Das Feller-Forum » ." Tippett said Boedker was shoved in to the goali

TORONTO – Claimed off waivers from Tampa at the start of the regular season, Richard Panik has scored three times as many even-strength goals as Phil Kessel since the middle of November. Kessel trails only Steven Stamkos with 81 even-strength goals since the start of the 2011-12 campaign, but he has just one during the Leafs booming 9-1-1 run. Eight players on the Leafs actually have more such goals than Kessel in that span (including one defenceman), indicative of the new wave of depth thats come to rise in Toronto. The Leafs are the highest scoring team in hockey right now and, while the 27-year-old Kessel still leads that bunch with 31 points in 30 games, hes gotten a whole lot of help, a dramatic change from seasons past. Its been a strength of our team all year, said Joffrey Lupul, who has six goals in 18 games. In wins over Detroit and L.A. over the weekend, the Leafs had six different players score seven goals. The group has boomed with nearly four goals per game since they were thrashed at home by Nashville in mid-November, riding that offence to the edge of an Atlantic division lead. Good teams have depth, Peter Horachek, one of the teams assistant coaches said Monday. You need secondary scoring. You need secondary play through everybody. Thats what pushes you. Its a good, healthy kind of pressure coming from everybody, that people are pushing and going in the right direction and theyre all providing something to the team. Even Strength Offence Since Nov. 18 Player Goals Points Richard Panik 3 3 Leo Komarov 3 3 Peter Holland 3 4 Joffrey Lupul 3 5 Morgan Rielly 2 2 Mike Santorelli 2 9 David Clarkson 2 4 James van Riemsdyk 2 4 Nazem Kadri 1 5 Cody Franson 1 4 Jake Gardiner 1 3 Phil Kessel 1 2 Tyler Bozak 1 4 *Not including empty-net goals This was not the Leafs model last season or in recent years. But in opting for a balanced, four-line approach under a revamped management team (and coaching staff), the club has gotten away from leaning entirely on Kessel and the teams top line for offence. The Leafs fizzled out when that line cooled off down the stretch of last season. That unit, oddly, has actually been the clubs worst in recent weeks, both in terms of production and possession. Much of the offence from Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak has come on a power play unit thats pushing the top-10 in hockey this season with nine goals during the month-long hot streak. The trio has a paltry possession mark of less than 40 per cent in the past 11 games. Instead, the Leafs continue to find contributions from those like Panik, Mike Santorelli and Peter Holland. Teams that rely on scoring from one line dont usually have success at the end of the year, Horachek said. Its good growth. Its healthy for our team. Panik is a prime example of a player pushing for more ice-time. The 23-year-old has already set a career-high with six goals, doing so in fewer than nine minutes per game with not a lick of power play time. Santorelli, too, is pushing Kessel for an unlikely share of the team-lead in even-strength offence, already with 18 such points. Luck has certainly worked in the Leafs favour. Toronto has the highest on-ice shooting percentage at even-strength during the month-long run – well above 13 per cent – while boasting the second-worst possession in the league. Such luck is likely to turn in the other direction at some point. But with improved depth, a potent power play and a top unit that figures to get going at some point (though perhaps in need of a tweak), theres no reason the Leafs wont remain a dangerous offensive team. Its all the other stuff that remains a question. USA Soccer Store . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys .com) - Nathan MacKinnon scored the winning goal in the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche rallied for a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys . Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. USA Soccer Shirts . James scored 25 points against his former team, leading the energized Heat to a 114-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. Dwyane Wade added 24 points and Chris Bosh had 22 for the Heat, idle since a 90-84 loss Tuesday at Indiana. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Phoenix Coyotes have won three in a row for the first time in 4 1/2 months, and theyve done it just in time for the stretch run to the playoffs. Radim Vrbata and Antoine Vermette scored first-period goals and the Phoenix Coyotes held on for a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith had a shutout until Chris Gomez scored with 4:08 to play. Smith had 22 saves. The game was no thing of beauty. "They all cant all be masterpieces," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "We got up two goals and we won. Well leave it at that." The victory, coupled with Dallas loss to Philadelphia, put the Coyotes four points ahead of the Stars for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Phoenix has won five of six and seven of nine. "Maybe desperation," Vrbata said when asked what was driving the recent success. "We know where we are in the standings and that we need every point we can get. We lost too many games before, games we should have won. " Smiths play has been central to the recent wins and he was strong again Thursday. "Before they got that goal, he was outstanding," Tippett said, "and then he got some after that." There werent many shots, Tippett said, but several were difficult saves. Robert Luongo had 20 saves for the Panthers. The Coyotes scored their first goal on a power play after Floridas Jimmy Hayes was sent to the penalty box for holding. Oliver Ekman-Larssons shot from directly in front of the net glanced off Martin Hanzals skate and was knocked into the net by Vrbata for his 20th goal of the season. Phoenix killed two penalties the rest of the period, then made it 2-0 when Vermette hit the puck innto a virtually empty net off a deflected shot by Mike Stone.dddddddddddd Stones shot bounced off Luongos midsection and right to Vermette. Luongo complained that the goal should have been disallowed because Mikkel Boedker had knocked the goalie to the ice, creating an opening for the goal, but the score stood and it was 2-0 after two. "I think they missed it," Florida coach Peter Horachek said. ".. It should have been an interference call. A lot of those things are going to happen and youre going to have to deal with them, everybody else does, but when you look back at it, it makes it 1-1." Luongo said hed have to look at the tape, but added "its tough to do my job when I end up in the corner." Tippett said Boedker was shoved in to the goalie. "Theyre guy pushed," Tippett said. "I thought it was the right call. Boedker wouldnt have been in there if he hadnt got pushed." "If he hadnt been shoved, he wouldnt have been in there," Tippett said. It was Vermettes team-leading 22nd goal. Hanzal and Ekman-Larsson got assists on Vrbatas goal, Stone and Boedker on the second. Gomezs goal, his first in 36 games, came on a wrist shot that fluttered past Smith. The three-game winning streak is Phoenixs longest since it won five in a row from Oct. 26 to Nov. 5. NOTES: Florida ranks last in the NHL in power-play goals and last in penalty kills. ... Entering the night, Smith had a 1.92 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in his previous 14 games. ... Phoenix swept the season series 2-0, winning at Florida 3-1 on March 11. ... Phoenix is home against Boston Saturday night. ... The Panthers were on the second stop of a four-game road trip. They are at Los Angeles on Saturday. ' ' '