DENVER – Even a six-game win streak isnt enough to ease the nerves of a head coach. Air Jordan 3 Cheap Canada . “Coaches never breathe easy,” said Randy Carlyle with a chuckle after his team pulled out an unlikely 5-2 win in Colorado. Make it six straight for the Maple Leafs, who despite the challenges of the blistering Avalanche – one regulation loss in the previous 10, thin air of the Mile High City, and third game in four nights, managed to overcome with two points in the second tilt of a four-game road trip. The primary components of the win streak stood tall yet again. There was more terrific goaltending, this time from James Reimer, who stopped 35 of 37 Avalanche flurries. There was continued dominance from Phil Kessel, who extended his wild point streak to seven games with a pair of goals. There was another quick strike in the opening frame. And there was another fine special teams outing, the Leafs scoring again on the power-play while halting a scorching Colorado man advantage in all four opportunities. Sunny times roll on in the dead of winter for a once victory-challenged squad. “Theres a lot more life in the room,” said Dion Phaneuf after the latest victory. “Weve got a confidence in our dressing room right now that we feel good about ourselves. And thats a good feeling for a team.” Its been eight years since a Toronto club won six in a row, the last run coming during the 2005-06 season. This streak was especially unforeseen considering how dour the scene looked less than two weeks earlier and really for the better part of the season. The Leafs had just four wins in regulation during a stretch of two months and had dropped four consecutive games in the early days of 2014, including a pair of disastrous blowout losses to the Rangers and Hurricanes. But from those ashes has risen an unlikely string of victories – including four in regulation in this run alone – some good fortune aligning with good goaltending, strong special teams and elevated performance from some of the teams top guns, notably Kessel and the top line. “It was a tough stretch,” said Kessel, who has 26 goals on the year, “but we stayed positive and we fought our way out of it and were on a pretty good roll right now.” Five Points 1. En Fuego About the hottest hes ever been as an NHL player, Phil Kessel added two more points to a scorching seven-game point streak. Kessel, who scored twice against the Avalanche and now has goals in four straight games, has six goals and 14 points during the sizzling run. “Hes a mutant almost,” Morgan Rielly beamed to the Leaf Report during Tuesdays game. “Hes just scoring. Hes getting points. Hes happy. Hes flying around out there so its been great. Hes one of the top players in the world and hes proving it.” Kessel managed the two markers, but could have ended up with three or four considering the dozen or so opportunities he had on this night. He scored his first on a breakaway, beating Semyon Varlomov far-side, adding another on a rebound opportunity. “What did he have like 12 shots on goal tonight,” van Riemsdyk said of his linemate, who managed eight shots. “It was pretty incredible the display he put on.” “I couldve had a bunch tonight,” Kessel agreed. “I missed some good chances.” 2. Scoring First With the first of two goals from Kessel – a stretch pass from Dion Phaneuf feeding the winger – Toronto scored first for the fifth time during their rare six-game win streak, a point of emphasis for a team thats been outscored in first periods all season. “That was a big thing weve been keying on is having better starts,” said Tyler Bozak on Tuesday morning. “When you get that first goal the odds say that youve got a way better chance of winning so thats something that we want to do as much as we can.” Scoring first against the Avalanche was especially important. Colorado entered the night with 25-1-3 record when they landed the games first goal. And though the Leafs didnt exactly storm out of the gate – they were being outshot 11-2 at one point, no doubt stung by the altitude – they did manage to hang in, mostly due to the early efforts of James Reimer. “Reims stood tall for us,” said Carlyle of Reimer, who won his second straight start. “Thats what were asking of our goaltenders. When you get a chance to get in there give us what you can … Give us goaltending that you can hang your hat on.” 3. No Fly Zone James van Riemsdyk took hold of the team lead with his eighth power-play goal of the year against Colorado, redirecting yet another Cody Franson point shot beyond Varlamov for the Leafs second goal. “JVRs got a no-fly zone,” Franson chirped afterward. “Put it in a certain airspace its going down.” van Riemsdyk has proven adept at the tactic of tipping pucks, a skill-set he began practicing on the driveway of his home as a kid. That practice picked up when he reached the NHL in Philadelphia. Flyers assistant coach Joe Mullen helped the former University of New Hampshire star formulate a daily routine for working on it. And now at the end of just about every on-ice workout, the 24-year-old does exactly that. “I owe a lot of that to him because he would hammer away some slappers at me every single day,” said van Riemsdyk of Mullen. “And then Id have Chris Pronger breathing down my neck, getting me out there before practice sometimes doing it. Ive worked on it a lot over the years. It comes a little bit more naturally thanks to those guys.” 4. Offence from the D The Leafs stable of defenders barely made a blip on the offence in the opening two months of the season – just three goals in the first 28 games. Since that point, however, theyve offered a much greater contribution. The group had scored at least a goal in four consecutive games before Tuesday, totaling 17 on the year and a hearty 14 in the past 24 games. And though they didnt find the scoreboard against the Avalanche they did manage to aid in the attack. A pair of point shots – one from Franson on van Riemsdyks 20th of the season and one from Jake Gardiner on Nazem Kadris 13th this season – were redirected for goals. “Our job is to get the puck through or make plays with it up top,” said Phaneuf, who sits second on the team with 20 points this season. “Our forwards have done a really good job down-low of getting us the puck and giving us some time and moving it quickly up to us [at the point]. Weve been able to get some pucks through with some good screens and when you do that you generate chances and thats what weve had success with.” 5. Lead Protection Third period lead protection has been a recurring struggle for the Leafs this season – theyve been outscored 61-42 – and one thats been tested amid the win streak. Just a night earlier in Phoenix, the club had some difficulty protecting a big lead in the final frame – lackadaisical at times, according to Carlyle – before