TORONTO – Though they had won almost without exception over a span of three weeks, Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle wanted his team to know that their recent path to success was unsustainable. He challenged them to respond the right way and they did just that on a live Saturday night at the ACC. Toronto won for the eighth time in 10 games, capturing the season series with Detroit in a 4-1 win. “We want to be honest with ourselves and we want to be committed to growing our team,” Carlyle said after the victory. “You don’t grow unless you can accept that you do have faults and we all do, and they were willing to work on them to make them better.” The Leafs barely touched the puck at Joe Louis Arena three nights earlier, surrendering 42 shots while managing a paltry 30 per cent possession in a game they stole on the shoulders of James Reimer in the shootout. Steering further and further from “playing the right way” the club had allowed 37 shots on average in the previous six games, relying hard on terrific goaltending and a potent offence. It was a recipe they rode to failure last season and one that offered reason for concern ahead of the home showdown with the Wings – who played at home against Florida a night earlier. Veering back to structure with a cleaner brand of hockey on Saturday, the Leafs limited the Wings to just 28 shots, dominating possession for much of the evening. “We wanted to get [them] under 25 [shots], but 28 is much better than 40-something,” said Stephane Robidas. “I don’t have the numbers, but I think we spent more time in their zone than they spent in our zone so that’s very positive.” Imperative to that success, according to Robidas and other Leaf players afterward, was a more structured neutral zone – they made a couple tweaks ahead of game-time – one that limited easy entry into the offensive zone for Detroit and forced them to either dump the puck or turn it over. The Leafs also attacked the Wings defence with more vigour and established quite a bit more offensive zone time, doing little of either just a few nights earlier. “We knew that we had to clean it up a little bit and just play stronger,” said Morgan Rielly, who scored the third Leaf goal, his fourth of the year. Rielly was one of four Toronto goal-scorers, a year-long theme of offensive depth only continuing on this night. James van Riemsdyk, Richard Panik and Nazem Kadri also tallied goals in the victory. In question now is whether the Leafs can continue to play to such a brand on a consistent basis. It’s there from time to time but rarely with consistency. What’s changed with this group from years past, however, is the willingness to at least accept that basic fact. The turning point was that momentous 9-2 home beating by Nashville in mid-November. A group that was so stubborn in its misguided ways previously finally had to accept that something different was required. “That’s changed our group since then,” Carlyle said. The Leafs are 8-1-1 since that point, outscoring the opposition 41-22 in that span while taking full advantage of a comfy home-laden schedule. “I thought tonight was one of our best games of the year,” Jonathan Bernier said after the latest victory. Five Points 1. Impactful Night For a guy who played less than nine minutes Richard Panik sure made an impression. The 23-year-old set a new career-high with a highlight-worthy goal, dished out four hits and capped the evening with his first career NHL fight, tussling with Brendan Smith in the latter stages of victory. The benefactor of a smooth look up ice by Korbinian Holzer, Panik burst in alone on Wings goalie, Petr Mrazek in the middle period, faking him out with a nifty dangle that squirted between the pads. “It’s amazing the stuff he can do,” Robidas said, noting his observation of that skill-set daily after practice. “To pull that off the way he did in a game it’s a nice goal.” Panik eclipsed his previous career-high with the goal, now with six markers in 26 games. That’s two fewer than David Clarkson, who has garnered more than 200 additional minutes, including a whole bunch on the team’s second power-play unit. Claimed off of waivers from Tampa, Panik is averaging less than nine minutes per game. “That’s the great thing about guys like Richard,” Carlyle said, “you know that there is more there…he’s a dangerous player to play in the situation he’s playing.” 2. Back-to-Backs The Leafs played the first half of their seventh back-to-back, tied for the second-most in the league with 18 this season. “If you check the record in the league of the second half of back-to-backs you’ll be surprised at the success of the team that’s played the night before,” Carlyle said Saturday morning, referring to the Wings, who were playing their second in as many nights. And while they improved to 3-3-0 in the first game of those back-to-backs, the Leafs actually do boast a far more impressive mark with shorter rest. They enter Sunday’s early game against the Kings (5 p.m. start) with a 4-1-1 mark. Carlyle prepares his team to approach the two-game sets as a six-period affair. “We’re preparing ourselves now for period four,” he said. “It’s a long intermission.” 3. Home Ice Playing their 19th game at the ACC on Saturday the Leafs are nearly halfway through their home schedule. And they’ve managed to take advantage, now boasting a 12-7-0 overall mark with seven wins in the past eight games. The road will become familiar soon enough. Following another home date with Flyers on Dec. 20th, the Leafs will play 16 of 20 games away from Toronto. 4. Upside Bet In late July the Leafs made a bet on Jake Gardiner’s upside, signing the recently turned 24-year-old for five years at a cap hit of more than $4 million annually. That upside has showed up periodically through the first two-plus months of the season, but rarely in any kind of consistent fashion. Gardiner can dazzle one shift and befuddle on the next. Cody Franson, his most frequent defence partner in Toronto, detailed precisely what Gardiner does when he’s performing at a high level. “I think when he’s playing his best hockey he’s playing with confidence,” said Franson. “You see him rolling off guys in our zone and holding onto the puck and then he makes that quick play and then he’s jumping up in the play right after that. He moves the puck quickly and jumps into plays; [that’s] when he’s at his best. Sometimes he tries to do a lot. He’s one of those guys that’s capable of doing a lot of things; he can get up and down the ice with the best of them and he handles the puck very well. But I think when he’s at his best is when he’s moving and jumping at the same time. He does a very good job of that.” The Leafs best possession player last season, Gardiner has slipped considerably in that regard this year (at least comparatively to his teammates). Leading the team in even-strength ice last season, he’s down to third this year – behind Dion Phaneuf and Roman Polak – at just under 17 minutes per game. His offensive stats line up about even. All in all, the former first round pick has not yet taken the step many in the organization hoped he would on that fateful summer day. Gardiner played 22 minutes against Detroit. 5. Hits Franson, meanwhile, is figuring things out after nearly 350 games in the league. Toronto’s coaching staff has been pleasantly surprised by the manner in which the 27-year-old has improved defensively, pairing him with Phaneuf on the top pairing basically all year-long. Key to that improvement, Franson says, is the rawer side of the game. Physicality or lack thereof was a common complaint of the 6-5 defender throughout his career previously. “That was one of the things that Randy wanted me to really improve upon was using my size and getting in people’s way and becoming tougher to play against down low – getting more hits,” Franson said. “That knock’s followed me around my whole career. People always say I play sheltered minutes, I can’t play against good players, I’m not physical, I’m slow – that stuff’s just kind of followed me around forever. And that’s stuff that I just continue to try and improve upon to prove people wrong. I take a lot of pride in proving people wrong.” Franson, who threw five hits against Detroit, ranks 10th among all NHL defenders in hits. Stats-Pack 6 – Goals for Richard Panik this season, setting a new career-high. 12-7-0 – Leafs home record this season. 41-22 – Margin by which the Leafs have outscored the opposition since Nov. 18. 7-4-1 – Leafs record vs. the Atlantic division. 8:47 – Ice-time for Panik against Detroit. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-5 Season: 20.4% PK: 1-2 Season: 83.3% Quote of the Night “You can kind of tell he’s kind of ripped.” -Morgan Rielly, noting the strength of Richard Panik. Up Next The Leafs host the Kings on Sunday night. Fake Football Jerseys For Sale . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic .Do you have to be that close? Federer snapped at a TV cameraman hovering nearby as he received medical advice after losing a set on Wednesday.For Nadal and Sharapova, the nuisance was coming from the lowly-ranked qualifiers across the net. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/.ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Cheap Football Jerseys . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. Fake Football Jerseys . Yet coming off consecutive series losses at St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Los Angeles needed some sort of spark as August approaches. The Dodgers found it in the ballpark of their biggest rival, and left the Bay Area in first place following an emphatic three-game swing.