Aktuelle Folgen » Times this season the Leafs have been outshot

SAN ANTONIO -- The Chicago Bulls took advantage of the injury-riddled San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Jimmy Butler had 19 points and Carlos Boozer added 16 points and 12 rebounds and the Bulls handed the Spurs their third straight loss, 96-86. "It was huge," Butler said. "Its big to come in here and get a win on the road." Tony Parker had 20 points and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, which hadnt lost back-to-back games until this current skid. The Spurs were without Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter, who were all out due to injuries. Ginobili joined San Antonios growing injury list Tuesday night, straining his left hamstring against Houston after throwing down a one-handed dunk. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich dismissed any talk of fatigue. "I dont care, thats just an excuse," Popovich said. "Everybody tried as hard as they could. I dont know how to measure fatigue. Just go play. We try to watch peoples minutes and that kind of thing. "It doesnt matter whos hurt, or what your schedule is, or anything like that. You go play. Nobody cares. All that matters is the win or the loss. We lost or defensive consistency and they went up." The Bulls can certainly relate after losing All-Star point guard Derrick Rose to a season-ending knee injury. The Bulls have attempted to step up collectively since the injury and that depth led them to their 10th road victory of the season. Chicago had seven players score in double figures, with D.J. Augustin and Taj Gibson adding 15 points each and Joakim Noah had 10 points and 10 rebounds. "We have a roster full of NBA players just like everybody else," Butler said. "A lot of people sleep on us, but we have a really talented group of guys that do so many things well. When we play together and just as hard as we can, I think we can win a lot of games." With four players missing from their main rotation, the Spurs turned to their depth with less effectiveness. Nando De Colo and newly signed Othyus Jeffers, who both played in the D League, both started for the first time this season. Jeffers brought hustle and De Colo another distributor, but neither brought much offence. Jeffers failed to score, going 0 for 1 from the field, and De Colo had eight points. It led to a disjointed and inconsistent offence for San Antonio. The Spurs had 19 turnovers and only 16 assists on their 33 field goals. "Its tough to keep a rhythm," Duncan said. "With a lot of our guys out, our consistency just isnt there on both ends. We cant sustain for the periods of time that we need to. "But at various points throughout the game were where we want to be. And then we go through lulls where defence or offence cant get it done." San Antonio went scoreless for nearly five minutes as part of Chicagos 12-5 run to close the first quarter. It could have been worse, but Patty Mills made a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining to keep the Spurs within 21-15. San Antonio responded with a 17-3 run to take a 27-24 lead. Chicago scored just seven points in 10 minutes bridging the first and second quarters, turning a 21-12 lead into a 36-28 deficit. But the second half belonged to the Bulls and Butler. "Its just tough right now," Parker said. "Back to back, it felt like we had no energy. We didnt make shots in the first half. We had some pretty good looks in the first half; open 3s. They just didnt go in and we just try to fight through it. We tried to get some energy in the second half, but they played better than us." Butler was 7 for 11 from the field as the Spurs had no answer for the athletic forward. "Jimmy was terrific," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "with his defence and then turned that defence into offence, which was a big plus for us." Not having to guard Ginobili, Leonard or Green on the wings allowed Butler to defend Parker and the other Spurs guards. Parker finished 8 for 17 with six assists in 34 minutes. "Its a challenge (defending Parker)," Butler said. "He can do so many things well, but whenever I was beat, I had Taj (Gibson), (Nazr) Mohammed, Jo (Noah) or Booz (Boozer) to alter his shot or make him go a different direction." NOTES: Green (fractured left index finger), Leonard (fractured right fourth metacarpal) and Splitter (sprained right shoulder) all sat behind the bench during the game, all wearing sport coats with no ties. Ginobili was not with the team. ... Noah (illness) and Kirk Hinrich (right hamstring) both played after being game-time decisions due to injury. ... Jeffers endeared himself to the fans and Spurs quickly, diving onto court twice on the same possession for a loose ball, earning a jump ball. ... Noah was given a technical foul with 5:02 remaining in the third by official Josh Tiven. As he ran back defensively, Noah punched the air in disgust after missing a layup he thought was caused by a foul on Duncan. ... When asked how the Spurs will handle the rash of recent injuries, coach Gregg Popovich said he didnt want to be a smart-(aleck) but ... "You play the guys on the bench. We cant play the guys on the other team. I know that." Air Max 270 Femme Pas Cher . The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who lose three straight finals in Monte Carlo to Rafael Nadal from 2006-08, has not played in the tournament since 2011, when he lost to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals. Vapormax Plus Soldes . