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TORONTO – “Play the right way. Kasperi Kapanen Jersey .” It’s a phrase and mindset that Maple Leaf players and coaches co-opted after a pair of particularly humiliating losses last week and one that helped sparked back-to-back wins in response. But head coach, Randy Carlyle, doesn’t want to say too much about it. “We’re going to just keep that one close to our vest,” said Carlyle of the phrases meaning, always guarded when it comes to matters in-house. “They know what it means and we as a coaching staff know what it means, so we’re just going to keep that between ourselves at this point.” What’s clear is the Leafs needed to change something after they were kicked twice in a matter of days by the Sabres and Predators. But instead of pinning it down to wins and losses they decided to cut the big picture into very small pieces, aiming for little changes to affect big picture results. It started with conversations between coaches and management and filtered down from there. “…we felt we had to reset and focus on the process,” Carlyle said. “And the process for us, instead of looking at wins and losses, was to pick something within it and say ‘Hey, if we can accomplish this our chances of having success are going to go up’ and that’s really the way that it was presented.” Changes were easily evident in back-to-wins over the Lightning and Red Wings. The Leafs played a cleaner, more structured and sound game against a pair of division rivals, resulting in fewer turnovers, fewer dangerous chances to contend with and, thus, fewer shots to handle for their typically busy goaltender. “I think it’s like anything,” said Stephane Robidas, sounding a lot like a coach himself, “whenever you set long-term goals, it’s far, it’s far ahead, and it’s tougher to see the big picture. Whenever you put short-term goals, like little things you can control, it kind of makes it easier. It’s little things. It’s details.” The team came up with “process goals” before last Thursday’s game against Tampa, objectives they could focus on during the course of a game. One such goal was holding opponents to 25 shots or under, a particular challenge for one of the worst shot suppression teams in the league in recent years. And while they weren’t able to hold Tampa and Detroit at or under 25 shots, they did keep both to a very respectable 28 shots apiece. Few of those shots and subsequent opportunities came off the rush – because of wiser puck play and increased engagement from forwards defensively – a particular point of peril in those one-sided losses to Buffalo and Nashville. All of which made life for Jonathan Bernier quite a bit easier than the norm of his Toronto tenure. Fewer run-and-gun opportunities for the opposition means far more predictability for the goaltender, less danger to manage in just a matter of seconds, and more shots from those areas of the ice that aren’t quite as menacing. “Rush shots are the hardest to stop,” said Bernier, appearing relaxed after back-to-back games of fewer than 30 shots against, a harkening back to his days with the Kings. “[But] when it comes [from] the outside, you only have one shooter, you don’t have to worry about the back-side [shooter], you can challenge a little bit more and, obviously, [your] percentage to stop that puck is pretty high and most of the shots will go in your belly.” To tame the shot totals of their opponents, the Leafs have a connected “process goal” of improving back-side pressure – making certain that the high forward in the offensive zone is in proper position if the puck is turned over and play goes the other way. That not only helps the group on defence – which will be without the injured Roman Polak, likely for the next month – hold the opposition up at the blue line, but it puts Bernier in a better position to succeed. His approach changes dramatically when contending with a 3-on-2 rush as opposed to a 3-on-3 – he can play deeper in his net, for example. “When you have that back-pressure, it’s either going to be a dump or a wide shot,” said Bernier. “There’s not many options out there because, if the D and the back-pressure do a good job, then they shouldn’t get anything out of it.” That’s just another one of the minor adjustments the Leafs have made and hope to continue to stick with as the road moves forward. They started addressing such matters at a video session in the hours after last Tuesday’s 9-2 pounding from Nashville. It came down to improvements as small as increased urgency on the forecheck. “If you think about it,” said Robidas, “if you get a real good forecheck, what’s going to happen? You’re going to get the puck and you’re going to be in their end - if you’re in their end, they can’t shoot the puck on net. That’s a pretty good start.” “We talk about Detroit for years, how good they were with the puck,” the 37-year-old continued. “Yeah, they’re really good with the puck, but they didn’t have to defend that much because they had the puck the whole game. Whenever they lose it, they track it back and they get it back.” But unlike those Red Wing teams of the past couple decades, the Leafs were an awful possession club last year, worst in the league with a 42.3 per cent Fenwick rating in 5-on-5 situations. That number has improved to 47.7 per cent this year, still not great at 