Wilfried Tsonga was leading Austrian lefty Jurgen Melzer

MONTREAL – The question was posed to Jonathan Bernier, perhaps the busiest netminder in the National Hockey League this season and a man who has witnessed the strength of terrific defensive hockey in Los Angeles firsthand en route to a Cup in 2012: Can his Toronto Maple Leafs, currently the top wild card in the East, threaten a deep playoff run without raising their substandard level of defensive play? "Goalies got to be good," Bernier said with an almost uncomfortable laugh. "I personally dont think so," he continued frankly. "Because some games [the goalie] wont get those bounces and [the puck is] going to go in somehow. But we know weve got it in this room. Weve just got to pay the price to play better defensively and, if we do, Im pretty sure we can be one of the top teams in this league." Its an uncomfortable truth for a team that wrung up 11 wins in 14 games before the Olympic break and has designs on making noise in the playoffs after a long-awaited return last spring. This is a hockey club that struggles badly to defend and relies most nights on terrific goaltending and an incredibly potent offence to win. Its a formula that might yield success in the regular season, and it has for the Leafs thus far, but is unlikely to gain much steam when the hockey tightens in mid-April. Head coach Randy Carlyle has been beating the drum loudly on the topic all season, but doesnt have much to show for it. His group remains a work in progress. "Weve been trying and stressing that defensive hockey is whats going to give your team the best chance to qualify for the playoffs," said Carlyle after an instructive practice in Brossard, Quebec. "[But] were in the qualification mode. Were not in the playoff mode [yet]." Only five teams have been worse than the Leafs defensively this season and only one of those teams, the Ottawa Senators, has any hope of qualifying for the playoffs. Toronto has allowed a bloated three goals per game despite boasting some of the finest goaltending in the league with the 25-year-old Bernier. No team, in fact, puts more pressure on their goaltender to be great than do the Leafs. Only Mike Smith in Phoenix has faced more shots than Bernier thus far and hes started 10 more games than the native of Laval. "I think weve seen it," said Bernier of sturdy defensive play. "I think everyones seen it, but I dont think weve seen it consistently enough." Hurting the effort is a bad penalty kill, one thats allowed the most goals (tied) in the league this season, an unstable defence which includes young and growing parts like Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner and a high-end forward group that has shown only spotty attention to defence. A pile of goals and timely goaltending have been required most nights to win. That was true during an 11-2-1 run before the 18-day Olympic stoppage. Running, then, behind the all-world efforts of Phil Kessel, who has been the hottest player on the planet in 2014, the club scored 51 goals – 3.64 per game – but also allowed 41 on the other end. Theyve won despite being outshot in 36 of 48 games – they have a record of 21-10-5 in those games – and despite the fact that theyve allowed a league-high of more than 36 shots per game. Cody Franson, second on the back-end in minutes, believes the instability is tied to confusion in the defensive end, too much thinking rather quick instinctual reaction. "I think were still a little indecisive on things sometimes," he said. "We try and play a quite aggressive style of defence and sometimes when you think too much you end up being a half second slow compared to where you should be. That comfort level just isnt quite there with us yet. I think we still think about things too much." They allowed five in their most recent affair against the Islanders on Thursday night, an overtime loss to a struggling club that was without its best player and leading scorer, John Tavares, and their third leading point-getter in Frans Nielsen. Two of the goals came by way of short circuiting on the power-play with Michael Grabner scoring twice shorthanded in a span of 48 seconds on the same power-play. Another found the back of the net via the aforementioned penalty kill with two more coming on defensive breakdowns, including the overtime winner. "Gifts," said Carlyle after the 5-4 defeat. "Ive got no other word to describe the goals that we gave up." A drastic reversal at this late stage in the year seems unlikely, though Carlyle and the coaching staff continue to push and prod. They did so with any available ice during the Olympic break and continued at practice Friday, narrowing their sights on a tighter neutral zone and improved forecheck – efforts aimed at spending less time in the defensive zone. But with just 21 games to play, including a division clash with the Canadiens on Saturday, its probably safe to say that this is what these Maple Leafs are. The question now is whether they can, as currently constructed, make a little noise in the postseason (assuming they get in) or whether their defensive liabilities will prove too onerous to overcome. Last spring, they nearly toppled a Bruins giant, but required some lightning in a bottle and forgotten brilliance from James Reimer in Games 5 and 6. History points emphatically in the direction of those that can defend. In fact, the last three Stanley Cup winners finished the regular season as either the best or second-best team defensively. And though the Leafs are not yet in the Cup conversation, that remains the goal somewhere down the road. Dave Nonis and the Toronto management team have to be mindful of that fact as it relates to the larger construction of the roster, both now with the Mar. 5 trade deadline looming and over the longer term with the core thats being put into place. Are these the foundations of a club that can eventually win the ultimate prize? "You always see it every year, strong defensive teams win," said Jay McClement. "I think we have the make-up for it. But not without being strong defensively. Obviously, youre not going to win a lot of games 5-4 in the playoffs. We have the goaltending for it and have had it all year. Weve just got to cut down on these mistakes and well be fine. "Were not changing the way we do it, weve just got to do it better." Andrew Chafin Jersey . Ozuna hit Reeds 2-2 pitch off the batters eye far above the 407-foot sign in straightaway centre. It was the fifth blown save in 25 tries for Reed (1-5) and the ninth home run the closer has allowed in 38 appearances. Nuno, acquired in the deal that sent Brandon McCarthy to the New York Yankees, gave up three hits, struck out a career-high seven and walked one in seven innings. Matt Williams Jersey . