seventh, which started with Turners 16-pitch walk

TORONTO – When he lines up at centre ice, James van Riemsdyk has an idea of what he might attempt, but doesnt quite know for sure. Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. He and the Leafs continue to find good fortune in the individual reality that is the shootout, now up to a league-leading nine victories following a 4-3 edging of the Sabres at the ACC on Wednesday night. "The shootout is a game in itself obviously," said head coach Randy Carlyle afterward, his team boasting a 9-4 record in such situations. "When you win them its a positive. When you lose them its a negative. Thats the bottom line. "Were fortunate this year that our record in the shootout is a real strong positive for our hockey club and its earned I dont know how many extra points." Still trying to establish who and what they are, the Leafs have needed each and every one of the nine additional points theyve gained from their success in the shootout. On a whole lot of nights, including Wednesdays against the league-worst Sabres, theyve struggled to find a complete performance only to emerge with a victory of sorts in the shootout. Carlyle assigns shootout selection duties to assistant coach Greg Cronin. His choices have narrowed recently around three shooters – van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, and Tyler Bozak – each of whom has been better than 60 per cent on the season. Leaf shooters have actually been among the most accurate in the league this season after posting the worst mark in 2013. Led by Lupul, who has scored on six of seven attempts, including the winner against Buffalo, Toronto owns a 48.6 per cent success mark in the shootout – good for second-best in the NHL. Last season, a year in which they dropped every one of their five shootouts, the Leafs had the most futile shooters in the league – just 12.5 per cent on 24 attempts. Bozak, in fact, was the lone shooter to even score. Toronto boasts eight shootout victories since the start of November, owning just five in regulation in that same span. Now streaking with wins in three consecutive games, they sit seventh in the East with 53 points. "Theres been a lot of extra points gained by it," said Carlyle of the shootout, which sealed the season series with Buffalo. "If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what our job is [to] get ourselves back [on track] and climbing into a playoff position." Five Points 1. Balance Rare is the night in which the Leafs have received offence from many different sources, but against the Sabres that was just the case. Each of the top three units accounted for a goal in victory, including Phil Kessels 22nd of the year, Nik Kulemins sixth and the second in the NHL career of Morgan Rielly, set up by generally quiet second unit (more on that below). "Its always an advantage if you can get three lines providing certain levels of offence," said Carlyle, who moved Peter Holland onto a third unit recently in hopes of spurring more of an attack. Toronto had scored eight goals in the previous three games, all of which came from a scorching top line of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak. "We need everybody contributing," Carlyle continued. "If you look at the teams that are having success theyve spread that offence around and theyve been able to get quality minutes from everyone in their lineup." Often over-dependent on that top unit – each member played more than 22 minutes vs. Buffalo – Wednesday marked just the 13th time in the past 35 games that the Leafs have managed three goals or more. 2. Second Line Slumber Aside from an occasional burst or odd contribution – the line had a hand in the third goal from Rielly – Torontos second line of Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and Joffrey Lupul has remained an infrequent source of offence. Kadri has just one goal in the past 16 games, Raymond has two goals in the past 21, and Lupul, the most effective of the group recently, has still gone pointless in 12 of the past 18 outings. A source of production for the trio earlier in the year, some of the trouble stems from lacking success on the power-play. Kadri has just one power-play point in the past 19 games, Raymond owns three in the past 21 and Lupul, just four in the previous 28 outings. 