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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- David Clarksons debut was supposed to help the Toronto Maple Leafs establish an identity. Clayton Richard Jersey . Instead, he and his teammates were outworked by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a penalty-filled 5-2 loss Friday night at Nationwide Arena. Clarkson took the first of eight minor penalties in a choppy game that left players searching for answers. "We know weve got better, we know we have to do the right things to be an A-team in this league and we didnt do the right things tonight," said forward Dave Bolland, who scored the Leafs second goal and took two penalties. Special teams play was a major reason Toronto entered the game 7-3-0 despite coach Randy Carlyle lamenting his teams lack of an identity early this season. The Leafs only gave up one power-play goal to Columbus, but the parade to the penalty box still hurt them. They spent 11 minutes 32 seconds shorthanded, forcing goaltender Jonathan Bernier to take on a heavy workload and disrupting the flow of the game. Six of the minor penalties were stick infractions, in part the result of what Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards figured was his groups best skating game of the year. "Theyre a good team, they work hard, they had a good forecheck on us," said Bernier, who stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced. "We had some scoring chances, we just didnt put it in the net." The Blue Jackets got on the board on the power play, as defenceman Ryan Murray scored his first NHL goal just 39 seconds after Clarkson was penalized for hooking Nick Foligno. Marian Gaborik scored in the third not long after Nazem Kadri was released from the box after the second of his three penalties, and Brandon Dubinsky scored the game-winner with Columbus shorthanded later in the period. "The power plays were definitely lopsided, and then we get a break to go four-on-three and we give up a short-handed (goal)," Carlyle said. "Kind of set the table for what happened tonight." It was an uneven performance from the get-go for the Leafs, who were outshot 16-5 in the first period and didnt get on the board until Phil Kessel scored 40 seconds after the first intermission. Penalties piled up after that, and Bernier did his best to keep his team in the game. "Weve got to get a better effort," said Clarkson, who had four shots, two penalty minutes and a minus-1 rating in 15:10 of ice time. "Especially Bernies been playing that well for us, and we kind of hang him out to dry there a little bit." Bernier said the Leafs didnt bring their "effort" against the Blue Jackets, but that wasnt lacking from Clarkson, who missed the first 10 games of the season while serving a suspension for leaving the bench to enter a pre-season fight. Carlyle figured Clarkson looked "rusty" but expected that after so much time away from game action. "Hes going to try, hes going to work," Carlyle said. "The other things as far as the stick-handling and the turnovers and stuff, I think youve got to give the guy some slack. He hasnt played any games this year. Everybody else is about 10 games ahead of him." Clarkson didnt feel rusty but wasnt giving himself any glowing reviews, in part because of the final result. "Any time you lose, you dont feel good," Clarkson said. "I felt like on the forecheck my jump was there, I felt OK. ... (But) its all about winning right now, and it doesnt matter how anyone feels weve got to find a way to win it, weve got to play better than that." After signing a US$36.75-million, seven-year deal with the Leafs in the off-season and taking on the expectations that went with it, Clarkson was anxious to make an impact. Weeks of bag skates prepared him for this moment, but once the puck dropped he tried to forget about all that. "I think Ive played in the league long enough that its not just another game, but when youve been out that long, you want to get out there and get some hits and get on the forecheck and make some plays," he said. "All that stuff, hopefully one down and now well get going." Clarkson wasnt to blame for the Leafs third-period meltdown, which included Gaboriks fifth goal of the season and Dubinskys shorthanded that came on a bad break. In his third straight start, Bernier faulted himself for not making enough saves, but the ex-New York Rangers forward made just about the perfect shot. "Youve got to give the shooter credit sometime," Bernier said. "He put it right under the bar. It was a good shot." Clarkson and his teammates must try to rebound quickly, with Sidney Crosby (18 points in 10 games) and the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Just like the Penguins after a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, the Leafs have little time to dwell on this performance. "Were going to be fine, weve got to bounce back," Clarkson said. "This is the game of hockey, youre not going to win every game. I think we know what weve got to be better in." Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at (at)SWhyno NOTES - Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, last years Vezina Trophy winner, stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced. ... Foligno scored the Blue Jackets fifth goal against Bernier with seven seconds left after Ryan Johansen put the puck into an empty net 20 seconds earlier. ... Kessel left the game briefly late in the second period and went down the tunnel toward the locker-room but returned at the start of the third and finished with 16:20 of ice time. Johnny Manziel Jersey . The 7-foot-1 Hawes, who is in the final year of his contract, is averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds, both career highs, and shoots 40 per cent from 3-point range. The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season. Trevor Hoffman Jersey . - Anthony Beauvillier had the winning goal in the third period as the Shawinigan Cataractes edged the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-1 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-Rollie-Fingers-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2.NEW YORK -- Jacob deGrom took the mound with a disappointing record, but with the full backing of his manager. The rookie right-hander rewarded Terry Collins confidence with the strongest outing of his young career. DeGrom struck out 11 in seven shutout innings and also delivered a table-setting hit from the No. 8 spot in the batting order as the New York Mets tagged All-Star Julio Teheran and the Atlanta Braves 8-3 Tuesday night. "Showed you that he can certainly compete in this league," Collins praised. The shaggy-haired deGrom (2-5) pitched the Mets to their third win in a row, and the franchises 4,000th victory since starting out as an expansion team in 1962. Atlanta has lost three straight. The lanky 26-year-old scattered seven hits, walked none and matched a career best for strikeouts. "Feel I had my best start," deGrom said. "Controlling every pitch I needed to." DeGrom said he got most of his strikeouts on "elevated fastballs and sinkers," though he felt his most effective pitch was his curveball. "Knows what hes got to do to get a K when he needs it, and just goes out and does it," Collins said. The Mets set a team record at Citi Field with 18 hits. Curtis Granderson kept up his resurgence with a leadoff home run and Lucas Duda doubled twice, singled and drew two walks. Daniel Murphy also doubled twice and third baseman David Wright added two hits and made a nifty catch. DeGroms single led to a three-run burst in the second inning, and he exited as a 6-for-22 (.273) hitter in the majors, part of the reason Collins felt comfortable in tweaking his lineup. "Dont really care where I bat. More focused on the pitching," deGrom said. Said Collins: "Way too much made of the pitcher hitting eighth. Ill need to call La Russa and tell him he created a huge monster." Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa holds the record for most times batting his pitcher eighth in a season -- few other skippers have followed his lead since. Teheran (8-6) gave up a career-high 11 hits after shutting down the Mets in his previous outing, part of a Braves sweep last week. He lasted just 3 1-3 innnings, matching the shortest of his 53 starts in the majors. Chase Headley Jersey. "One of those nights that everybody has and today was mine," he said. "I feel like everything I threw, they got a good swing." Teheran was picked Sunday for his first NL All-Star team, but the 23-year-old righty was very hittable from the get-go. Collins noted before the game that the ball was flying during batting practice -- Granderson proved him correct, lining Teherans second pitch off the facade of the second deck in right field. "Its just one of those starts," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "The young man, hes bound to have a bad one every now and then. If you go out there 35 times, youre going to have a bad one, and today was one of his bad ones." Granderson, rebounding nicely from a slow start, hit his fourth home run in seven games. On Monday night, his tying homer in the eighth inning sent the Mets to an 11-inning win over Atlanta. The shot also gave the Mets a home run in eight straight games at Citi Field, matching a team record for the stadium that opened in 2009. The Mets led 5-0 in the third. Atlanta put runners at the corners with two outs in the sixth, but Wright made a diving, backhanded catch on Jason Heywards liner to end the inning. Three Mets relievers closed out the win. They did it while winds whipped debris all over the field as a storm blew into the ballpark. Freddie Freeman hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth. NOTES: Granderson hit his third leadoff homer of the year and 27th of his career. Mets RHP Dillon Gee (strained right lat) comes off the disabled list to start Wednesday night against RHP Ervin Santana. ... Teheran is set to start Sunday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, meaning he wont pitch in the All-Star game Tuesday at Minnesota. ... Andrelton Simmons went hitless for Atlanta. He had six straight multihit games coming in. ... This was the sixth time -- all in the last month -- that Collins has batted his pitcher eighth. DeGrom was the first pitcher to get a hit in that slot. Collins hit Eric Young Jr. in the ninth spot, saying it created a double leadoff position. Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Yankees Jerseys Cheap Rays Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Athletics Jerseys Cheap Mariners Jerseys Cheap Rangers Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys ' ' '