News - Stadt » hip to be chasing him," Pagenau

TORONTO – Its been a black hole in Toronto since the second NHL lockout ended, save for one fleeting bright spot last season. 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." Cheap Dolphins Jerseys . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Cheap Dolphins Jerseys China . The 49ers announced the deal Tuesday. San Francisco selected Lloyd in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. http://www.dolphinscheapjerseys.com/. - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Discount Dolphins Jerseys Online . Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes.A week off did nothing to mellow the tension between Simon Pagenaud and Will Power stemming from contact between the two at Long Beach. Pagenaud refused to accept an apology from Power following the April 13 race in which Pagenaud was spun from behind by the Australian. Although Pagenaud rallied to finish fifth, he said the contact from Power ruined his chance to race for the win. Now, as IndyCar heads to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama for Sundays race, Pagenaud says his feelings toward Power have not changed. "Im still disappointed in his action, although I understand racing can be tough sometimes," Pagenaud said. "Its a shame. It really ruined my race. I guess he set the tone for the rest of the season. Were going to be racing hard against each other." Power was publicly remorseful at Long Beach, and understood Pagenuads frustration. At a test at Texas Motor Speedway three days after the race, he chalked it up to a racing incident. "Its going to happen all year between people. You just need to kind of forget about it and move on," Power said. Power won the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, was second at Long Beachh and heads into Barber leading the IndyCar standings.dddddddddddd Pagenaud finished fifth in each of the first two races, and is third in the standings. "Im pleased, actually, that were that high up in the championship to be chasing him," Pagenaud said. "Thats what Im going to do. Im going to try to be racing hard. Ill try to be as clean as I can be." But, the Frenchman acknowledged hes confused right now about what IndyCar race control will tolerate on the track. Many believe Power should have been penalized for the contact with Pagenaud, but IndyCar took no action. "We are racers. We all want to win. We all try to get into a gap thats sometimes too small. There needs to be some regulation sometimes that tells us what we can or cannot do," Pagenaud said. "Right now, to be very honest with you, I dont know whats allowed or what is not allowed. Its still a very grey area. "Im hopeful that it will be fixed for Barber and we will have a much better understanding." If race control doesnt offer guidance before Sundays race? "Its going to get pretty crazy pretty quick," Pagenaud warned. ' ' '