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes. http://www.maxnikepascher.fr/destockage-...-plus-noir.html. The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Nike Air Vapormax Soldes . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on. Air Max 270 Homme Soldes .com) - Manchester City will face a steep test in the Champions League knockout stage as the English champions were drawn with Barcelona on Monday.ST. PAUL, Minn – On many nights this season, terrific goaltending and special teams lifted the Leafs to victory where it might not have been deserved. That was nearly the case once more at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday night, but, in this instance, a win slipped away. “We got what we deserved,” said Carl Gunnarsson, bluntly in conversation with the Leaf Report after a 2-1 shootout loss to the Wild. “I just mean if you look at the game all over, 65 minutes, we didnt deserve more than one point.” In a game that saw Nazem Kadri ejected, Jonathan Bernier brilliant once more and both special teams units back on the mark, the Leafs ultimately tripped up in the waning moments, their collective ineffectiveness to that point ultimately bringing about a deserved fate. “Were not happy about it,” Gunnarsson said of his teams play, “but we couldve had two points. We had the chance and we didnt take it. But if you look over the whole game, we didnt deserve more.” Stuck with just one even-strength goal in the past four games, the Leafs failed to generate much of an attack for the better part of two periods against the Wild. But with a power-play goal from Mason Raymond in the second, excellence from Bernier and the penalty kill, they actually led late and appeared on course for two points. It was then, with less than five minutes, to go that a Phil Kessel defensive zone giveaway landed in the hands of Charlie Coyle. Punishing the error, Zach Parise would even the score at one before capping it with the shootout winner a short while later. “We have the puck under control in our zone, we cough it up and it ends up in our net,” Randy Carlyle said of the game-tying goal afterward. Moments earlier, the Leafs had killed off a mammoth five-minute Wild power-play – Kadri given a match penalty for his hit on Mikael Granlund (more in Five Points) – with Minnesota managing just a single shot opposite an aggressive and impactful penalty kill. And so, while not playing up to their desired standard, the Leafs had put themselves in position for victory only to fumble it away. “Yeah for sure,” said Raymond. “That stings a bit.” It was perhaps due karma. Only a month earlier, the Leafs were outshot 37-14 by the Wild at home, escaping with victory on the shoulders of a 36-save performance from James Reimer, two power-play goals and a near-perfect effort on the penalty kill. Holding three of his seven career shutouts against the Wild, Bernier was busy and effective as he has been all season. The 25-year-old stopped 33 of 34 shots, beaten only by Parise on an unlikely ricochet attempt in front. Troubling for the Leafs was the amount of time they spent defending rather than initiating the play as was desired – the Wild out-attempted them by a 70-43 margin. A focal point of attention for Carlyle in the early weeks this season and especially the past few days, the short stock of Toronto forwards (they dressed only 11, lost Kadri and played without Colton Orr and Carter Ashton in the third) were unable to consistently pressure the Minnesota defence, rarely generating much offence against Josh Harding, who replaced Niklas Backstrom early in the first. “We didnt really have that [offensive] zone time,” Gunnarsson said. “We didnt cycle the puck a whole lot, [we were] kind of receiving the game. They moved the puck down low on us and played a whole bunch in our end.” Heroics from the goaltenders and fine special teams play bailed out those inconsistencies amid a successful start, but not on this night. Five Points 1. Kadris eventful night Charging hard into the Wild crease early in the first, Kadri leveled Backstrom with what appeared to be an elbow and was whistled for the first of three penalties. Soaking up plenty of ice in the opening 40 minutes – he led Leaf forwards with upwards of 15 minutes – the 23-year-old would get the gate for good midway through the third. Kadri delivered a crunching hit to Granlund along the boards in the neutral zone for which he was given a match penalty. “He made initial contact with the shoulder and the kid had the head down and he didnt have his arms up and he ran into the player,” said Carlyle, clearly not in agreement with the punishment. For his collision with Backstrom, Kadri will garner a hearing with the NHLs department of discipline on Thursday afternoon. At his best on the edge, Kadri may have crossed a line. “Naz is a very skilled player,” said Dion Phaneuf, “but he plays with an edge and he plays hard. I think thats a big thing thats unique about him is that he doesnt just have those very soft hands and playmaking ability, but hes a physical guy.dddddddddddd” Already short Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland, a suspension to Kadri would further damage the Leafs down the middle. 