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TORONTO – Third in league scoring, John Tavares entered the evening with at least a point in all but three of the Islanders 21 games this season. "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Gunnarsson was among the stable that kept Tavares, who has 25 points this season, off the scoresheet entirely. The Islanders captain finished with just two shots and was rarely a threat, bottled up by the top pair of Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf and a recently assembled shutdown line of Jay McClement, Mason Raymond and Nik Kulemin. Tavares entered the night with eight goals and 16 points in 15 career games against the Leafs and had been responsible for 43 per cent of his teams offence this season. But he was held pointless for just the fourth time all season. "We played tight on him, we played hard and we didnt give him much time in our own end," Gunnarsson said of Tavares, who played alongside fellow top scorer Kyle Okposo and rookie Brock Nelson. "We couldve done some stuff better too, but when that line doesnt score we give ourselves a pretty good chance to win the game." Randy Carlyle has yet to employ a shutdown line consistently against opposing top lines so far this season – often using his top unit when healthy – but he did against the Islanders. As McClement explained it, the assignment isnt known to players until game-time and often beyond that. Unlike Andy Murray, his longtime coach in St. Louis, who would present line matchups to the group on a whiteboard in the morning, Carlyle prefers to keep his close to the vest. "He wont let you know too often," McClement said of Carlyle, leading Leaf forwards with over 20 minutes on Tuesday. "You dont really know until you start the game. And even the first shift we didnt start against them and then we played every other shift against them. You never know. Maybe its a good thing. Youre not thinking about it, youre just ready to play." What the McClement unit did effectively most of the night against Tavares, who had points in five straight, was keep him on the defensive. With consistent pressure and a simple chip-and-chase game, the line spent a good chunk of their shifts against him deep in the offensive zone. They would be rewarded when Raymond scored the eventual game-winner early in the third, the 27-year-old capping a McClement drive to the crease of Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin. "We got to pucks on the forecheck and ended up having a lot of shifts in their end," McClement said, also beating Tavares on 10 of 19 draws. "Thats the easiest way to play defence is play offence." Five Points 1. Home ice dominance While theyve yet to establish a consistent brand of hockey (see below) the Leafs have nonetheless strung together a strong record through the quarter-mark of the season (13-7-1). Part of that success emanates from their effective showing on home ice. The Leafs have now won five straight at home and seven of their past eight, and are now 8-2-0 on the year at the ACC. Theyve outscored opponents 35-23 in that span, more effective offensively (3.5 goals per game) and defensively (2.3 goals against per game) than on the road. "That was one of the goals we wanted to create is when teams come into this building theres no more of this two points, kiss your relatives and go home," said Carlyle. "Its enough of that." With another power-play marker – this one from Phil Kessel – the Leafs also continued a trend of home dominance on the power-play; they rank first with a 32.4 per cent success rate. 2. Clarkson breaks the goose egg Without a goal in the first 10 games of his late-starting season, David Clarkson finally broke through with his first as a Leaf against the Islanders. The 29-year-old rifled a shot beyond the glove of Poulin midway through the final period, benefiting from the effective work of Joffrey Lupul and Trevor Smith down low in the offensive zone. "The better feeling is coming in here after a win and turning on that music," said Clarkson, who played nearly 19 minutes, adding five hits. "Thats the best feeling to me ever." 3. Gardiner on the left When Mark Fraser returned from a left knee injury last week – hes since re-injured a different part of the knee – Carlyle juggled his defence pairings, opting to move Jake Gardiner back to his natural left side position alongside Cody Franson. Gardiner had never played the right before and often appeared uncertain and inconsistent there alongside Paul Ranger. "I think Ive felt a lot more comfortable offensively," Gardiner told the Leaf Report prior to Tuesdays game. "I still have to fine-tune some things, but I feel like I see the ice a lot better from the left side." The 23-year-old is also pleased to be reunited with Franson, with whom hes played alongside for a good chunk of his NHL career. "We even talked about it – we know where each other are on the ice," said Gardiner of Franson. "Theres some plays that we do a lot of that seem to work and we know exactly when theyre going to be there, whether its in the offensive zone, neutral zone or defensive zone. Hes a vocal guy too. Its really easy to play with him. Hopefully he feels the same way." Gardiner led the Leafs with over 22 minutes against the Islanders, including 19:42 at even-strength. 