NaD Stammtisch » uld be tough with a golf ball and a club. Tha

TORONTO – Third in league scoring, John Tavares entered the evening with at least a point in all but three of the Islanders 21 games this season. "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Gunnarsson was among the stable that kept Tavares, who has 25 points this season, off the scoresheet entirely. The Islanders captain finished with just two shots and was rarely a threat, bottled up by the top pair of Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf and a recently assembled shutdown line of Jay McClement, Mason Raymond and Nik Kulemin. Tavares entered the night with eight goals and 16 points in 15 career games against the Leafs and had been responsible for 43 per cent of his teams offence this season. But he was held pointless for just the fourth time all season. "We played tight on him, we played hard and we didnt give him much time in our own end," Gunnarsson said of Tavares, who played alongside fellow top scorer Kyle Okposo and rookie Brock Nelson. "We couldve done some stuff better too, but when that line doesnt score we give ourselves a pretty good chance to win the game." Randy Carlyle has yet to employ a shutdown line consistently against opposing top lines so far this season – often using his top unit when healthy – but he did against the Islanders. As McClement explained it, the assignment isnt known to players until game-time and often beyond that. Unlike Andy Murray, his longtime coach in St. Louis, who would present line matchups to the group on a whiteboard in the morning, Carlyle prefers to keep his close to the vest. "He wont let you know too often," McClement said of Carlyle, leading Leaf forwards with over 20 minutes on Tuesday. "You dont really know until you start the game. And even the first shift we didnt start against them and then we played every other shift against them. You never know. Maybe its a good thing. Youre not thinking about it, youre just ready to play." What the McClement unit did effectively most of the night against Tavares, who had points in five straight, was keep him on the defensive. With consistent pressure and a simple chip-and-chase game, the line spent a good chunk of their shifts against him deep in the offensive zone. They would be rewarded when Raymond scored the eventual game-winner early in the third, the 27-year-old capping a McClement drive to the crease of Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin. "We got to pucks on the forecheck and ended up having a lot of shifts in their end," McClement said, also beating Tavares on 10 of 19 draws. "Thats the easiest way to play defence is play offence." Five Points 1. Home ice dominance While theyve yet to establish a consistent brand of hockey (see below) the Leafs have nonetheless strung together a strong record through the quarter-mark of the season (13-7-1). Part of that success emanates from their effective showing on home ice. The Leafs have now won five straight at home and seven of their past eight, and are now 8-2-0 on the year at the ACC. Theyve outscored opponents 35-23 in that span, more effective offensively (3.5 goals per game) and defensively (2.3 goals against per game) than on the road. "That was one of the goals we wanted to create is when teams come into this building theres no more of this two points, kiss your relatives and go home," said Carlyle. "Its enough of that." With another power-play marker – this one from Phil Kessel – the Leafs also continued a trend of home dominance on the power-play; they rank first with a 32.4 per cent success rate. 2. Clarkson breaks the goose egg Without a goal in the first 10 games of his late-starting season, David Clarkson finally broke through with his first as a Leaf against the Islanders. The 29-year-old rifled a shot beyond the glove of Poulin midway through the final period, benefiting from the effective work of Joffrey Lupul and Trevor Smith down low in the offensive zone. "The better feeling is coming in here after a win and turning on that music," said Clarkson, who played nearly 19 minutes, adding five hits. "Thats the best feeling to me ever." 3. Gardiner on the left When Mark Fraser returned from a left knee injury last week – hes since re-injured a different part of the knee – Carlyle juggled his defence pairings, opting to move Jake Gardiner back to his natural left side position alongside Cody Franson. Gardiner had never played the right before and often appeared uncertain and inconsistent there alongside Paul Ranger. "I think Ive felt a lot more comfortable offensively," Gardiner told the Leaf Report prior to Tuesdays game. "I still have to fine-tune some things, but I feel like I see the ice a lot better from the left side." The 23-year-old is also pleased to be reunited with Franson, with whom hes played alongside for a good chunk of his NHL career. "We even talked about it – we know where each other are on the ice," said Gardiner of Franson. "Theres some plays that we do a lot of that seem to work and we know exactly when theyre going to be there, whether its in the offensive zone, neutral zone or defensive zone. Hes a vocal guy too. Its really easy to play with him. Hopefully he feels the same way." Gardiner led the Leafs with over 22 minutes against the Islanders, including 19:42 at even-strength. 