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Juli
2018

Its tough when you dont score touchdowns

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Randy Carlyle acknowledged the standing ovation with a brief wave of his hand, thanking the Anaheim fans in his usual understated manner for their appreciation of his tenure behind the Ducks bench. Carlyle was even more grateful to leave Honda Center with yet another win for his surging Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and two assists, and the Maple Leafs celebrated Carlyles return with a 3-1 victory over the Ducks on Monday night. "Its always satisfaction when you beat your former hockey club," Carlyle said. "Im not going to hide that fact. I feel good about it." Paul Ranger scored and Jonathan Bernier made 43 saves as Toronto opened a five-game trip with its third consecutive victory, leapfrogging Montreal into second place in the Atlantic Division. Carlyle was back in Anaheim for the first time since the Ducks fired the only coach to lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup title. He was greeted warmly in the first period during a video tribute on the scoreboard. "It was kind of touching," Carlyle said. "I didnt really know what to expect. Im very appreciative and thankful for the people that supported me in my time here, and my family. Its a very special place, and as Ive said, were moving back into the area at some point in our life." His Leafs then forced the Ducks to play almost as poorly as they were playing when he got fired. Bernier didnt have to make many tough saves despite his gaudy stats for the Leafs, who are ramping up for their second trip to the post-season under Carlyle, earning points in 10 of their past 12 games. "I think he was pretty excited," Bozak said of his coach. "He might have been a little more nervous for this one, but were glad we could get it for him." Carlyle won a club-record 273 games and made the playoffs five times in his six full seasons with the Ducks, but was fired in November 2011 with Anaheim off to a miserable start. The Ducks have done exceptionally well since the change to Bruce Boudreau, who won 100 games faster than any coach in franchise history and led Anaheim to last seasons Pacific Division title. Corey Perry scored his 35th goal and Frederik Andersen stopped 20 shots in the Ducks third straight loss to playoff-bound Eastern Conference teams. "Were in a funk," Boudreau said. "And weve just got to get out of it before too long, and do what we do. Weve just got to get back on our horse." Before this loss to end a five-game homestand, Anaheim fell one point behind streaking St. Louis in the overall NHL standings with consecutive shootout losses to Montreal and Pittsburgh. The Ducks hadnt lost in regulation since before the Olympic break, but they couldnt generate many serious scoring chances against Bernier and the Leafs shot-blocking defence. "We should have had more guys in front to make screens, tips, and get in the dirty areas," Ducks defenceman Francois Beauchemin said. "Right now were struggling to score goals because were not going to the front of the net and winning those battles and getting those tough goals." Toronto took the lead during 4-on-3 play late in the first period when Bozak redirected a pass from captain Dion Phaneuf. Kessel then roared past two Ducks defencemen and got a fortunate bounce off Andersens stick for his 34th goal. Kessel, the NHLs second-leading scorer after breaking his tie with Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, also snapped his first three-game goal drought since early January. Early in the second period, an atrocious Ducks breakdown led to Rangers goals. The Ducks broke through at the end of a dominant shift by their top line late in the second, with Perry banging home a puck on the doorstep for his fifth goal in five games since the break. Anaheim went scoreless on four power plays, dropping into an 0-for-19 slump since the break. NOTES: Carlyle isnt the only former Anaheim resident who returned with the Leafs: Joffrey Lupul, Peter Holland and Troy Bodie all played for the Ducks, while defenceman Jake Gardiner was a top Anaheim prospect before the club traded him along with Lupul for Beauchemin in February 2011. ... Anaheim C Mathieu Perreault missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. Boudreau expects him to return Wednesday in Calgary. ... The Ducks are 4-6-2 at home since their 20-0-2 start to the season. Wilt Chamberlain Jersey . The seventh-ranked Berdych wants to focus on the ATP Tour after helping the Czechs beat the Netherlands in the first round. Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek. Kevin Durant Jersey . 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The winner of tonights contest at Bank of America Stadium will take over sole possession of the top spot in the division, a testament to just how bad the NFC South has been thus far. A Week 8 loss to Seattle dropped the Panthers to 3-4-1, percentage points clear of New Orleans, which is 3-4 and coming off its most impressive win of the season, a 44-23 drubbing of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. The 2-6 Falcons and 1-6 Buccaneers round out the disappointing foursome. If you said at the start of training camp or OTAs, hey, you have a chance in Week 9 to be playing for first place, would you take it? Yeah, Id take it, offensive coordinator Mike Shula told the Panthers website. Thats the mindset. You have to keep moving forward and forget about whats happened. The Saints will arrive in the Queen City knowing they are 0-4 away from the Bayou this season and have lost seven straight regular-season games away from New Orleans dating back to 2013. Carolina has its own concerns, most notably a 1-4-1 record over the last six games following a 2-0 start to the season. The truth of the matter is we had opportunities and we didnt make them on both sides of the ball, said Panthers coach Ron Rivera. You have to take advantage of opportunities in the red zone by