23rd overall, but an improvement nonetheless. More possession of the puck means less time in the defensive zone and fewer shots against, all part of the thread toward “playing the right way. Toronto is still fourth from last in yielding 33 shots per game at the quarter mark of the season, but that number will edge lower if they can somehow maintain their current form or something close to it. “That’s the way we tried to beg, borrow, steal, whatever you can do to convince your players that there is a certain way that we have to play,” said Carlyle. “We’re going to focus on trying to block shots, trying to create less defensive [and] more offensive zone time, be stronger in structure - all those things -and then, usually, the shot clock will go down if you’re doing those things effectively.” Whether or not it continues is the question. The Leafs are an unpredictable bunch and as ripe as any to veer off course when the script changes for the worse, if even a little. But after skidding so violently off the rails, Carlyle – whose job veered into questions general manager Dave Nonis had to quiet – has managed to get his group back on track (albeit, in only two games) with a simple edict and message. “You start by doing little things and, by the end, it gets tougher,” Robidas observed, “but now you’ve proved to yourself that you can do it. You’ve broken it down and you know what you need to do to keep going.” And that presumably is playing the right way. Cheap NHL Jerseys . LOUIS -- David Ross never expected to be on a World Series podium. Matt Martin Jersey . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. http://www.leafsauthority.com/authentic-darryl-sittler-maple-leafs-jersey/ .com)LeBron clearly likes his Italian sports cars, and thats ok with me, so up next up is the 458 Spider.DENVER -- When it came to shooting, Wilson Chandler struck a balance between picking his spots and taking his chances. Chandler scored a season-high 25 points and the Denver Nuggets snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Indiana Pacers 109-96 Saturday night. "I was just being a little aggressive, and I was taking good shots," said Chandler, who hit eight of 15 shots from the field, including half his eight tries from 3-point range. "I probably took one or two bad shots but I was being aggressive and taking good shots at the same time." Nate Robinson and Timofey Mozgov added 15 points apiece and J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 13 rebounds. First-year Nuggets coach Brian Shaw won in his first matchup against Indiana since leaving his job as a Pacers assistant to come to Denver. The victory against Indiana, which still has the best record in the NBA, lifted the Nuggets back to .500 at 21-21. "We came out strong in the first half, and we withstood a great run from them in the second half," Chandler said. "Theyre a pretty good team, maybe the best team in the league right now. They made runs, but we just had to stay focused. If we play well we can contend with any team. Weve played well against a lot of the top teams this year but weve lost to some of the bottom teams. Weve got to play every team like theyre the best in the league." Lance Stephenson scored 23 for Indiana. The Pacers split a road back-to-back set after winning in overtime the night before in Sacramento. "Im proud of our guys after a second night of a back-to-back and change in time zones," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "An emotional win last night, obviously, in overtime. I didnt know how much gas we were going to have in our tank. We really competed at a high level." Paul George added 18 points and David West 16 for the Pacers, who lost for the eighth time in nine trips to Denver. Ty Lawwson, who had 12 points and 10 assists, said the Nuggets gained command early by leaning on their transition game. Tie Domi Jersey. "We wanted to run with them on a back-to-back. That was a main focus," Lawson said. "Thats what (Kenneth) Faried did early. He was running on their bigs and getting easy buckets." Trailing by 19 at halftime, the Pacers got back in the game in a hurry, opening the third quarter with a 16-3 run keyed by Stephensons seven points. The Nuggets responded with a 7-0 burst late in the third that helped them take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Roy Hibbert, held to five points, became the second Pacers player to foul out after drawing his sixth foul with 3:19 remaining. Still, the Pacers pulled to 101-94 when Stephenson made a pair of free throws with 3:14 left. But the Nuggets wouldnt let the Pacers finish off the comeback, getting five straight points on free throws, including a pair from the foul line on technicals against David West and Vogel. The Pacers managed one more basket down the stretch but that was offset by Hicksons emphatic dunk with 1:09 remaining, the final points of the game. "They ran the same play the whole game (pick-and-roll)," West said. "We couldnt get it under control and then we just fouled them. They would have beaten us by almost 40 points if they made their free throws. They shot 56 per cent from the free throw line. They make 10 more and it wouldnt have been a close game." NOTES: The Pacers have trailed at halftime 19 times this season, going 13-6 in those games. ... 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