2. Five-on-five woes continue The Leafs were one of the leagues most potent teams at full strength last season. They scored 105 goals, trailing only the Lightning, Blackhawks and Penguins. So far this season, however, theyve not been nearly as successful. The Leafs boast the 20th-ranked five-on-five offence (29 goals,) failing to score an even-strength goal for the third time in four games against the Wild on Wednesday night. 3. Clarksons drought The goal drought reached eight games for David Clarkson. The 29-year-old hasnt scored yet as a Leaf, totaling just one assist thus far. “I think thats going to start soon,” said Clarkson optimistically before the game. “Start burning some incense here in my stall.” The Leafs werent counting exclusively on potent offence from their marquee offseason addition, but some level of contribution was to be expected for a player who scored 45 goals over the past two seasons. Clarkson has had opportunities, including a glorious chance against his former team last week. But rather than trickle across the goal-line, his attempt on Cory Schneider wobbled wide right. “I think if youre getting chances and youre getting good quality chances, then I think youre doing something right,” Clarkson said, noting the ability to contribute elsewhere if pucks werent finding twine. One easy cure would be to shoot the puck more often, something the Toronto native made mention of himself. During his final two seasons in New Jersey, Clarkson averaged 3.19 shots per game, but in his first eight games as a Leaf, hes down to just two per game. A primary power-play contributor with the Devils, Clarkson is additionally beginning to see more time on the man advantage with the Leafs, with the injuries to Bozak and Bolland opening up opportunity. “Hes had chances and I think its part of our responsibility to try and support him with some of the power-play situations, maybe move him up and down in the lineup, play with more offensive players,” Carlyle said, with Clarkson matched with Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul against the Wild. “Theres no better cure for a guy that hasnt scored is to continue to move up the lineup and play with your better players and get power-play time.” 4. Kadri at even-strength Kadri has interestingly dipped most in terms of even-strength offence. He accrued 82 per cent of his offence in such situations last season, his 36 points leading the team. But after 18 games this fall, his production there has taken nearly a 20 per cent hit. Kadri has just eight of his 13 points at even-strength (62 per cent) with the power-play a source of increased productivity. 5. JVR Down the middle Wednesday marked the third career game at centre for James van Riemsdyk. One difference in playing down the middle, according to the 24-year-old, is positioning in transition offensively. “Its a little different,” he said. “When youre coming on the rush youre usually in the middle versus being on the wall; youre usually looking to kick it wide and maybe drive or whatever; youre not usually going to pull up in the middle of the ice and just stop there because then youll turn it over. “Thats usually why the wingers in general get more shots than centre iceman do," van Riemsdyk said. After mustering just a single shot in the previous two games, van Riemsdyk finished with four shots against the Wild, but remained pointless at centre ice. A temporary stopgap when Bolland suffered an ankle injury, he may get the move back to wing soon enough. Out since Oct. 25 with a hamstring injury, Bozak skated for the first time on Tuesday and could be in line to return in the next couple weeks. The 27-year-old is eligible to come of long-term injured reserve on Nov. 21. All of that could change, of course, with a Kadri suspension. Stat-Pack 30 – Faceoffs for Jerred Smithson against the Wild, winning 53 per cent. 23:27 – Ice-time for Jay McClement, a season-high. 70-43 – Shot attempts favouring the Wild. 29 – Total goals for the Leafs at five-on-five. .939 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier after 12 games this season. 15 – Times this season the Leafs have been outshot by an opponent. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-3Season: 22.2% PK: 5-5Season: 84.9% Quote of the Night “We got what we deserved.” -Carl Gunnarsson on the eventual result against the Wild. Up Next The Leafs visit the Sabres on Friday in the first half of a home and home set. ' ' '