TORONTO – Its been a black hole in Toronto since the second NHL lockout ended, save for one fleeting bright spot last season. Cheap Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . Second-best in 2013, the Maple Leafs penalty kill has tumbled right back to the bottom of the NHL this season, second-worst in a league of 30 teams. Since the beginning of November, the unit boasts a very unflattering 73 per cent success rate, yielding 13 goals alone in the past 15 games. No team, in fact, has allowed more power play goals this season (43). "The biggest negative is were giving up too many goals," said head coach Randy Carlyle of the beleaguered penalty kill. "Thats an area we definitely have got to improve on to give ourselves a better chance [to win]. You cant and we do not believe that you can give up a power play goal to the opposition every game and have success." Success a year ago, in which they killed off an impressive 87.9 per cent in the lockout-shortened 48-game campaign, was a true rarity. In the seven seasons between the last two lockouts – from 05-06 to 11-12 – the Leafs never had a penalty kill finish higher than even 24th overall – sitting 24th, 27th, 29th, 30th, 30th, 28th, and 28th. And yet despite employing most of the same personnel as last season – with Jay McClement, Nik Kulemin, Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf absorbing the bulk of minutes (new Leaf Tim Gleason proving an added resource) – the results, oddly, have not followed. In their most recent failing, the Leaf penalty kill allowed a pair of power play goals in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Jets – the eighth time theyve allowed two or more in a game in the past 40 outings. "If we string together a couple games with a good PK, confidence rises," Gunnarsson said. "If you have a couple bad games where they score 50 per cent on us, that confidence goes down." According to Extraskater.com, an advanced statistics website, the Leafs are allowing the most shots in the league on the penalty kill per 60 minutes (four-on-five situations), nearly 50 per cent more, in fact, than they did last season. The goaltending, while not quite at the superb level of a year ago – when they held the second-best save percentage in four-on-five situations – has remained just about average (12th best) despite the increased workload. One obvious drop-off from last season is the faceoff circle, specifically with Tyler Bozak, the teams primary faceoff employee. Bozak, who is used almost exclusively for the draw before darting off in favour of Kulemin, has won a scant 36 per cent of his shorthanded faceoffs this season (34-96), down from a stellar 53 per cent mark in 2013. McClement, a 50 per cent marksman last season, is down only slightly at 47 per cent. Losing more faceoffs, quite simply, means more time spent in-zone defending which results in fatigue, more shots against and thus, more goals for the opposition. "It seems like if we have six minutes [shorthanded] a night, were doing a good job for five and a half [of those minutes]," said McClement, "and then we dont get a puck down [the ice] and we have tired legs and its hard for us to kill the way were supposed to kill with tired legs." Though the group believes it has upped the requisite aggressiveness of last season in recent days, theyve often found themselves burned by a simple mistake, such as a failed read or clear. Against the Jets for instance, it was an inability to pick up a hot-charging Blake Wheeler on the first goal, a failure to intercept Tobias Enstroms point-pass to an unchecked Bryan Little in the slot on the second. "It feels like were doing some good things," McClement said. "Were pressuring better and pressuring smarter in the right situations, its just those little tiny breakdowns that are costing us goals." Countering the woes of the Toronto penalty kill has been an exceptional power play, one that ranks amongst the top five in the NHL this season. "Were aware of where our penalty kill is at and were aware that we have to be better on it," said Phaneuf. "We have let it slide and thats our job to get it back."http://www.nflcheapjerseysbest.com/ . On a successful day for the Merseyside clubs, Everton won 3-1 at last-place Fulham to close to within four points of fourth-place Arsenal ahead of their meeting at Goodison Park next weekend. Liverpool -- the leagues top scorers -- produced another masterful attacking display against a porous Spurs defence, with Younes Kabouls second-minute own-goal added to by strikes from Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson to seal an eighth straight win for the Reds. http://www.nflcheapjerseysbest.com/Nhl-jerseys_Boston-bruins-jersey/ . Yet he defended Russias anti-gay law by equating gays with pedophiles and said Russia needs to "cleanse" itself of homosexuality if it wants to increase its birth rate.MILWAUKEE -- Dwight Howard was disappointed by the Rockets inconsistent effort, even if it was good enough to beat the Bucks. Howard scored 27 points, including three crucial free throws in the closing seconds, and James Harden scored 10 of his 22 points in the decisive third quarter to help Houston hold off a short-handed but scrappy Milwaukee team for its fifth straight win, 101-95 Saturday night. "We didnt attack like we needed to the whole game," Howard said. "There were spurts when we attacked the basket, but there were times when settled for the 3. We have to always be in attack mode." The Rockets let the Bucks get close once in the third and then again down the stretch. "They dug into the lead a little bit," Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. "Im just glad we got that win. That wasnt one of our best games. We had a lot of possessions offensively where we didnt move the ball." Jeremy Lin added 18 as the Rockets tied their longest winning streak of the season, a mark set in late November. "Were too up and down right now," Lin said. "We go up 12 and then we are only up six. It would be nice for us to build leads and really dominate from start to finish." Howard grabbed 13 rebounds for his 33rd double-double of the season, the third highest in the NBA this season. Nate Wolters, who scored a career-high 19, sparked the Bucks with seven points during a 16-7 run to open the second half and that pulled them to 63-61. "Defensively, they kind of got what they wanted there for a while," McHale said of the Bucks effort. "But we had some good runs inside the game that got us some separation." The Rockets quickly answered with baskets by Patrick Beverley and Terence Jones, and then Harden added seven points to prevent Milwaukee from getting any closer using an 18-8 run to end the third and take an 81-69 lead into the fourth. Brandon Knight scored 23 points and Khris Middleton 20, including three free throws aftter being fouled behind the arc with 46.www.nflcheapjerseysbest.com. 6 seconds remaining as Milwaukee came back to trail 98-95. Howard made three of four free throws for Houstons final points and seal the win. "I thought for the most part, we hung in there," Bucks head coach Larry Drew said. "The first half we really were just trying to make it work after we lost Larry Sanders." The Bucks were already down to four reserves before an inadvertent elbow from Harden knocked Sanders out of the game with 7:37 left in the first quarter. The two were fighting for a rebound under the Bucks basket. Sanders fell to the floor for a few moments before walking off. He did not return due to blurred vision. After the game, Bucks coach Larry Drew didnt have any additional news on Sanders. John Henson thought that Sanders got hit in the eye and probably would just have a black eye. With the loss of Sanders, the Rockets had an easier time in the low post and outscored the Bucks 58 to 48 in the paint. Luke Ridnour (back), Ekpe Udoh (ankle), Ersan Ilyasova (back), O.J. Mayo (illness/conditioning) and Caron Butler (ankle) missed the game for Milwaukee. Lin came off the bench to score 11 points in the first half as Houston shot 53.5 per cent and took a 56-45 lead at the half. Harden added 11 points and then helped Howard get his 11th just before the half ended on a slick alley-oop. Howard had just converted a three-point play when Harden lofted a pass that the Rockets centre dunked for a 15-point lead. NOTES: Houston improved to 15-3 against the Eastern Conference, including five straight against the East. ... Rockets C Omer Asik returned after missing the last 31 games with a right thigh/knee injury, but F Greg Smith sore right knee kept him back in Houston. Hes played in only 11 games so far this season. ... Howard is 17 of 18 in career games against the Bucks. ... The Rockets are 12-0 when Howard has scored at least 20 points in the last six weeks, compared to 2-6 when he doesnt. ' ' '