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/378l-jay-bell-jersey-diamondbacks.html .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. Eduardo Escobar Jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Paul Goldschmidt Jersey . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford.Wimbledon, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and reigning champion Andy Murray were a pair of easy opening-round winners on Centre Court at The Championships, Wimbledon. The former world No. 1 Djokovic won the first 11 games in steamrolling Kazakhstans Andrey Golubev 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in a mere 87 minutes at the famed All England Club, while the third-seeded Murray also played very clean tennis in taking care of Belgian David Goffin 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. Murray popped eight aces in the predicable just-over-two-hour affair versus Goffin. The French Open runner-up Djokovic titled here in 2011 and was last years Wimbledon runner-up to his good friend Murray. Djokovic, playing his first grass-court tennis of the year, is the top seed at this fortnight, despite being ranked second in the world behind French Open champion and two-time Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal. "It was a great start," Djokovic said after moving on Monday. Up next for the six-time Grand Slam titlist will be 35-year-old Czech veteran Radek Stepanek. Murray has won 14 straight matches at the AEC, where he captured an Olympic gold medal in 2012 before giving Great Britain its first male Wimbledon singles champion in 77 years last year. Murray entered and exited Centre Court to standing ovations on Day 1. "It was nice," Murray said. "I was nervous this morning, nervous yesterday. Walking through brings back a lot of good memories. I got a nice round of applause and once you sit down in a chair its time to get ready for this year and move on from last year." Among those in the Royal Box for Murrays match were his father and grandparents and former NBA superstar Shaquille ONeal. Murrays new coach, former womens Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo, sat in the front row of the guest box. Up next for Murray will be 23-year-old Slovenian Blaz Rola, who was the 2013 NCAA singles champion while playing at The Ohio State University. Sixth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych joined Djokovic and Murray in the round of 64 with a come-from-behind 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Romanian veteran Victor Hanescu, while seventh-seeded David Ferrer held off fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-1. Meanwhile, rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov eased past disappointing American Ryan Harrisson 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-2 and 12th-seeded Latvian and French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis topped Estonian Jurgen Zopp 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 7-6 (12-10).dddddddddddd Dimitrov captured his first-ever grass-court title at The Queens Club in London two weeks ago. Sixteenth-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini went the distance to edge out American journeyman Alex Kuznetsov, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 9-7, in 3 hours, 11 minutes on Court 18. In other action involving seeds, No. 17 Russian Mikhail Youzhny routed Brit James Ward 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; Aussie Marinko Matosevic served-and-volleyed his way past No. 18 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; No. 20 South African Kevin Anderson dismissed Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 7-5, 6-2; No. 21 Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Aussie Samuel Groth 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5); Argentine Leonardo Mayer upended No. 25 Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; No. 26 Croat Marin Cilic got past Frances Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-1; No. 27 Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut topped American two-time NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5; and Dutchman Robin Haase doused No. 31 Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. The surging Bautista Agut captured his first-ever ATP-level title, on grass, last week in The Netherlands. Several other men advanced, including Stepanek, Rola, Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon, Aussie Bernard Tomic, former Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, and German Benjamin Becker, who was the runner-up in The Netherlands last week. Some action was suspended because or rain, as 14th-seeded French star Jo- Wilfried Tsonga was leading Austrian lefty Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 5-4 and Sam Querrey was ahead of fellow American Bradley Klahn 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-5 when rain started to fall just after 8 p.m. local time. Opening-round matches will come Tuesday for the second-seeded Nadal and seven- time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer. The 14-time Grand Slam winner Nadal will take on Slovak Martin Klizan, while the fourth-seeded former No. 1 and 17-time major titlist Federer will encounter Italian Paolo Lorenzi. Also on the Day 2 schedule will be fifth-seeded Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka, eighth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic, ninth-seeded American John Isner, and 10th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan. ' ' '