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TORONTO – It took whole pile of stops for the Maple Leafs to withstand an all-out Blackhawks rally and win their third in a row. Forty-five saves in all for James Reimer on a Saturday night in Toronto, including each and every one of the 26 peppered on goal during Chicago’s furious third period push – a tilted 20 minutes that saw the Leafs held to just seven shots and none in the final seven minutes. “He was first star, simple as that,” head coach, Randy Carlyle, said of the 26-year-old after the game. “The way he played and just the number of saves that he made in the third period [and] quality saves. A lot of times you’ll get a lot of stuff from the outside, but they had some point-blank chances and he stood tall to the task that’s for sure.” Peter Holland scored his first of the year just two minutes into that final frame – the eventual game-winner – and from there the floodgates opened and the Blackhawks simply poured it on. They pumped shot after shot at Reimer, but were continually turned aside. There was one particular two-minute power-play barrage – just after Holland made it 3-2 – that saw five shots flung at the Leafs goal, an improbable glove stop on Brent Seabrook among those kept out. “I think it was pretty self-explanatory,” Dion Phaneuf said of Reimer’s performance afterward. “He made not only big saves, but at key times and it’s about momentum swings and I thought that he really swung the momentum in our favour many times.” Reimer was making his first start in more than two weeks and if there was some rust early it quickly wore off as the evening rolled along. “The more pucks you see and stop the better you feel,” said Reimer, who holds a .929 save percentage in five games this season. He couldn’t quite remember Chicago’s first goal – both came on the power-play – unable to see the second one, a point shot from Seabrook with Andrew Shaw camped in front. From there nothing made it through. Reimer made one key left pad stop on Patrick Kane with less than four minutes left and then a handful more as the Blackhawks kept pressuring until the final buzzer. “He battles when there are second opportunities and sometimes third ones,” Phaneuf said. “He was a difference-maker for us tonight and I can’t say enough good things about the way that he played.” Sputtering out of the gates in October – five losses in the first eight games – the Leafs appear to be turning a corner of sorts, scoring wins over the resource-depleted likes of Buffalo and Columbus before outlasting Chicago by the slimmest of margins on this night. It was arguably their most difficult test so far. “I think for us it’s a good measuring stick,” Stephane Robidas said of the challenge before the game. “It’s one of the better teams in the NHL the past few years and we’ve got to use it as a measuring stick and see where we’re at.” And while they were under complete siege for nearly all of the final 20 minutes, the Leafs actually held tough with the Blackhawks for the opening two periods, especially at even-strength. “We stuck with the game-plan,” Carlyle said. “We weren’t pretty. And our goaltender gave us a chance in the end and that’s all you can really ask of your team.” Five Points 1. 5-on-5 A testament to some recent improvement, Toronto has outscored opponents 9-1 at even-strength during this three-game win streak – the lone goal coming in Columbus on Friday night. Chicago’s dangerous collection was held off the board in such situations Saturday, both of their markers coming on the power-play. Asked what stood out about his team’s play in 5-on-5 situations, Carlyle responded with four words and only four words. “More offensive zone time,” he said. 2. Limiting the Load Dion Phaneuf didn’t have a lot left in the tank by the time March rolled around last spring, the pile of hugely difficult minutes admittedly taking their toll. “I’d be lying to say that it did not wear you down,” Phaneuf said on the first day of training camp. “When you’re playing those big minutes, by the time Game 70 comes around you might be feeling it a little more.” Phaneuf averaged more than 24 minutes before the Olympic break last season and struggled down the stretch, but so far this year that number is down to less over 22 minutes nightly and that’s not by accident. The coaching staff implemented an soft minute count for their captain this season. That threshold would seem lie at 22 minutes. “í think what we’ve tried to do is tried to share minutes more evenly,” Carlyle said. “We felt that there was a threshold that we would try to keep him underneath and some games we have, some games we haven’t.” Phaneuf played more than 24 minutes Saturday for just the third time this season, helping to hold Chicago’s top line off the score-sheet. 