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Kerry: I will give you full marks for your comments on the Pens/Bruins fiasco...100 per cent bang on...that had to be the worst display of "game management" I have seen in a while. Kerry, Im an old timer, spent about 11 years wearing the black and white stripes and saw a lot in my day. What I dont get and never will is the reluctance to allow Linesman to be more involved in decision making. And no I am not talking about having them watch for more, Lord knows with the speed of the game they already have their hands full. HOWEVER, how many times have we seen blatant offences with NO call only to wind up with supplementary discipline? It happens routinely and you cannot tell me that in many of these cases one of the Linesmen did not see the blatant offence occur? Case in point: Phaneufs hit on Sunday night...how in the world do 4 (four) sets of eyes not see that as a direct hit from behind...no call but he has a hearing! And I am a LIFELONG Leaf fan! Point is if they (the League) are REALLY serious about cleaning up the game, then the culture amongst Officials has to change. You have four sets of eyes out there they should USE them and it can be done with undue burden...as I pointed out, not asking them to LOOK for more, but when they see it, they need to be able to call it. It is called "CHECKING YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR". This should not be a slight against the Referees...the game has changed dramatically. Its faster, harder, players are bigger and more mobile - its time to catch up. Cheers Kerry,Jeff Baldwin Jeff:Thank you for the thought-provoking question. You too sir are bang on with regard to many of the shortcomings that we see take place on almost a nightly basis in the current two-referee system. I have to question an apparent lack of coaching and the accountability process that NHL Officials are currently being held to when we witness similar plays that are often misjudged or missed. From your experience as a referee Jeff, you know that you have to position yourself in advance of the play to acquire the best possible sight line to make the call. I have made reference to this crucial aspect of officiating on many occasions in this column. When a call is missed, the referee most directly responsible for that call often has an obstructed view of the play. Yes, the game is faster and the players are certainly bigger, but there are too many "puck watchers" currently wearing black and white stripes that dont see the game in advance. Given the human factor, we know (and can accept) that calls will be missed; after all nobodys perfect. There are also a number of infractions currently in the rule book that Linesmen are allowed to call (hits from behind like the one Phaneuf delivered on Kevan Milller being one of them!) Linesmen have a difficult and specific job of their own to do; one that is very important and can also impact a game.dddddddddddd Conferences between the four officials take place whenever a goal is scored and there is a question that goalkeeper interference took place or to determine if the puck was shot directly over the glass. A correct decision has often been rendered through these types of meetings of the minds. Many of the young NHL Officials have been fast-tracked through a two-referee system where they never really had to fend for themselves. There was always another person to rely on which inhibited their growth and experience as a young referee. I maintain that to be most effective, a ref has to work like he is the only set of eyes on the ice. He should want to see everything that takes place with his head on swivel even though he is responsible for certain specific areas of coverage in the two-referee system. The better referees in the NHL work within the current system to support their partner but also like they are the sole referee in the game. The confidence and authority of the modern day NHL referee has gradually been eroded through the safety net and hands on approach that the Hockey Operations Department exerts over both the officials and the Officiating Department. Telephones installed in the officials dressing room provide a direct link to the Toronto Situation Room. The "hot line" can ring between periods if Hockey Operations personnel deem it necessary to provide input to the officials. The last time I checked, while many of them were excellent players, none of them refereed a game in the league! Far too many times I see minor penalties assessed for what should easily be judged as a major or match infraction such as James Neals knee to the head of Brad Marchand. Either the referees judgment needs considerable tweaking or they prefer to rely on supplementary discipline to suspend a player if the Player Safety Committee deems it violent enough. Video review is an excellent tool to verify the scoring of a legal goal but that decision also is taken out of the referees hands and electronically transported to Toronto. That is of course, unless the Situation Room cant make a clear and firm decision in which case an "inconclusive verdict" throws the call back in the referees lap who has yet to see a replay of the incident. I dont think its so much about checking ones ego at door Jeff. I believe its more about developing proper coaching techniques and to empower the officials to be the very best that they can be. While there are a number of officials that do a terrific job there is much work that is required in this area. The NHL Officials, to a man, are good and dedicated people. They deserve the very best opportunity to succeed. Its in the best interest of the game they are given the proper tools to do so. ' ' '