomplished in the second half of the season: "We have more wins than anybody in the American League since the All-Star break except Detroit, and theyre tied with us (coming into Friday). We feel like our organization has made great progress. We got to experience what it was like playing deep into September in a playoff race and it was great experience." . White Sox INF Jeff Keppinger had a successful debridement procedure on his right shoulder Thursday. Recovery will be two to three months. Keppinger should be back to full strength by the start of spring training. . White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, who will not make a decision on whether hell retire or return for one more season for at least a month, needs just six bases to break Frank Thomas team record for total bases (3,949). ' ' '