4. Kessel durability Phil Kessel played his first game as a Leaf on Nov. 3, 2009; he sat out the first 12 games recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old has not missed a game since. Kessel extended his iron-man streak to 303 consecutive games, breaking a recent dry spell with a pair of goals against the Islanders. A bout with the flu a day earlier put his games played streak in jeopardy, but the teams leading scorer remained in the lineup, paired with James van Riemsdyk and Peter Holland for the second straight game. Kessel is a ways off the active leaders in consecutive games played. Jay Bouwmeester is the current iron man with 654 straight games played, according to TSN Research, trailed closely by Henrik Sedin at 651. Only three players remain from the Toronto lineup that dressed on the night of Kessels highly anticipated debut: Luke SchennGarnet ExelbyIan WhiteMike KomisarekNiklas HagmanLee StempniakMatt StajanTomas KaberleWayne PrimeauFrancois BeaucheminAlex PonikarovskyColton Orr*John MitchellNik Kulemin*Rickard WallinJason BlakePhil Kessel*Mikhail GrabovskiVesa ToskalaJonas Gustavsson*Still with the team 5. Standing at the quarter pole Joffrey Lupul offered the following assessment of the Leafs performance one quarter of the way into the season. "Weve battled through a lot of injuries and were still up near the top of the conference. Thats a positive," said Lupul. "Is there things we can do better? For sure there is. But Im sure every team in the league with the exception of maybe St. Louis or San Jose or one of these teams is saying the same thing. Everyone wants to do some things better. But its early in the season and youre just finding that identity as a team and you want to eventually be a team that plays the same way every night and a team that improves throughout the year. Were not there yet, but were still high in the standings so theres positives and negatives you could say." Added Randy Carlyle, "Weve tried to create a template that were more conservative from an offensive standpoint. Were not making the Hail Mary plays. Were not trying to just be a rush team. Were trying to do a lot of different things as far as getting away from just one and out. We want more puck possession time. Theres been a lot said in our statistics proving out that were having success when we shouldnt be. We look at it as weve been forced to do some things differently with personnel, suspensions and injuries. We are just trying to find a way to manufacture points. This isnt a development league were in, its about winning. The points that we can put up on the board, doesnt matter who we have in the lineup, it just bodes well for us in the future." Bonus Point – Extending an opportunity Trevor Smith played his first NHL game with the Islanders back on Dec. 31, 2008. On Tuesday against the same New York squad, the 28-year-old had a career-high three points. Playing alongside Lupul and Clarkson, Smith scored the games opening goal 22 seconds into the first frame, adding a pair of assists in the third. Plugging a hole at centre with Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland both injured, Smith has compiled at least a point in three games since being recalled from the Marlies last Friday, totaling three goals and five points in that span. "The guys are making it really easy for me to come in and play and be confident to make plays with them," Smith said. "I was fighting the puck a little bit in the first, but they calmed me down and just told me to relax and do what I do and we went from there." Nazem Kadri is due to return from a three-game suspension on Thursday, but it would appear that Smith has earned, at the very least, an extended opportunity. How long that opportunity lasts is unclear with Bozak likely to return Saturday following a lengthy stint on injured reserve. Stat-Pack 1 – Goal for David Clarkson this season. 303 – Consecutive games played by Phil Kessel. 8-2-0 – Home record for the Leafs this season. 3 – Points for Trevor Smith against the Islanders, a career-high. 32.4 per cent – Leafs power-play effectiveness at home, first in the NHL. 3 – Assists for Joffrey Lupul against the Islanders, a season-high. 2 – Multi-assist games for Lupul this season. 13-16 – Faceoff mark for Jerred Smithson against the Islanders. 17:45 – Ice-time for Morgan Rielly. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-2Season: 24.3 per cent PK: 2-2Season: 84 per cent Quote of the Night "That was one of the goals we wanted to create is when teams come into this building theres no more of this two points, kiss your relatives and go home. Its enough of that." -Randy Carlyle on the Leafs home record. Up Next Nazem Kadri returns from a three-game suspension when the Leafs host the Predators on Thursday night. China NFL Jerseys . Ive said it before, Ive worked with top pros and I could have made my own program. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinateam.com/. - A week after a late-game debacle on defence, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they can finish. Authentic NFL Jerseys . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit.OAKLAND, Calif. - Sean Lee made an immediate impact in his return to the field for the Dallas Cowboys defence. Lees sack on the opening drive forced a turnover that led to a Dallas score before special teams blunders doomed the Cowboys in a 19-17 preseason loss to the Oakland Raiders on Friday night. "Hes just around the football a lot," coach Jason Garrett said. "Hes a very instinctive guy. He studies so hard, but I just think he has a feel and a nose for the football. Hes always around it, hes always making tackles." Lee flattened Matt Flynn on a delayed blitz for a sack fumble in his first game back from a toe injury that sidelined him for the final 10 games a year ago. The Cowboys are counting on Lees return to help a revamped defence under new co-ordinator Monte Kiffin rebound from a disappointing end to the 2012 season. Kiffin switched Dallas from a three-man front to a four-man line with star pass rusher DeMarcus Ware moving from stand-up linebacker to rush end. Wares presence helped lead to Lees big play. "I came on a blitz, came free and I saw the quarterback and was able to get a good hit on him," Lee said. "Thats nice, not playing for a while and having a nice free hit on the quarterback. With DeMarcus hes a guy you can stick him in on that and he kind of takes a couples guys with him. So it was nice to come free and get a hit like that." After forcing just 16 turnovers under fired co-ordinator Rob Ryan last year, the Cowboys have been very opportunistic so far this preseason by forcing four turnovers in the first two games, including rookie J.J. Wilcoxs end zone interception against Terrelle Pryor. But the Raiders got a 30-yard touchdown pass from undrafted rookie Matt McGloin to fellow rookie Brice Butler and a go-ahead field goal from Eddy Carmona in the fourth quarter after B.W. Webb fumbled a punt at his 9. It was a rough night for Dallas special teams as the Cowboys had a field goal blocked and allowed a 51-yard kickoff return. "Those are plays that are going to hurt you," Garrett said. "Those arent winning football plays. We got to make sure we correct that." Tony Romo, who sat out last week against Miami after off-season surgery to remove a cyst from his back, completed 6 of 8 passes for 88 yards in his first two series of the preseason. Kyle Orton threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley and rookie Joseph Randle scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter for Dalllas.dddddddddddd Flynns tenure in Oakland got off to a rough start when he was sacked by an unblocked Lee on his first drive, leading to a fumble that Jason Hatcher recovered for Dallas at the Raiders 16. After a holding penalty, a tipped pass and a sack by rookie Sio Moore on Romos first drive of the preseason, the Cowboys were lucky to get a field goal out of that gift field position when Dan Bailey connected from 38 yards. Both quarterbacks fared far better on their second drives with Flynn converting a pair of third downs on passes to Denarius Moore and Rod Streater to set up a 51-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski. Romo completed 5 of 6 passes for 77 yards before Baileys field goal attempt was blocked by Tyvon Branch. Flynns night was over after going 4 for 5 for 37 yards. "Were making strides," Flynn said. "We still have a lot of work to do. I think that timing, that trust factor is coming. There are definitely things we need to clean up. My job is to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers." Pryor came in and mixed in some electrifying plays with questionable ones. Pryor ran 13 yards on a read option on his first play, delighting the fans who have been partial to the former Ohio State star since he joined the Raiders in the supplemental draft two years ago. Pryor also showed poise in the pocket, throwing an 18-yard screen to Jamize Olawale and converting a third-and-8 with a 9-yard pass to Andre Holmes. But those promising plays were erased when he rolled out on third-and-4 from the 6 and threw late across his body when he had room to run and was intercepted by Wilcox in the end zone. "It was just me being greedy," Pryor said. "I looked at the pictures and I could have ran it easy. That was just me being greedy." Pryor bounced back after Orton completed all six passes on an 80-yard touchdown drive and completed three passes for 54 yards in the final minute to set up a field goal by Janikowski. "Hes really a dual threat," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "He can run the football and I thought he threw the ball pretty well at times tonight. Thats one of the things we want to try to use, that skill set, and hopefully it will be another dimension to our offence." NOTES: Beasley left the game in the second half with a foot injury. X-rays were negative. ... Raiders RB Darren McFadden had three carries for 5 yards and caught an 8-yard pass in his brief appearance. ' ' '