, I think the goaltending has been great from both guys back there

WASHINGTON D. D.J. Fluker Jersey .C. – Randy Carlyle, for one, would like to know where such an effort was hiding. Though they dropped their fourth consecutive game in the U.S. capital on Friday night – and 21st in 32 games since the start of November – the Maple Leafs finally played with the fight that had been mysteriously missing in recent days and, really, for the better part of a disappointing season. "Weve been begging, pleading, kicking, kissing, whatever we can do to try and find a way that we can play with some confidence," said Carlyle after a 3-2 loss to the Capitals. "This might be one of the better games weve played in a month. We showed desperation. We showed that we care [and] when we put our effort and our heart into it that there is more in that room than whats been displayed and thats whats been frustrating everybody – and theyre frustrated also." Still embarrassed from their second blowout loss in the past three games – a 6-1 pounding in Carolina just a night earlier – the Leafs at last competed with the necessary gumption and fire that was noticeably absent all week. Why it took so long to materialize and where it had been hiding was a "mind-boggling" and befuddling point for the Leafs head coach. His team was cleaner, crisper and a considerable contrast to the apparent mess that materialized against the Rangers and Hurricanes. A few mistakes and two unlucky bounces – both the Capitals game-tying and game-winning goals deflected off Toronto skates – ultimately saw a third period lead unravel, but there was, nonetheless, an air of cautious optimism afterward. "I think we played harder," said Dion Phaneuf, leading the team with 24 minutes. "No one likes to be embarrassed the way that we were." "We knew we needed it," David Clarkson added of the improved effort. "Weve got to find ways to compete like that every night. Compete. Compete. Win our battles and well be okay." It was the smallest of steps – they still lost for one thing – but a needed step no less for a team thats been light on optimism in the past two months. An unpredictable animal all year, what remains in question is how the Leafs respond when they host the Devils on Sunday night. Inconsistency has been the defining identity of the club so far. One good effort has only rarely translated into two. In fact, Toronto has won back-to-back games in regulation just once since the start of November. The reality of such a lengthy slide has seen them fall out of a playoff position for the first time all season in recent days, now 10th in the East with 47 points. "We need to start to churn some points for our hockey club to feel good about ourselves," said Carlyle, who felt his team was harder to play against, more physical and tighter defensively against the Capitals. "Theres not a lot of easy breathing taking place around our group right now. Thats the reality of it. But thats what happens when you dont have success." "Its not great when youre losing," Clarkson said. "But this is the part [of the season] that were going to have to rally together. Were going to have to find ways to get wins. I think if we play like we did tonight against every single team, I think well be fine." Five Points 1. Source of Trouble Carl Gunnarsson pointed to the Leafs inconsistency, night to night, period to period, shift to shift, as the source of a troubling first half. "Some nights the forecheck has been great and the day after, its been not as good," he said moments before Fridays game. "Its been just inconsistent all over. The only thing thats been good throughout the year, I think the goaltending has been great from both guys back there. They saved us in a bunch of games." Gunnarsson said the team could work well within its respective system, but failed to do so with any semblance of consistency. "When we do it well it works," he said. "So its just a matter of doing it every night, every shift, not only for every other night or 20, 40 minutes per game, its not enough. Its got to be every night and for 60 minutes." 2. The More Consistent Option in Goal Making his seventh start in the past eight games, Jonathan Bernier returned to the form that saw him gripping hold of the crease before a pair of losses earlier this week. The 25-year-old stopped 32 of 35 shots in defeat. Though he and his counterpart, James Reimer, have been equals for the better part of the season, Bernier has certainly proven the more consistent of the two, though Reimer has been dealt his fair share of bad hands, including Thursdays lackluster effort in Carolina. As the table below indicates, Berniers performance has fluctuated only slightly all season. Goaltender Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Bernier .933 .923 .932 .896 Reimer .949 .916 .909 .852 3. Gardiner Sitting for just the second time all season on Thursday night, Jake Gardiner was back in the Toronto lineup against the Capitals, paired with 19-year-old Morgan Rielly for the third time this season. "I thought that was one of Jakes best performances," Carlyle said of Gardiner, who played just under 20 minutes. "He moved the puck, he skated, he didnt turn it over, he made a lot of good plays. Thats what were looking for from him every night." Carlyle hadnt been happy with the 23-year-olds performance against the Rangers and Islanders, pulling him from the lineup in Carolina. "Thats the trials and tribulations of a young player," Carlyle continued. "We know Jake Gardiner has NHL-quality skills, but we believe that theres something there that takes him out of that after four or five games. Whatever that is weve got to find a way to correct that." Of note, Carlyle had Gardiner on the third pairing alongside Rielly, rather than the second grouping with Cody Franson where hes played the better part of the season with inconsistent success. 4. Opting for Optimism Rather than inflame the misery of a perilous slide on Friday morning, Carlyle opted to point out the positives of losses to the Hurricanes and Islanders. "[We] tried to focus on some of the things that were doing well in [Thursday] nights game and some of the games [recently]," said Carlyle after Fridays game. 5. End of a Cold Spell? James van Riemsdyk had his first multi-point outing in more than a month on Friday. Scoring for just the third time in the past 16 games, his 16th this season, while adding a helper on Phil Kessels 21st goal of the season, van Riemsdyk had a pair of points in the same game for the first time since Dec. 7. He sits second on the team in scoring with 33 points in 44 games. "Theres always going to be challenges throughout the year," the 24-year-old said, speaking generally about the team. "Its about how you respond to that. Theres going to be no sulking done by us, throwing a pity party or feeling sorry for ourselves. We know what we need to do. I think the effort tonight was a good response with how we kind of laid an egg [Thursday] night." Stats-Pack 4 – Goals in the past 19 games for James van Riemsdyk, who scored his 16th this season on Friday. 