Neues » down a three and Miami

TORONTO -- Already exhausted following a long road trip and playing the second half of back-to-back games, the last thing the Toronto Maple Leafs was another emotional pitfall. Mark Andrews Ravens Jersey . Coach Randy Carlyle had already caused a stir in Detroit a night earlier by calling James Reimers play in a loss "just OK," and then the goaltender gave up a goal on the first shot he faced Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately for the Leafs, that was just the beginning of a long game as defenceman Paul Ranger was injured and Steven Stamkos rang up a hat trick to hand them a 5-3 loss at Air Canada Centre, their third in a row. Even after the club released an update saying Ranger was "stable, conscious and alert" after his head hit the glass on a hit from Alex Killorn and he was taken to a local hospital, there were plenty of worried teammates in the home locker-room after a defeat that dropped the Leafs three points behind the Lightning in the Atlantic Division. With that came a notion of missing an opportunity to make something out of the impossibly difficult situation of seeing Ranger go down. "You try to use that as motivation to go out there and give yourself the best opportunity to get a chance and try to use the player, Range, get it for him," Carlyle said. "And we fell short, for sure." Against the Lightning (38-24-7), falling short meant starting terribly with a goal against 59 seconds in, taking too many penalties and giving Stamkos far too much room to operate. But Killorns hit on Ranger understandably took the lions share of the attention. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper called it "probably the turning point in the game" as his team killed off the five-minute major, while the Leafs (36-27-8) just struggled to pick their game up after watching him get wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. "We say our jobs to get ready and prepare for the next period, but thats scary," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "He obviously didnt look great when he was leaving the ice. So youre trying to clear your head and focus on the next period. But you cant lie -- obviously part of you is wondering whats going on with him." When Ranger went down, the Leafs were trailing 3-2 after Radko Gudas beat Reimer in the games first minute with a seemingly innocent shot from just inside the blue-line. Reimer didnt see the shot, and long after his Leafs came back to take the lead on goals by Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin, Carlyle didnt blame his goalie for that one. "The first goals kind of (a) fluke," Carlyle said. "What do you do? Its a seeing-eye shot, theres a screen, it hits a post and goes in. So you cant get too unravelled by that." Reimer, who gave up five goals on 30 shots, didnt unravel, but a lack of discipline and the Leafs defence was to blame for Stamkos scoring twice in the first period and then completing the hat trick early in the second. An interference penalty on David Clarkson led to the first goal, and there were missed assignments on all three. For Stamkos, who was playing in just his seventh game since returning from a four-month absence after breaking his right leg, called getting the natural hat trick in front of family and friends the highlight of his season. "I was a little disappointed there was no hats on the ice," the Markham, Ont., native said. "I guess Ill take it anyway." Though he couldnt be blamed for any of the three goals Stamkos scored, Reimer couldnt take many positives out of his performance. Because Jonathan Bernier remains out with a groin injury, Reimer became the first Toronto goalie to start on back-to-back days this season, and this wasnt the result he wanted when thrust into that situation. "I just want to come out and play well and kind of be a difference-maker, and unfortunately it wasnt the case," Reimer said. "I thought I made some good saves, but it definitely wasnt the performance I was looking for. I wanted to come out and be big and keep your team in it, and that didnt happen tonight." Reimers failings, notably on the first goal, paled in comparison to the other drama and blunders that tormented the Leafs against the Lightning. Six minor penalties led to two power-play goals by the Lightning -- the first by Stamkos and the second one in the third from linemate Tyler Johnson -- which wound up being enough to make the difference. "A lot of things come down to special teams," Cooper said. "Weve had our ups and downs all year. For us to kill off all those penalties, especially the five minutes and then get two power-play goals. Thats how youre going to win. Thats how youre going to win down the stretch and get into the playoffs." With the victory, the Lightning, who got 36 saves on 39 shots from Vezina Trophy candidate Ben Bishop, moved ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs, who at 71 games have played the most of any team in the Eastern Conference, held onto the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but lost a major opportunity to pick up points. Reimer lamented not doing that more than being unable to cover up the fire storm that surrounded him. "It doesnt really matter how you play or how people talk about how you play as long as you get points," he said. "As tough as things go or as good as things go, you can play a great game and still lose. The big thing is points, so as far as statement games or whatnot, I think really at this time of year its just about your team and about getting your team points, not necessarily about you making a statement." Stamkos, who scored his three goals on his only three shots of the night, made a statement that hes back and capable of carrying the Lightning. Cooper was looking forward to seeing how the 24-year-old would fare in his "backyard," and he didnt disappoint. "Theres special players out