4. Kessel durability Phil Kessel played his first game as a Leaf on Nov. 3, 2009; he sat out the first 12 games recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old has not missed a game since. Kessel extended his iron-man streak to 303 consecutive games, breaking a recent dry spell with a pair of goals against the Islanders. A bout with the flu a day earlier put his games played streak in jeopardy, but the teams leading scorer remained in the lineup, paired with James van Riemsdyk and Peter Holland for the second straight game. Kessel is a ways off the active leaders in consecutive games played. Jay Bouwmeester is the current iron man with 654 straight games played, according to TSN Research, trailed closely by Henrik Sedin at 651. Only three players remain from the Toronto lineup that dressed on the night of Kessels highly anticipated debut: Luke SchennGarnet ExelbyIan WhiteMike KomisarekNiklas HagmanLee StempniakMatt StajanTomas KaberleWayne PrimeauFrancois BeaucheminAlex PonikarovskyColton Orr*John MitchellNik Kulemin*Rickard WallinJason BlakePhil Kessel*Mikhail GrabovskiVesa ToskalaJonas Gustavsson*Still with the team 5. Standing at the quarter pole Joffrey Lupul offered the following assessment of the Leafs performance one quarter of the way into the season. "Weve battled through a lot of injuries and were still up near the top of the conference. Thats a positive," said Lupul. "Is there things we can do better? For sure there is. But Im sure every team in the league with the exception of maybe St. Louis or San Jose or one of these teams is saying the same thing. Everyone wants to do some things better. But its early in the season and youre just finding that identity as a team and you want to eventually be a team that plays the same way every night and a team that improves throughout the year. Were not there yet, but were still high in the standings so theres positives and negatives you could say." Added Randy Carlyle, "Weve tried to create a template that were more conservative from an offensive standpoint. Were not making the Hail Mary plays. Were not trying to just be a rush team. Were trying to do a lot of different things as far as getting away from just one and out. We want more puck possession time. Theres been a lot said in our statistics proving out that were having success when we shouldnt be. We look at it as weve been forced to do some things differently with personnel, suspensions and injuries. We are just trying to find a way to manufacture points. This isnt a development league were in, its about winning. The points that we can put up on the board, doesnt matter who we have in the lineup, it just bodes well for us in the future." Bonus Point – Extending an opportunity Trevor Smith played his first NHL game with the Islanders back on Dec. 31, 2008. On Tuesday against the same New York squad, the 28-year-old had a career-high three points. Playing alongside Lupul and Clarkson, Smith scored the games opening goal 22 seconds into the first frame, adding a pair of assists in the third. Plugging a hole at centre with Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland both injured, Smith has compiled at least a point in three games since being recalled from the Marlies last Friday, totaling three goals and five points in that span. "The guys are making it really easy for me to come in and play and be confident to make plays with them," Smith said. "I was fighting the puck a little bit in the first, but they calmed me down and just told me to relax and do what I do and we went from there." Nazem Kadri is due to return from a three-game suspension on Thursday, but it would appear that Smith has earned, at the very least, an extended opportunity. How long that opportunity lasts is unclear with Bozak likely to return Saturday following a lengthy stint on injured reserve. Stat-Pack 1 – Goal for David Clarkson this season. 303 – Consecutive games played by Phil Kessel. 8-2-0 – Home record for the Leafs this season. 3 – Points for Trevor Smith against the Islanders, a career-high. 32.4 per cent – Leafs power-play effectiveness at home, first in the NHL. 3 – Assists for Joffrey Lupul against the Islanders, a season-high. 2 – Multi-assist games for Lupul this season. 13-16 – Faceoff mark for Jerred Smithson against the Islanders. 17:45 – Ice-time for Morgan Rielly. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-2Season: 24.3 per cent PK: 2-2Season: 84 per cent Quote of the Night "That was one of the goals we wanted to create is when teams come into this building theres no more of this two points, kiss your relatives and go home. Its enough of that." -Randy Carlyle on the Leafs home record. Up Next Nazem Kadri returns from a three-game suspension when the Leafs host the Predators on Thursday night. Cheap Air Max 720 China . -- Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge on Tuesday. Discount Air Max 720 .J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle. http://www.discountairmax720.com/. Salah, who scored against Chelsea in two Champions League group matches this season, is Jose Mourinhos third significant recruit in the January transfer window after Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore. Air Max 720 Cheap Online . Many of those eyes are in the United States of America, a country that the sport has wanted on its side for some time. On Sunday the football Gods delivered once again, only this time it was time for good old USA to experience as much heartache as joy. Air Max 720 Cheap . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) - Simply put, Lundqvist was brilliant.DZ: So whats a more unrealistic move on a golf course. A full run-up drive, or putting with a hockey stick?SA: Probably...actually both are not unrealistic, I can do both. The hardest part would be putting. Because of the stick, and how long the face is itself. And of course its going to be opening and closing when you hit it, so theres a bigger miss there in that respect. DZ: I think wed like to see you try that (laughs)SA: I think the hardest one would be that move from Tin Cup. DZ: Ive never seen Tin Cup.SA: Youve never seen Tin Cup? Oh you gotta go see Tin Cup, with Kevin Costner. So hes throwing balls up, and hes hitting them with a spade.