pulling out an eventual win. Again on Tuesday they were tested, but after a quick goal from Nathan MacKinnon, which closed the gap to 4-2, the club gradually found its bearings. “Hopefully this is a sign of growth for our group and we can continue to go forward,” said Carlyle. “Theyve got a lot of offence,” Phaneuf said of the high-powered Avalanche. “Theyre coming with four guys the whole time. We gave up some chances, but really we kept a lot of it to the outside. And when they were coming they obviously were pushing when theyre down by as many as they were. We did a good job holding them off.” Bonus Point – Man Advantage Now ranked third in the NHL, the Toronto power-play struck for the seventh time in the six-game win streak. The unit has sizzled with a 31 per cent success rate during the run (7-23). Stats-Pack 7 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel, who has six goals and 14 points in that span. 4 – Consecutive games with at least a goal for Kessel. .930 – Even-strength save percentage this season for James Reimer, tied for sixth-best among NHL netminders with at least 20 starts. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Nazem Kadri, who has two goals and six points in that span. 8 – Shots on goal for Kessel on Tuesday, a season-high. 19 – Points in the past 16 games for Tyler Bozak, who had two assists against Colorado. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-4Season: 22.9% (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 77.8% (27th) Quote of the Night “JVRs got a no-fly zone. Put it in a certain airspace its going down.” -Cody Franson, on James van Riemsdyks redirection abilities. Up Next The Leafs continue their four-game road swing in Dallas on Thursday night. Air Jordan 3 Canada Sale . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Canada .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. http://www.airjordan3canada.com/ . - Houston defensive end J.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Four-time champion Novak Djokovic handled Milos Raonic, while Stan Wawrinka kept his hopes of a repeat Australian Open title alive by besting fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori in straight sets on Wednesday. The world No. 1 Djokovic dismissed the eighth-seeded Canadian star Raonic 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2, while the fourth-seeded Wawrinka fired 20 aces and was broken just once in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) quarterfinal victory over the U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori at Rod Laver Arena. The 27-year-old Djokovic is bidding to become the second man in history to win the Australian Open for the fifth time, joining Roy Emerson. The Belgrade native won his first major title in Melbourne in 2008 and followed with three successive victories in 2011-13. He has a 48-6 match record at Melbourne Park. Djokovic has still yet to drop a set in his ruthless run at this 2015 fortnight. He is through to his 25th Grand Slam semifinal, one behind Andre Agassi for the fourth most in the Open Era. Djokovic improved to 5-0 against Raonic, as he doused the Canadian in two hours. The Serb was not at his best in the first set, not quite finding his timing under the lights at Laver. But a costly forehand unforced error from Raonic at 5-6 in the tiebreak -- having just saved two set points -- gifted the Serb the opener. From there, Djokovic was clinical. He lost just two points on serve in each of the second and third sets, while breaking Raonic three times in total. It was a close first set, but I thought I had more chances in the first set than him, said Djokovic. Managed to stay tough in the right moments and win the crucial first set. Obviously winning it in a tiebreak and making the break of serve first game of the second set was definitely huge really for me. I could start swinging through a little bit more, be more aggressive into the court. After that first game of the second set I played a great match. The 24-year-old Raonic was looking to become the first Canadian in history to reach the Aussie Open semis. The Toronto native reached his first Grand Slam semi last year at Wimbledon, losing to Roger Federer. I just think [the first set] gave him a bit more belief, said Raonic. I wish I would have served better in certain moments, but I didnt lose because of my serve. He just didnt allow me to organize my game. Even when he was returning well, by the end of the match he was doing a good job of playing deep and never allowing me to go forward. Air Jordan 3 Canada Online. Obviously if you watch the footage, he was pretty much on the baseline the whole time and I was further back. The reigning Wimbledon champion Djokovic is seeking an eighth Grand Slam title. A five-set thriller was played between Wawrinka and Nishikori at last years U.S. Open, and it was Nishikori who survived a 4-hour, 15-minute marathon. The evenly-matched opponents were on the court for less than half that on Wednesday. The defending champ Wawrinka dominated the first set and did not face a break point until he was serving out the second ahead 5-4. Nishikori had three chances at pulling even, but Wawrinkas overpowering serve closed it out. Nishikori finally earned a break early in the third, but Wawrinka countered with one of his own at love. Three aces early in the tiebreak helped Wawrinka jump out to a healthy 6-1 lead. After staving off five match points, Nishikori hit a drop shot that fell into the net, and Wawrinka finished him off with another big ace. On Friday, fans will be hoping for another epic when Djokovic faces Wawrinka for the third year in a row at Melbourne Park. Two years ago, Djokovic denied Wawrinka 12-10 in the fifth set of a fourth-round clash, but last year the Swiss got his revenge with a 9-7 fifth-set victory in the quarterfinals. I take a lot of confidence [into the match], said Djokovic. I try to carry that in every next match, next challenge. Obviously Im going to play Stan, who is the defending champion here. We played five-set matches at the 2013 and 14 Australian Opens. Im going to be ready for a fight. But knowing that I have raised the level of performance tonight, and probably playing the best match of the tournament so far is affecting my confidence in a positive way. Hopefully I can carry that into next one. Djokovic is 16-3 lifetime against Wawrinka, including a 3-1 record at the majors. The first mens semifinal will be staged on Thursday when sixth-seeded Andy Murray takes on seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych. The big Czech is 6-4 lifetime against Murray, including 1-1 at the Slams. Murray is a two-time Grand Slam champion and three-time Aussie Open runner-up, while Berdych is a former Wimbledon finalist. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '