when he hit Backstrom in the head in the first perio

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Gardiner and Richard Panik scored 45 seconds apart late in the first period and Jonathan Bernier made 44 saves, as Toronto raced out to a four-goal lead then held on to beat Vancouver, 5-2, from Air Canada Centre. Peter Holland and Joffrey Lupul tallied early in the second to complete the burst and David Clarkson added a late marker for the Maple Leafs, who have won five of their last seven. Daniel Sedin and Christopher Tanev provided offense for the Canucks, who had recorded road wins against Pittsburgh and Washington but fell to 3-2 on their seven-game road trip. Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up four goals on 14 shots in almost 26 minutes. Eddie Lack finished up by halting all 13 Toronto chances for the remainder of the contest. Vancouver halved its deficit at 8:45 of the third period, when Tanevs deflection of a Linden Vey offering slid behind Bernier for a 4-2 game. The Canucks then hit two posts in the opening seconds of a power play after Panik was booked for interference and continued to buzz Bernier in hopes of getting back to a one-goal spread, but failed to score. Lack was pulled for an extra attacker with just over 2 1/2 minutes remaining before Clarkson hit the empty net a short time later to seal the outcome. The Leafs opened the scoring at 15:47 of the first period. Gardiners quick pass from the right-wing boards, intended for Holland, instead changed direction off a Vancouver player and got past Miller. Panik doubled the margin less than a minute later, using a stick fake to draw a Canucks defenseman and Miller out of position before sliding a backhander home. Holland struck to make it 3-0 for the Leafs, beating Miller high over the right shoulder from the left circle at 4:16 of the second. Toronto went up by four on Lupuls marker only 1:23 later. Daniel Sedin got one back for the Canucks with 4:39 to play in the stanza with an assist from brother Henrik. Game Notes Vancouver completes its sojourn with games in Ottawa on Sunday and at Montreal on Tuesday ... Toronto improved to 3-1-0 on its current five-game homestand which concludes on Tuesday against Calgary ... Berniers performance marked a season high for saves, besting his 38-stop effort on Nov. 14 against Pittsburgh in a 2-1 loss. Cheap MLB Jerseys 2018 .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . The club says its first-choice centre back "underwent medical tests on Wednesday morning" which confirmed he has injured his right hamstring. The injury was caused in the second minute of Tuesdays 4-1 league win over Real Sociedad in the Camp Nou when teammate Sergio Busquets accidentally struck Mascherano just above the knee with an outstretched boot. http://www.cheapchinamlbjerseys.com/. Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . Sixteen teams have moved on. Sixteen teams have gone home. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Already thin down the middle, the Toronto Maple Leafs will now be without centre Nazem Kadri for the next three games. Kadri was suspended by the NHL on Thursday for goaltender interference stemming from his hit on Minnesotas Niklas Backstrom in the Wilds 2-1 shootout win Wednesday night. That compounds Torontos already problematic situation at centre as the club is already missing injured forwards Tyler Bozak and David Bolland. Bozak, the Leafs first-line centre and top faceoff man, has been out since injuring his hamstring in a road game Oct. 25 versus the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bolland, acquired from Chicago in the off-season, had six goals and four assists in 15 games before suffering a severed tendon during a Nov. 2 game in Vancouver. Kadri, along with converted winger James van Riemsdyk, was supposed to fill the void left by the injured centres. But he put his team in a deeper hole when he hit Backstrom in the head in the first period of Wednesdays game at Minnesota. Kadri tipped a Jofffrey Lupul shot on goal, then ran into Backstrom while driving to the net after the goaltender made the save.dddddddddddd. Backstrom stayed in the game briefly before being replaced by Josh Harding. The team says Backstrom has an upper body injury. Kadri received a minor penalty for goaltender interference on the play. NHL senior vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan acknowledged driving the net is part of the game and contact with goaltenders happens as a result. But he said the hit is worthy of a suspension because Kadri was in control when he made contact with Backstrom and didnt make a reasonable effort to avoid the goaltender. Shanahan also noted the hit was a forceful blow to the head that caused an injury. He did agree with Kadri that there was no intent to injure on the play. Later, Kadri received a match penalty for hitting Minnesotas Mikael Granlund in the head. Kadri, who has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 18 games this season, will forfeit US$44,615.37 in salary. ' ' '