3. Reimers Night Making just his second start since Dec. 21, James Reimer showing some rust in yielding three goals on 30 shots to the Sabres, including an unlikely game-tying goal from Cody Hodgson. The first marker from Matt Ellis snuck through short side. The second goal, a Matt Moulson snipe from an odd-man Sabres rush, went post to post and under the bar, a slick shot from the former Islander. The final strike, a power-play marker from Hodgson, found an unlikely hole between Reimer and the post – one that still puzzled the 25-year-old afterward. "I still dont really know how it went in," said Reimer, who earned his first win since Dec. 19. "My foot was against the post. Thats my play. Thats what I do. Ill look at the video and see if it squeaked in somewhere where I can close it. I do that every play, every time and its never gone in." 4. Stacked Deck Jonathan Bernier has unquestionably grabbed hold of the Toronto crease in recent weeks, but theres also no doubting that Reimer has been handed a bad deck of cards. A look at the 25-year-olds five starts prior to Wednesday night and the poor performances which surrounded them: • Dec. 12 at St. Louis: 6-3 LReimers Night: 3 goals/15 shots*Post-Game Quote: "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas." – Randy Carlyle • Dec. 17 vs. Florida: 3-1 LReimers Night: 3 goals/23 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We simply got embarrassed." – Mason Raymond • Dec. 19 vs. Phoenix: 2-1 SOWReimers Night: 1 goal/35 shots.Post-Game Quote: "Thats the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and battle." – Joffrey Lupul • Dec. 21 vs. Detroit: 5-4 SOLReimers Night: 3 goals/12 shots* Post-Game Quote: "Obviously we didnt have a very good first period." – Randy Carlyle • Jan. 9 at Carolina: 6-1 LReimers Night: 6 goals/36 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight." – Randy Carlyle *Pulled after the first period 5. Riellys Progress Morgan Rielly is now 40 games into his NHL career, adding his 13th point against the Sabres. The 19-year-old has, according to Carlyle, "taken some steps and then has taken a few sideways", evaluated with a similar lens as his 23-year-old defence partner Jake Gardiner. "Our expectations for Morgan arent as high as they are for Jake at this point just being where he is in his career," said Carlyle. "Theyre both talented young players. We think that theres a future for those two guys to be a big part of our defence. We want to make sure were handling them the right way." Unlike Gardiner, who was pulled from the lineup last week, Rielly has played in every game since early December, when he sat for three consecutive games with World Junior speculation swirling. Stats-Pack 9 – Shootout victories this season, most in the NHL. 48.6 per cent - Effectiveness of Toronto shooters in the shootout this season. 1 – Goals in the past 16 games for Nazem Kadri. 5-6-0 – Record in the second end of back-to-back sets this season. 2 – Goals in the past 21 games for Mason Raymond. 3-1-1 – Record versus Buffalo this season. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel. Kessel has two goals and eight points in that span. 23:33 – Ice-time for Kessel against the Sabres, most among forwards. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 22.1 per cent (5th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Youre in the same locker room then youre in the same bus, the same plane, the same hotel. The hardest part is trying to stop it from going through the entire team. Those guys have kind of been quarantined off and the rest of us have been just washing our hands and trying to stay away from it." -Joffrey Lupul, on stopping the spread of the flu bug through the Leafs dressing room. Up Next The Leafs host Montreal at the ACC on Saturday. Air Jordan Discount . Head of clinic Josef Obrist tells the Austria Press Agency on Thursday that Morgenstern "is doing surprisingly well. ... He still has a memory gap but thats nothing unusual." Morgenstern has moved to a rehabilitation clinic in Klagenfurt for further recovery. Air Jordan China . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth. https://www.jordanchina.us/ . On the day the club activated Casey Janssen from the 15-day disabled list, his return from a strained oblique that cost him the first six weeks of the regular season, it announced Sergio Santos would be placed on the disabled list on Monday with discomfort in his right forearm. Air Jordan Outlet . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. Cheap Jordan From China . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly got on the plane after Josh Becketts no-hitter in Philadelphia and teased next-day starter Hyun-Jin Ryu. "You have to throw a perfect game to top Beckett," Mattingly told the South Korean left-hander. Ryu nearly did. He retired his first 21 batters before Todd Fraziers leadoff double in the eighth inning, and Los Angeles held on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Monday. "For a minute there, I thought, Whew, he might do it," Mattingly said. The Reds hit only three balls out of the infield before Frazier doubled down the left-field line on an 0-1 pitch. That followed a three-run seventh by the Dodgers in which Ryu ran the bases and scored. Ryu came close to making the Dodgers the first team in major league history