19:33 – Ice-time for Jake Gardiner against Washington. 11-16-5 – Leafs record since the start of November. 22 – Points in the past 32 games for Phil Kessel, who had 18 points in October alone. 6 – Fights this season for Colton Orr, who dueled with John Erskine on Friday. 12 – Points in the past 10 games for Tyler Bozak, who has 18 points in 22 games this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-3 Season: 21.7% (5th) PK: 4-4 Season: 77.5% (27th) Quote of the Night "Weve been begging, pleading, kicking, kissing, whatever we can do to try and find a way that we can play with some confidence." -Randy Carlyle, following the 3-2 defeat in Washington. Up Next The Leafs host the Devils in yet another Sunday night affair at the ACC. Seattle Seahawks Gear . The Calgary Stampeders running back received the West Division nomination for the CFLs top individual award Thursday in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada and leagues eight head coaches. D.J. Fluker Seahawks Jersey .com) - The Chicago Cubs reportedly signed recently-acquired outfielder Dexter Fowler to a one-year contract on Friday, avoiding arbitration. http://www.seahawksfansprostore.com/Black-Rashaad-Penny-Seahawks-Jersey.html?cat=1026 . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. CLEVELAND -- The Washington Wizards lost Nene to a knee injury, and then won the game with a strong effort on defence. John Wall scored 21 points, Bradley Beal had 17 and the Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 on Sunday night. Washington had a 66-63 lead midway through the third quarter when Nene departed with a sprained left knee. The Wizards then held the Cavaliers to 11 fourth-quarter points to return to .500 at 28-28 on the season. They also strengthened their hold on the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. "Were a team right now thats just trying to play the right way and get on a roll," Wall said. Nene had eight points, four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes. He was coming off one of his best games with the Wizards, when he had a career-high 30 points in Saturdays win over New Orleans, including the game-winning dunk with less than a second left. Coach Randy Wittman said Nene banged knees with Spencer Hawes and will get an MRI on Monday. Luol Deng led Cleveland with 17 points and the injury-riddled Cavaliers lost for the second straight time after winning six in a row. The Cavaliers played without centre Anderson Varejao (sore back) and guards Dion Waiters (hyperextended left knee) and C.J. Miles (sprained left ankle). While the Wizards are in good shape to snag a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers are five games out of the final post-season slot. Kyrie Irving, who scored 15 points, admitted that hes looking at the standings. "You have no choice but to pay attention to it," he said. "We want to accomplish something, but it starts with every single game. Time is of the essence right now." Washington led 78-72 after three quarters, and then grabbed control in the fourth. Two baskets by Kevin Seraphin, who replaced Nene, and five points by Beal helped the Wizards build a double-digit lead before Trevor Arizas 3-pointer with a little over a minute left made it 96-81. "We felt bad when he got hurt, but during the game, you have to keep focused the whole way, which we did," Seraphin said. The Cavaliers shot 49 per cent in the first half, but were 4 of 19 from the field in the fourth quarter. "The ball just seemed to stick in one area," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. Barkevious Mingo Jersey. "It was almost like we played in an elevator at times. It wasnt crisp like it was in the first half." Ariza scored 15 points and Marcin Gortat had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Hawes, playing his second game since being acquired from Philadelphia on Thursday, had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland. The Wizards used a 12-0 run midway through the first quarter to go ahead for good. Cleveland got within one point several times in the third quarter but never pulled even. The game featured two of the top young point guards in the league in Irving and Wall. Irving was the MVP of the All-Star game and Wall won the dunk contest. Wall ended the first half with a dunk and two 3-pointers in the final 1:21. He banked in a 30-footer to beat the halftime buzzer, giving Washington a 58-52 lead. Washington scored the first two baskets on a tip-in and a fast break after a bad pass by Irving, leading to a timeout by Brown just 31 seconds into the game. Browns message obviously worked as the Cavaliers took a 13-8 lead, but the Wizards scored the next 12 points to go ahead 20-13. The teams split the season series, with the road team winning all four games. "The last time we played Cleveland, we gave the game away," Ariza said. "They played harder than us the last time. We did our best to prevent that from happening again." Hawes made his home debut late in the first quarter. He had 13 points and seven rebounds in 14 first-half minutes. NOTES: While theres no timetable for the return of Clevelands injured players, Varejao, who has missed the last six games, was on the court at Saturdays practice. Waiters hasnt been able to run since being injured Tuesday while Miles is still using crutches after hurting his ankle Wednesday. ... The Wizards are 11-6 in their last 17 road games. Washington is 14-14 on the road and at home. ... Cavaliers F Tristan Thompson, a native of Canada, celebrated his countrys win over Sweden in the gold-medal hockey game at the Olympics. "Were supposed to win," he said with a smile ... Wizards F Otto Porter, the third pick in the draft, didnt play for the fourth time in six games. Cheap Cowboys Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys Cheap Eagles Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Cheap Falcons Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Saints Jerseys Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap 49ers Jerseys Cheap Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Rams Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Cheap Vikings Jerseys ' ' '