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TORONTO – Peter Holland was riding the GO train just a couple days after he was traded to play for his hometown Maple Leafs when he was recognized by a fan. It was the kind of surreal moment that made life playing at home all the more real. "That never wouldve happened in Anaheim, California," Holland, a native of Caledon, told the Leaf Report with a chuckle. "That was pretty cool." No longer on the west coast with the Ducks, the 22-year-old enjoyed the biggest night of his NHL career in front of the hometown crowd on the Saturday night stage. With his parents and childhood skills coach (Joey Simon from Powerhouse Hockey) in the stands, Holland scored twice and added a helper as Toronto stunned the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 at the ACC. It was the clubs first win in regulation since Nov. 19 and third in the past 20 games. Moved up in the lineup onto a unit with Joffrey Lupul and Mason Raymond – David Clarkson was serving the first of a two-game suspension – Holland scored his fourth this season and first of the game on an early power-play, notching his second on a tic-tac-toe feed from Lupul and Raymond. He would add an assist on the second of two goals from Lupul. "Theyve given me a good opportunity here and I think that as long as Im playing my game I think I have the ability to play at this level," said Holland, acquired from Anaheim in mid-November. "Obviously playing with guys like Lupul and Raymond is going to help me stick around too." A first round pick of the Ducks in 2009, Holland nearly doubled his season output with the standout performance against Chicago, now at five goals and seven points in 16 games this season. With injuries plaguing the Leafs at centre ice – Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak are both sidelined – opportunity is there for someone like Holland to grab hold of. To this point, he had offered only brief glimpses of the skill his pedigree would infer. But with more opportunity – a career-high of over 19 minutes – he was able to show it off in a big way against the Blackhawks. "Im just kind of approaching it like its a job and it is a job," Holland said. As to the chance to play at home, after bouncing between outposts in Syracuse, Norfolk and Anaheim, Holland said its been more comfort than distraction. "If anything I think it almost relieves pressure," he said. "Youve got more of a support network around you. Its a thrill to play in front of them every night. Going back to minor hockey when your parents came to every game, driving you there and stuff, and now they can come to every home game here. Its a good feeling." Five Points 1. Response from St. Louis Only two days before shocking the Blackhawks at home, the Leafs were embarrassed on the road by the Blues. It was their eighth loss in 10 games and among the worst efforts of the year. "Off our performance in St. Louis we could not have anything close to that again," said Randy Carlyle following the win against Chicago, the leagues top team again this season. "They werent very proud of our performance. They knew that we didnt do a lot of things that we set out to do. "I thought that our hockey club responded the way they needed to respond," he continued. "They took responsibility for our actions and thats a good sign. But the most encouraging thing for us tonight was our work ethic and we stuck to our system and played it." Trekking through their most arduous portion of the schedule – which has included the Sharks, Bruins, Kings, Blues, and Blackhawks – the Leafs now face another top team in Pittsburgh on Monday. "It doesnt get any easier," said Lupul, who had four points on Saturday, "but certainly winning a game against the top team in the league gives you a little bit of confidence so hopefully we can run with it." 2. Cycle Offence Though they generated the bulk of their offence off the rush, the Leafs did manage to sustain bursts of the cycle game Carlyle has been pleading for. The fourth goal of the evening, and fourth this season from Nik Kulemin, found its way into the back of the net off such an attack. "Weve been striving for that," said Carlyle. "And in the games that we are effective it seems that we have more of that in the hockey game. Thats really what were trying to do is were trying to eliminate a one-dimensional rush team." That rush game was certainly effective, notably the line of Holland, Lupul and Raymond. "When you start to wear teams down, if you play more in their zone, your rush game becomes more effective," Carlyle said. "The players will tell you, they never get tired playing in that zone. Theyre not receiving the game. When youre attacking and youre creating more offensive zone time its a better feeling." The Leafs also benefited on this night from scoring beyond their top unit. Phil Kessel would score the seventh and final Toronto goal, his 17th this season, but the remainder of the offence came from the second and third lines. Pegged to slow down the Blackhawks imposing top trio of Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa, the third line of Kulemin, Jerry DAmigo, and Jay McClement scored twice while holding their opponents off the scoresheet. "They did a heck of a job for us," said Carlyle. 