(Courtesy: Golf Dream Network)DZ: Yeah, that sounds harder (laughs)SA: Oh yeah, and hes putting with it, the spade. That ones a little more unrealistic (laughs).DZ: Alright so Im going to give you three outlandish golf accessories, which would you be most okay with the PGA giving the golfers a thumbs up to use. The golf bag boom box from caddy shack, drink dispensing driver, or thirdly, The Uro-Club? Have you heard of that one?SA: No?DZ: Essentially its for if you have to relieve yourself on the golf course, it allows you to go off and do so comfortably.SA: Probably the third one (laughs).DZ: Have you ever needed something like that on the golf course where you were like "okay I cant leave now, but Id love to have that club in my bag (laughs).SA: Yeah, definitely! (laughs)DZ: Have you seen the episode of the Simpsons where Mr. Burns faces Homer in golf? SA: Never seen that episode before.DZ: Pretty much Mr. Smithers is caddying for Mr. Burns, and no matter where his ball lands, he spots it in a more favourable position. Have you ever played a game outside of professional competition with a similar type of player, who wasnt too honest with their ball placement? (laughs)SA: Umm, yeah. Probably the last person I was playing trying to get his money (laughs). There are a few people that do that all the time. It woulda been...I dont even wanna name names. Jim Keneir of all people (laughs).DZ: Have you ever done something like that before, in like a friendly game (laughs)?SA: Yes, dropped one, then threw one in the water and said "now Im just going to take this one" (laughs). Although we do have that mulligan on the first hole. (Courtesy: PGA.com)DZ: So the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, obviously a well known hole. If they were to add one of these three mini golf features to the 17th hole, which do you think would succeed at making it the hardest hole on tour? The Windmill, the up and down clown mouth, or a full loop?SA: Ohh, which one would I add to that one...the windmill.DZ: If the PGA held a full 18-hole mini-golf Major, who do you think would come out on top, and how would you fair? Featuring all of the crazy features we just talked about, so youd obviously have to be pretty crafty with the putter. SA: Crafty, and also very open minded to everything else. So probably the younger guys, over the older gguys, because the older guys are too old school (laughs).dddddddddddd DZ: How do you think you would do?SA: Probably pretty good, because Ive got two young boys to bring me back down to age, down to their age (laughs).DZ: Most people who play golf, do so as a form of relaxation, taking it as a chance to bond with their buddies on the weekend. If you could play a round with any 3 golfers, past or present, for a friendly Sunday round, who would you choose and why, and which course would you choose?SA: Obviously, Ill take all 3 great players: Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead. All because theyre all three different characters, different individuals. Golf course...probably would be Pebble.DZ: Why Pebble of all courses?SA: Because if the competions really bad, you got something to look at (laughs).DZ: (laughs)SA: Hey? Thats how I look at a Pro-Am, too.DZ: Thats a good outlook (laughs).SA: Yeah, "what a beautiful day isnt it" (laughs).DZ: Your documeentary, which airs on October 15th on TSN, about your journey to the PGA. What about it, without spoiling too much, would you say that Canadians will learn about you from this that they may not have known about you before.SA: I think the fact of...one the conditions of what I had to hone my skills on, and two, realizing that comoing from a carribean island, how expensive it was for my dad to actually start me off and get me out there. It was basically packing the bags and jumping in a car and not knowing where it was going. Pretty scary. And thats why I put it that way, because I didnt know what the end was, I just knew what I wanted to do, what made me happy, and that was my passion.DZ: How were the courses in Trinidad and Tobago?SA: Horrendous.DZ: Even now? SA: Even worse now.DZ: Our final question with you: Can you go BarDown?SA: When it hits the post, and then it goes down, right? With a golf ball? DZ: Sure, with a golf ball could you? (laughs)SA: Hitting a bar and then making it go down. Oooo that would be tough with a golf ball and a club. That would be really hard.DZ: That would be tougher than the spade I think.SA: Uhhh, yeah slightly. Definitely. Well if I get to use the glass, like the one from The Big Break. I think after a few shots you could get it. With the right club and the right trajectory I think you could do it.DZ: Thats another thing Id like to see you do. That and the putting with the hockey stick.SA: I mean the putting with a hockey stick is easy. I think it is. I mean like I said, its just the fact the face will be open when you hit it so its not balanced properly. DZ: I cant really golf, so I dont think I should add that extra bit of difficulty.SA: Hey, if you can hit a hockey puck, you can hit a golf ball.You can watch the TSN Documentary: Stephen Ames - From a Dot On The Map at these locations listed below:Full show Conversation part 1 Conversation part 2 Conversation part 3 DocumentaryFull showConversation part 1Conversation part 2Conversation part 3Documentary ' ' '