there that find a way, they have that innate ability to rise to the occasion," Cooper said. "For Stammer to come back in here to his hometown and do what he did tonight, basically put the team on his shoulders, I cant say enough about (him)." And the Leafs couldnt say enough about how things went wrong, especially when it came to not containing one of the leagues best in Stamkos. "We were getting exposed," Lupul said. "There were times today where we were good, other times we made some errors getting the puck out of our zone, once by me and then a couple times we let their best player get the puck in an area where we cant do that." And then there was a lack of desperation early on that only came in the second half of the game and showed up when Jake Gardiner cut the deficit to one with 12:40 left. Giving half of what was necessary was not enough. "I felt that our desperation level went up for the last 30 minutes of the game," Carlyle said. "Weve got to do a better job than that." NOTES -- Kessels goal was his 35th of the season, two short of his career high. ... Gardiners goal was his fifth in the past seven games and 10th of the season. ... Killorn was given a game misconduct along with the five-minute major for boarding Ranger, whom the Leafs said was taken to a hospital for a "precautionary assessment." ... Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier skated Wednesday morning for the first time since suffering a groin injury almost a week earlier in Los Angeles. Carlyle said Bernier was "coming along" and he expected the injured netminder to take shots during practice Friday. Hayden Hurst Ravens Jersey . Left-handed reliever Boone Logan agreed to a $16.5 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Miles Boykin Ravens Jersey . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. http://www.cheapravensshoponline.com/Youth-justice-hill-ravens-jersey/ . Ilonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb scoring conditions to end the day with a two-shot lead on the Fota Island course. Ilonen had just 26 putts on the occasion of his 300th European Tour event.Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Cheers quickly turned to boos once Michael Baiamonte announced the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers starting lineup. Dwyane Wade then went and shot the lights out in the first half. Literally. And once LeBron James finally helped put the Cavs in front early in the fourth quarter, the Miami Heat had one last surge in them. Wade netted 24 of his 31 points in the first half and the Heat spoiled James return to South Beach with a 101-91 win over the Cavaliers. James, who helped the Heat to a quartet of NBA Finals appearances and a pair of titles during his four-year stay with Miami, was the first Cleveland player introduced out of its starting five. I think these fans are great, James said. They always showed their loyalty, James said. He was greeted with a standing ovation with a scattering of boos, but James wasnt able to fully sink in the reaction as Baiamonte quickly went through the rest of Clevelands lineup. The cheer was more elongated midway through the opening frame when the Heat played a video tribute. James, who was facing the Heat for the first time since signing with the Cavs during the offseason, acknowledged the applause by waving to the crowd. A lot of emotions come back, James said. I spent four years here with those guys. Some guys (are) still here, some guys are not here. We put in a lot of hard work and dedication just to be the best we could. James finished with 30 points and eight assists. Wade was a blistering 10-of-16 in the first half, helping the Heat build a margin as high as 17 in the opening 24 minutes before they took a 13-point advantage into the locker room. The start of the second half was delayed due to a power outage which caused the lights to go out. James and Wade were seen conversing, joking and laughing on the scorers table while both teams were waiting for the second half to begin. James fastbreeak dunk at the 11:20 mark of the fourth staked Cleveland to a 78-77 edge, but James was called for a technical for hanging on the rim and Wade sunk the foul shot to tie the game. Custom Baltimore Ravens Jerseys. A 10-1 run later in the frame put the Heat in front for good. The Cavs missed nine consecutive shots during the surge, which was capped on a Chris Andersen layup with 4:07 left for a 90-81 cushion. Mike Miller nailed a 3-pointer to claw Cleveland within 90-87 with three minutes on the clock, but Danny Granger knocked down a triple at the other end, Andersen converted a layup and Granger hit a jumper to up Miamis margin to 97-87 with 1:19 remaining. Luol Deng posted 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Miami, which has won two of three on the heels of a 2-4 stretch. They blew a 23-point lead and lost at home to Philadelphia Tuesday. Whenever you play on Christmas that means your team is good enough, and to win those games is phenomenal, Wade said. Kyrie Irving, who suffered a left knee contusion in the fourth, supplied 25 points for the Cavaliers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Earlier, Wade put in 12 first-quarter points and the Heat took a 30-27 lead into the second. Shawne Williams hit a trey and jumper on consecutive trips down the floor to finish off a 10-1 spurt, staking Miami to a 40-28 margin early in the second. The spread ballooned to 60-43 once Wade knocked down a three and Miami led 62-49 at the break. Cleveland scored seven straight points late in the third to help it whittle the gap to 73-71. Miami took a 77-74 advantage into the final frame. Game Notes Wade was just 2-of-12 from the floor in the second half ... James was 10-of-18 from the foul line ... Chris Bosh missed his seventh straight game for Miami due to a left calf strain ... The Heat held a 44-28 points in the paint advantage. ' ' '