3. Balance Saturday was indicative of that newfound balance on defence. None of the six dressed against Chicago played less than 17 minutes and only Phaneuf topped 21 minutes. Leafs Defence Ice-Time DEFENDER TOI VS. CHICAGO Dion Phaneuf 24:41 Roman Polak 20:55 Cody Franson 20:31 Jake Gardiner 19:35 Morgan Rielly 17:21 Stephane Robidas 17:11 4. An Opportunity Maybe the biggest beneficiary in Joffrey Lupul’s absence is 23-year-old Peter Holland. Holland leapt one rung higher in the Leafs lineup with Lupul out, centering a third unit with Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli. Totaling a season-high of nearly 16 minutes, he scored the eventual game-winner and also took Lupul’s former spot on the team’s second power-play unit. “I think anytime you move up the lineup and you take on a bigger role it’s definitely an opportunity so it was something I was trying to focus on tonight and I thought [Santorelli], Leo and myself did a great job tonight,” he said. Oddly, four of his 11 career goals have come against Chicago. “I’m not really sure [why but] I seem to be a bit of a Blackhawk killer,” he said. Lupul, meanwhile, will miss three weeks with the broken right hand or in the neighbourhood of nine more games – he’s already sat out the past two. 5. Carrick’s debut An odd text popped up on Sam Carrick’s phone from Marlies teammate on Saturday morning, Frazer McLaren. “Congrats buddy,” it read. McLaren had been at the Marlies home rink, the Ricoh Coliseum, and saw that Carrick’s equipment had been removed. Carrick, picked 144th overall in 2010, was confused. Two minutes later the phone sprung to life again, this time with Leafs assistant general manager, Kyle Dubas, on the line. Carrick was being recalled to the big club, Dubas said, and would make his NHL debut against Chicago. “I was pretty excited,” said Carrick before the game. Coming off an increasingly impactful second AHL season – he had nine points in 14 playoff games – the 22-year-old offered a strong impression to Leaf coaches and brass at training camp and was the first Marlie to get the call when Joffrey Lupul broke his hand Friday in Columbus. “What we’ve tried to do is always make a statement that if you go down and play well you’re going to be recognized,” Carlyle said. Stats-Pack 9-1 – Mark by which Toronto has outscored opponents at even-strength in the past three games. 22:09 – Average ice-time for Dion Phaneuf this season. 5-0-0 – Leafs record when scoring first this season. 6-0-0 – Leafs record this season when Phil Kessel records a point. 26-7 – Blackhawks shot advantage in the third period on Saturday. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3 Season: 16.% PK: 2-4 Season: 81% Quote of the Night “Enough was enough because we couldn’t continue to go the way we were going.” - Randy Carlyle, on turning things around after a one-sided loss to Boston last week. Up Next The Leafs leave the earliest signs of winter behind, visiting the newly minted Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. Justin Coleman Jersey . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments. Patrick Kerney Jersey . Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game is also avialable on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg at 7pm ct. http://www.officialseattleseahawksfootba...n-jersey-womens. - Kyle Wood and Barclay Goodrow scored second period power-play goals to provide all of the scoring for the North Bay Battalion in a 2-0 victory over the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday. Alex McGough Jersey . -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back quarterback Chad Henne -- and making him the starter. Frank Clark Jersey . 1 and reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki was among Thursdays third-round winners, while second- seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the draw at the $4.Campaigning for Carl I hadnt heard the expression "crafting a campaign" until Michael Davies of the excellent "Men In Blazers" podcast used it to describe his beloved Chelsea, and the manner in which Jose Mourinho engineered his Blues through the nitty gritty of a long Premiership season. In the rigours of MLS, successful teams have managed their schedule carefully, and even though its early, Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson has already shown signs of recognizing the details of that process. Some might have been surprised Thursday when Robinson told TEAM 1040 radio in Vancouver that skipper Jay DeMerit had been left home to rest so early in the season. But for Robinson, the marathon is as grueling in March as it will be in September. Hes comfortable enough in his squad that well likely see more players left home for longer trips. Flying straight back to Vancouver right after the 0-0 draw with New England allowed players to get home on Saturday night and enjoy two full days off after what has been a taxing, air mile-accumulating couple of months. From a point gathering perspective, the new Whitecaps boss has also exhibited some proactive substitutions and game management during critical moments in his first three matches. Pedro Morales was brought on in the 65th minute of season opener, which effectively killed the game off.dddddddddddd. At Chivas, Robinson brought on Kekuta Manneh with enough time to rescue a point. And in New England, with a point in his back pocket, he gave Gershon Koffie a long-awaited introduction which infused a tiring team with some bite and balance to lock down that first clean sheet of the season. Crafting a campaign Those little decisions dont always work. But they did for Caleb Porter, the reigning MLS coach of the year with Portland. The well-travelled Timbers were a team that foraged for every point - especially away from home, where they didnt win a lot of games, but gathered enough draws (or avoided defeat enough) to help reach the Western Conference summit. Many lamented two points lost for Vancouver at an undermanned and unfairly disregarded Chivas team. Some even expected the Whitecaps to beat a New England squad that hadnt won, nor scored after two weeks. But in Carl Robinsons mind, his team earned a point despite a poor performance in LA, and a clean sheet after a nine-hour travel day against a desperate New England team stuck on no goals after two games. Maybe we should start calling the Whitecaps coach a "campaign" manager. 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