putting the ball in the end zone. When you have third down and long, you have to be able to stop them. The Panthers were inside the red zone on their first two possessions last Sunday against Seattle and came away with two field goals. Later, they suffered a turnover inside the 20-yard line. As a result, all of the Carolina scoring in a 13-9 loss came from three Graham Gano field goals. The Seahawks, who have never lost three straight games with Russell Wilson under center, were on the verge of doing exactly that in Charlotte before Wilson willed his team to a come-from-behind road victory, firing a touchdown pass to tight end Luke Willson with 47 seconds remaining to lift Seattle to the hard-fought win. Cam Newton struggled for the second straight week for Carolina, completing just 12-of-22 passes for 171 yards and an interception. He missed both of his throws and was sacked twice on the Panthers final possession. We didnt play our best football, Newton admitted. The next opportunity awaits on Thursday and Im anticipating that to be a great game for us. Rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin continued to be a bright spot offensively for Carolina, recording four catches for 94 yards, including a career-long 51- yard reception in the fourth quarter to set up one of the teams three field goals. Benjamin currently leads NFC rookies with 571 receiving yards and five touchdowns. For the Saints, Drew Brees tossed three touchdown passes in Week 8 as New Orleans pulled away in the second half during the triumph over Green Bay. The game was deadlocked at 16 at halftime, but the Saints intercepted the red- hot Rodgers twice over an 11-attempt span in the final 30 minutes, quite the accomplishment because the veteran QB hadnt tallied a pick in his previous 213 throws. Brees, meanwhile, completed all 11 of his passes in the second half and finished 27-of-32 overall for 311 yards. Mark Ingram carried the ball 24 times for 172 yards and a touchdown and Brandin Cooks caught six passes for 94 yards and a score and added a 4-yard TD run for the Saints, who squandered a fourth-quarter lead for the third time this year in the prior weeks 24-23 loss at Detroit. Jimmy Graham hauled in all five of hiss receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown in the second half in the triumph.dddddddddddd I think the tempo was better today and I think thats something well continue to emphasize, Brees said. Division foes since Carolinas inaugural NFL season in 1995 -- first in the NFC West from 1995-2001 and now the NFC South beginning in 2002 -- the Panthers and Saints will be meeting for the 39th time with Carolina holding a slim 20-18 advantage in the all-time series. The two clubs will meet again in Week 14 in New Orleans. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Brees generally excels at night. Since joining New Orleans in 2006, the star signal caller has led the Saints to an impressive 22-10 mark in primetime games, the third-best record of any team during that span. And despite their pedestrian record the Saints have been as explosive as ever offensively and are tops in the NFC, averaging 445.4 yards per game, far ahead of Carolina (332.5 YPG). Brees in second in the conference with 2,227 passing yards but the issue has been ball security and New Orleans has a minus-six turnover ratio coming in, a stark contrast to the Panthers positive plus-four mark. Certainly theres all sorts of goals and theres big picture, small picture and I think what weve tried to do is really focus on the smallest picture - and thats our own team getting better, Saints coach Sean Payton said. New Orleans cleaned up things against the Pack and were plus-two in that game so its possible the worm has turned or at least the impact of Ingrams game against the dismal Green Bay run defense created more balance and enabled Brees to stop forcing the issue. If thats the case, the recipe could be there for a sequel because the Carolina D is a far cry from the unit that dominated in 2013 and is surrendering 378.5 YPG, slightly better than the often-maligned NOLA stop unit which is giving up about 12 yards more per contest. The Panthers gave up at least 37 points-or-more in four of their previous games until righting the ship a bit against the Seahawks. The main struggle has been to stop the run, as Carolina has surrendered 135.2 YPG on the ground, 28th best in a 32-team league. Offensively the Panthers hope to solve their red-zone woes and turn those Gano 3s into 7s. Carolinas 46.2 percent TD efficiency inside the 20 is also 28th in football. Its tough when you dont score touchdowns and miss opportunities, Rivera said. You have to make hay down in the red zone. The offense could be in line for a boost with the potential return of running back DeAngelo Williams, who has missed the previous four games with a balky ankle. Itll be a nice boost, said Rivera. When he and Jonathan (Stewart) get rolling and doing the things they do thats a huge thing for us. That could be a nice shot in the arm. OVERALL ANALYSIS Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me five times? Lets just say its tough to pick the Saints away from the Superdome but this is the team trending in the right direction and no one is happy about the way Carolina is looking. Furthermore, despite that lack of road success, New Orleans has been very close to getting over the hump, leading into the fourth quarter in three of their four road setbacks this season and losing those games by a total of just six points. So, lets be a glutton for punishment one more time here and figure on Payton and Co. finally figuring out a way to finally win one outdoors. Theres no more important game than this quick turnaround, the Thursday night game at Carolina, said Brees. This was the team that won the division last year. We are going to need our best performance to beat them. Sports Network predicted outcome: Saints 23, Panthers 20 White NFL Jerseys Cheap Youth NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Discount Jerseys ' ' '