News, Tratsch und Spieleecke » Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs

TORONTO – Randy Carlyle fears the house of cards will soon collapse. "6-1 is only a stat," he declared following an instructive Wednesday practice that lingered for upwards of an hour. "We really know the body of work has to improve. And yet were happy to take 6-1, but theres a but." Though theyve certainly achieved the desired result with six victories in their first seven games, the process has been anything but a pretty picture for the Leafs. In their most recent outing against the Wild on Tuesday night, they rarely had the puck, were outshot 37-14, out-attempted 68-30 and yet escaped with a deceiving 4-1 win. It was yet another incomplete victory, an effort in which the Leafs managed to capture two points in spite of glaring and growing flaws. Only terrific special teams, stability in goal from the duo of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, and a potent offence have kept the bubble from bursting so far. "Its a fine line," Jay McClement told the Leaf Report, with the Carolina Hurricanes set to visit the ACC on Thursday. "You dont want to rain on our record, but at the same time theres quite a few games that couldve gone the other way and we have to look at that and judge our game accordingly, not just on the result." Theres been sloppiness with the puck, an inconsistent forecheck, little to no sustained pressure in the offensive zone, and far too many quality scoring chances against from the critical areas in and around the net. "I just think overall were too loose in the three zones," Carlyle said Tuesday morning before the game against the Wild. "I think its the ability to step inside and be first on pucks; talk about team toughness and all those things, its willing to take a check to make a play; stop on pucks instead of circling away; win your share of 1-on-1 battles; start with the puck more on faceoffs. All those things are factors that go into improving your team play." A consequence of poor puck possession, the Leafs are yielding more than 34 shots per game - fifth-worst overall - putting undue pressure on their goaltenders to be the difference most nights in the early going. And while Bernier and Reimer and have done just that, combining for a .934 save percentage, at some point the load will be too burdensome to bear, as was nearly the case against the Oilers in a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind overtime victory this past Saturday. "When we review and review and review theres just some areas that were really absent in," Carlyle said. "Its a nervous time in the coaches office because of the shot differential and the quality of chances that were giving up." "I think what Randys talking about and what we feel in here is we just lack the consistency right now in the strong team game that we had last year," McClement said. "We just havent had it for I dont think for more than a period or two here and there this year." But with their sparkling record, Carlyle can only push so hard for change. "You can hide behind 6-1 and 4-1," he said of his teams record and most recent victory. "And rightly or wrongly thats what athletes do." Fearful of being exposed in very short order - with a trip to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks looming on Saturday - Carlyle is preaching that his group "look in the mirror" and contemplate just how unsustainable their current performance is, all this in spite of a glowing record. "You try to plead to everybodys individual preparation, their focus, their work ethic, do a little bit of self-evaluation," he said. Its not been all bad. In addition to mostly fine work in goal, the Leafs have benefited from superb special teams. Their lethal power-play has scored at least once in each of the six victories – without a goal in the lone defeat against Colorado – and rests as the third-best so far this season. A legitimate weapon last season, the penalty kill has remained elite, also third-best at this point. Offensively, the Leafs continue to score in bunches, nearly four per game in the opening two weeks. "We definitely have done positive things," McClement concluded. "Its just such a long year that you have to just get into good habits of playing the same way every night. If we do that I think were going to win a lot of games. "For a team, for a coaching staff, Im sure its the ideal situation; you have a good record, but you still dont feel like weve played as well as we can. I guess you could say its not the worst problem to have." Tremaine Edmunds Jersey . The Redblacks are taking on the Edmonton Eskimos in their second regular season game Friday night. Catch the game live on TSN as the back end of a doubleheader starting at 10pm et/7pm pt. Taron Johnson Bills Jersey . 1-9 on TSN. With more than 65 hours of exclusive live coverage, TSN delivers all the action beginning with Draw 1 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p. http://www.authenticbillsfanatic.com/. A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. Eddie Yarbrough Bills Jersey . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Jeremy Kerley Bills Jersey . Canada will host Japan in a World Group first-round match in 2015. It will be a rematch of their first-round clash last year when Japan defeated Canada 4-1 to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time in its history.Liverpool, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Everton put an end to a four-match losing streak across all competitions on Monday with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park. The Toffees entered Monday having already clinched their Europa League group but coming off a 1-0 loss to Krasnador on Thursday and needing a win in league play to get back on track. The home side opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when Ross Barkley collected a long ball on the end of the box and ripped it just inside the left post and into the top left corner, leaving QPR goalkeeper Robert Green with little chance for a save. Roberto Martinezs side doubled the advantage just one minutes before the intermission when Kevin Mirallas fired a free kick from the right side of the pitch just outside the box that took a wicked deflection off the wall and beat Green into the bottom left corner.dddddddddddd. Just eight minutes into the second half the Blues made it 3-0 when Aiden McGeady lofted a well-placed cross into the area for an unmarked Steven Naismith, who nodded it home with ease. QPR pulled a goal back in the 79th minute when Junior Hoilett worked his way into the box and fired a low strike on goal that was stopped by Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, but he left the rebound in front of goal and Bobby Zamora finished it off. The fourth officials board showed four minutes of added time, but QPR couldnt make it all the way back and suffered its 10th defeat of the season, while Everton claimed its fifth win of the season in league play. 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