3. Playing at Home In addition to the unlikely meet and greet with the fan on the GO Train, Holland said the second surreal moment of playing at home came when he put on the Leafs jersey for the first time, one he wore as a fan growing up. "I kind of let that sink in for a couple seconds there because that was a dream come true for sure," he said. Holland often made it down to Leafs games as a kid, mostly at the old Maple Leaf Gardens. "Some of my fondest memories were actually at the Garden," said Holland. "I was in there bleeding blue and white with the fans growing up." 4. Defensive Confusion A frequent frustration for Carlyle in recent weeks has been the rising tide of goals scored against from the critical areas or the zone surrounding the goal. "Its taking care of the front of your net before anywhere else," John-Michael Liles said of such improvement, prior to Saturdays game. "Ultimately, most teams are trying to draw you out of those critical areas so they can get the puck into those critical areas. Its no different than any other sport." Liles compared the tactic to soccer or basketball (where quality outside shooters draw defenders from the basket), noting the desire of an offence to space the defence out and away from the respective goal. "Its that movement (of) trying to confuse," he said. Defensive improvement stands high atop the Leafs priorities. During their ongoing struggle, theyve allowed three goals or more in 13 of 20 games, losing all but two of those games (including on Saturday). "Were trying to implement a defensive zone coverage that we can hang our hat on," said Carlyle. "Once you play better defensively then you start to become more of a team that (attacks) versus receiving the game. Thats really what has happened with our hockey club, I would say specifically in the last 15 games, is weve been receiving more than weve been attacking." 5. Shake-Up For the first time all season neither Paul Ranger nor Mark Fraser was in the lineup for the Leafs. A new-look third pairing of some speed and some skill saw John-Michael Liles paired with Morgan Rielly. The adjustment appeared an early success. "I thought they did a good job from a standpoint of we played our system and we moved the puck pretty much worrisome-free other than about five or six minutes in the second period," said Carlyle of the group. The Toronto defence has been a source of instability all season. Only one pairing has remained a constant from start to present: Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf (save for Phaneufs recent two-game suspension). Asked prior to Saturdays game if he would consider splitting the two as he did last season – and thus balancing the group –Carlyle said no. "Its been an experiment that we felt it failed," said Carlyle. "We werent happy with that. I would say at this point we think that theyre our go-to pair. Right now, I dont think thats a possibility for us … But coaches change their minds." Searching for balance, Carlyle split Gunnarsson and Phaneuf for the first 28 games last season with Phaneuf playing alongside Korbinian Holzer and current Blackhawk Michael Kostka. By mid-March though he abandoned the plan and reconnected the teams usual top pairing. Bonus Point – Bolland Update A bit of positive news amid a difficult stretch for the Leafs saw Dave Bolland off crutches this week and walking around the Air Canada Centre on Saturday morning. "The update is that hes progressing along at the expected rate," said Carlyle without offering any concrete timeline. "Theres no great difference in where hes at versus where we thought he was going to be. Hes not ahead of schedule, hes right on schedule right now." Stats-Pack 7 - Goals for the Leafs against Chicago, a season-high. 3 - Points from Peter Holland, a career-high. 4 – Assists for Mason Raymond against Chicago, a career-high. Raymond also surpassed the 22 points he had in 46 games last season. He now has 24 points in 34 games. 19:22 – Ice-time for Holland, also a career-high. 5 – Points for Jake Gardiner in December. He had six points combined in October and November. 1 - Career NHL goal for Jerry DAmigo. DAmigo also added an assist against the Blackhawks. 2 - Goals from the Leafs third line, who also held Chicagos top unit scoreless. 9 – Games without a goal for Joffrey Lupul prior to a two-goal outing on Saturday. Lupul hadnt scored since Nov. 9 in Boston. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-4Season: 24.3% (3rd) PK: 1-2Season: 76.7% (27th) Quote of the Night "You guys cant see it, but Im just going crazy inside right now." -Jerry DAmigo, moments after scoring his first career NHL goal. Up Next The Leafs travel to Pittsburgh for a Monday date with the Penguins. Clark Gillies Jersey . - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin has cleared league-mandated concussion protocol and has returned to practice as a full participant. John Tavares Jersey . Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year. http://www.cheapislandersjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-josh-bailey-jersey. Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Mike Bossy Jersey .Bacca took advantage of Cristian Alvarezs hesitation to head a lobbed pass over the goalkeeper and then used his feet to roll the ball into an empty net in the eighth minute. The Colombia strikers 10th goal pulled him level with Lionel Messi as the leagues third-leading scorers, far behind Cristiano Ronaldos runaway tally of 23 goals. Bob Nystrom Jersey .Manager Brendan Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo on Friday that Sturridge pulled his calf muscle in training as he prepared to return from a five-week layoff due to a thigh strain.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ben Lovejoy realized his newborn daughter would be watching him on television for the first time, and the Anaheim Ducks defenceman promptly had the first multigoal game of his career. Yep, the Ducks have spectacular timing in just about everything they do these days. Lovejoy scored two goals in the first period, Jonas Hiller made 16 saves in his 10th consecutive victory and the Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Friday night for their 12th win in 13 games. Lovejoy had scored just five goals in his 170-game NHL career, and he had just one goal in 40 games this season before firing two slap shots past Ilya Bryzgalov 2:43 apart late in the first period. With perfect setups from Saku Koivu and Cam Fowler, Lovejoy tied the club record for the most goals scored by a defenceman in one period. "It has to be perfectly in my wheelhouse, and those guys were able to find it," Lovejoy said. "Its a very small sweet spot." After scoring the fastest two goals by a defenceman in franchise history, Lovejoy thought about the serendipity: His wife, Avery, and their new daughter, Lila, were at home watching for the first time since Lila was born on New Years Eve. "We may have to keep pumping them out if I can keep scoring two goals a night," Lovejoy said with a grin. Kyle Palmieri, Tim Jackman and Andrew Cogliano also scored for the Ducks, who improved to 16-0-2 at home this season and remained one point behind Chicago for the overall NHL lead. After giving up two early goals on broken plays, Hiller extended his franchise-record winning streak as the Ducks followed up their 11-1-1 December with their sixth consecutive win over the Oilers, who havent beaten Anaheim since April 2012. Even with little offensive help from superstars Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, who have combined for just one goal in the last five games, the Ducks keep steamrolling along. "They werent going as good as they normally do, and when theyre not going, you need people to pick up the slack," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You get help from everywhere. Thats why I think were a pretty good team." The Ducks have the NHLs second-longest points streak at home to open a season in the last quarter-century, trailing only San Joses 20-0-2 start five years ago.dddddddddddd Anaheim also won despite another awful effort by its power play, which went 0 for 8. The Ducks have just one man-advantage goal in the last 10 games, yet still rank third in the NHL in total goals. Boyd Gordon and Nail Yakupov scored in Edmontons fourth straight loss. Bryzgalov stopped 32 shots for the Oilers, who have lost 10 of 12 and are stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference. "We have been hanging around in games, but we always seem to find a way to blow a lead," Gordon said. "We cant sit around and hang our heads. We have to find a way to get the job done." The Oilers took the lead on their opening shift when Gordon flung a shot at the Ducks goal while getting checked facedown into the ice, and the puck deflected off Hillers stick 35 seconds in. Just 11 seconds later, Palmieri jumped on a turnover in the Edmonton crease and beat Bryzgalov. Edmonton capitalized on a mistake by Getzlaf, the Ducks captain, later in the period, with Yakupov getting goals in consecutive games for the first time all season. Lovejoy answered with his two goals, and Anaheim never trailed again. "Their second and third goals were almost identical," Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. "Same guy, same place. ... I thought we had pretty good coverage. We had five guys below the puck, but we were just a split-second late getting there." Jackman put the Ducks up 4-2 late in the second period, converting a pass from Nick Bonino in front. The workmanlike forward hadnt scored since joining Anaheim from Calgary in late November. Edmonton managed just eight shots in the final two periods. NOTES: Edmonton D Brad Hunt made his NHL debut, but the Oilers played without high-scoring RW Jordan Eberle, who apparently injured his knee a night earlier in San Jose. Mark Arcobello and Ryan Jones also returned from lengthy injury absences. ... D Bryan Allen and F Daniel Winnik were healthy scratches for Anaheim, with Winnik missing his first game of the season. 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