with consecutive no-hitters. Beckett won 6-0 on Sunday. "Of course it was in the back of my mind," Ryu said through a translator, explaining that he had never carried a no-hit bid that deep. "It wasnt until the seventh that I thought it could happen." Los Angeles pitchers tossed a club-record 17 straight hitless innings dating to Saturday, when Paul Maholm got it started against the Phillies. The only other team since 1974 to have a no-hitter through seven innings in back-to-back games was the Oakland Athletics on July 14-15, 2005, against Texas, according to STATS. "It gives us confidence as a ballclub that what weve been built for is to pitch," Mattingly said. "It tells me we can get on a roll." The only other club since 1974 to pitch 17 straight hitless innings was the Los Angeles Angels from May 1-3, 2012, including Jered Weavers no-hitter, STATS said. "I was more nervous tonight," Mattingly said. "Its a one-run game and one swing can change the whole game. It was fun to watch until the eighth." Cincinnati scored three times in the eighth, but right fielder Yasiel Puig made a key defensive play when he cut off Billy Hamiltons two-run double in the gap. The relay home held Skip Schumaker at third, and Kenley Jansen struck out Brandon Phillips with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-3 lead. Jansen also worked the ninth, retiring Devin Mesoraco with two on for his 15th save. Johnny Cueto (4-4) allowed four hits and four runs -- one earned -- in 6 1-3 innings. Ryu (5-2) was charged with three runs and three hits in 7 1-3 innings, improving to 6-0 in six starts against the Reds. He struck out seven and walked none while winning for the first time at Dodger Stadium this season. He was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three previous home starts. "He was great through seven," said backup catcher Drew Butera, who also caught Becketts game. "When guys see a pitcher a third time theyre a little more confident. He still made some good pitches; they just foound some holes.dddddddddddd" Ryu got help from third baseman Justin Turner, who was playing for injured Juan Uribe. Turner made two diving stops in the hole against Zack Cozart his first two times up and threw him out both times. "It was a huge part," Ryu said. "He motivated me to focus more and try a little harder." Reds manager Bryan Price singled out Turner as a standout. "His 16-pitch at-bat really took a lot of the starch out of Johnny in the seventh and led to their big inning," Price said. Ryu left to a standing ovation not long after Frazier spoiled his bid for the first perfect game in the majors since Felix Hernandez accomplished the feat for Seattle against Tampa Bay on Aug. 15, 2012. Ryan Ludwick followed with a single, moving Frazier to third. He scored on Chris Heiseys sacrifice fly that left the Reds trailing 4-1. Brayan Pena singled, bringing Mattingly to the mound to remove Ryu. "He was throwing every pitch in any count and just kept us off balance really well," Heisey said. "He wasnt leaving anything over the middle of the plate. It was almost like he was setting up his fastball with his changeup and his curveball. He did a great job of mixing it up and not giving in." The Reds continued the rally after Brian Wilson replaced Ryu. Wilson gave up Hamiltons two-run double and walked Cozart before he was yanked and angrily slammed his glove twice against the dugout wall. Wilson paced back and forth several times, then began clapping as Jansen was introduced. Ryu faced a Reds lineup in which only one batter began the day batting over .264. That was Phillips, who came in hitting .281. The Reds played without slugger Joey Votto, who went on the disabled list Sunday with a strained left knee, and right fielder Jay Bruce, who came off the DL last Friday after left knee surgery. The Dodgers had a long inning in the seventh, which started with Turners 16-pitch walk. Ryu was later credited with his first RBI of the season. Cozart charged Ryus slow bouncer to shortstop with the infield playing in, hoping for a play at the plate. Instead, Cozart bobbled the ball and all the runners were safe. Turner scored to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. They extended it to 4-0 on Carl Crawfords two-run double that scored Ryu and Dee Gordon. Los Angeles led 1-0 in the third on a two-out fielding error by Frazier, who was making his second start at first base this season because of Vottos absence. NOTES: Sandy Koufax remains the only Dodgers pitcher with a perfect game, a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at home on Sept. 9, 1965. ... Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully missed the game because of a chest cold that was expected to keep him out of the booth Tuesday as well. ... The Dodgers will give away Ryu bobbleheads on Tuesday. ' ' '