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Scott Cullen checks in on the falling Maple Leafs, fading Pittsburgh Penguins and notes and stats on Nyquist, Palat, Iginla, Cammalleri, Giordano and Jarnkrok. Landon Collins Redskins Jersey . FALLING LEAFS To say this has been a roller-coaster season for the Toronto Maple Leafs means that one is paying closer attention to the standings (the wins and losses therein) than they are the underlying statistics because the underlying statistics for the Maple Leafs have held pretty consistently all year long. Their Fenwick Close (measuring unblocked shot attempts when the game is within one goal in the first two periods and tied in the third period) has been below 43% since October 19. At 41.6% for the season, they rank ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres in this puck possession metric. Fighting that uphill possession struggle night after night, the Maple Leafs still managed to sit in playoff position for a good portion of the season for two reasons. First, goaltender Jonathan Bernier has been excellent, probably even better-than-advertised when they acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings last summer; his .925 save percentage ranks third (behind Tuukka Rask and Ben Bishop) among goaltenders with at least 35 starts this season. So, yes, outstanding goaltending can help thwart the puck possession monster, but thats a risky proposition because goaltending performance tends to vary so wildly. Take Berniers partner in the crease, James Reimer, for example. This year, thanks to his recent run of poor outings, Reimers save percentage has dipped to .908, below average for an NHL goaltender. Last year, it was .924; the year before that, .900 and, as a rookie in 2010-2011, .921. Over those four years, Reimers save percentage sits at .914, which is good enough to be an NHL starter, but the fluctuations in save percentage are standard for most at the position, making it a dicey proposition to bank on winning that battle of percentages when the alternative, having a successful possession team, allows much more leeway for the unpredictable nature of the position. So, the goaltending has helped the Leafs, thats no secret. The other factor that has played a big part in the Leafs bid for a playoff spot this season has been success in the shootout. Despite not reaching a shootout since January 15, the Leafs are tied for second in the league with nine shootout wins; their 9-4 (.692) shootout record standing behind St. Louis (8-3), Pittsburgh and Columbus (both 5-2) in terms of winning percentage. This matters because shootouts are essentially a coin-flip exercise so, for one thing, its not sustainable to do especially well (or especially poorly) and -- as Ive referenced to those who have railed against where the Leafs sit in my Power Rankings -- there is no correlation to shootout results and a teams ability to win a (theoretical) seven-game series. The point of all this isnt to pile on the Leafs when they are hitting a rough patch at a critical time; its more to note that the perception of this team has been affected by strong goaltending and shootout success. A team that sits 29th in Fenwick close needs incredibly, perhaps impossibly, good fortune when it comes to the percentages to not be a disaster and, thanks to above-average goaltending, the Maple Leafs have managed to hold a playoff spot for much of the season. With time running out to earn a playoff spot this season, however, its terribly ungrateful to now set sights on goaltending as the cause for this teams troubles. The issues run deeper and have been running that way virtually all season. PENGUINS FADING Lest we pretend that the Maple Leafs are the only team having trouble when it comes to advanced metrics, lets look higher up the standings at a Pittsburgh Penguins team that has been on a gradual, but steady, decline since Christmas. While Pittsburghs record is 19-10-4 in that span, their Fenwick Close has declined from 54% to 50.2%, the kind of dip that reveals cracks beneath the surface of that 19-10-4 record. Its not as though this is wholly mysterious. The Penguins have endured significant injuries, losing players like James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, Kris Letang and Paul Martin for more than 20 games apiece. Its understandable to have performance fall off for a team missing quality players for large chunks of the season, but there are other issues at play too. The Penguins bottom six forwards have been getting destroyed in terms of puck possession and while some of that is a matter of how teams deploy their talent (starting more shifts in the defensive zone makes it harder to generate positive possession stats), the Penguins player usage chart also shows that their defence is in trouble without Martin and Letang to aid in the puck-moving effort. Matt Niskanen and rookie Olli Maatta are above break-even and Simon Despres has relatively strong possession stats in the 17 games that he has played this season, but Robert Bortuzzo, Brooks Orpik, Deryk Engelland and Rob Scuderi are all under 47% Corsi and thats a hard way for a team to remain near the top of the standings. In the Penguins case, they can out-perform possession numbers, to some degree, because they have rare elite forward talent in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, driving the offence. With Malkin out, perhaps for the rest of the regular season, thats putting a heavy load on Crosbys shoulders. That means the likes of Brandon Sutter, Marcel Goc and perhaps a soon-returning Beau Bennett have to take responsibility for improving the play of Pittsburghs bottom six forwards. For much of the season, it appeared to be a two-team race in the Eastern Conference, but its pretty clear now that the Boston Bruins are ahead of the fading Penguins and now Pittsburgh needs to get healthy and playing better in a hurry if theyre not going to be a vulnerable favourite in round one of the playoffs. MOTHER GOOSE When the Detroit Red Wings opened the 2013-2014 season against the Buffalo Sabres, their opening night lineup included Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary, Cory Emmerton, Drew Miller, Mikael Samuelsson and Stephen Weiss. Tomas Tatar was a healthy scratch. Sent to the AHL, because he didnt need to clear waivers (like Tatar or Joakim Andersson), was LW Gustav Nyquist, the hottest goal-scorer in the league who has 20 goals and 12 assists in the past 25 games. Nyquist, a fourth-round pick in 2008, was a star at the University of Maine, scoring 144 points in 113 games, then adding 122 points in 122 career AHL games before this season. He had 13 points in 40 NHL games over the past two seasons, in limited ice time, so he had shown that he could play and deserved a real opportunity. This year, in total, Nyquist has put up 25 goals and 17 assists in 47 games and while hes obviously been experiencing good luck (a shooting percentage of 19.2% isnt sustainable long-term), Nyquist is also doing the kinds of things that portend to future point production. While facing high-quality opposition, Nyquist is generating positive puck possession numbers and his shots/60 minutes of 5-on-5 play ranks 38th (among players to play at least 500 minutes), just ahead of Taylor Hall and Bobby Ryan. This isnt to say that Nyquist is a surefire star, based on a third of one NHL season, but hes established that he can score in the league and, even when his percentages come back to earth, he can be a top six or potentially top line winger. BURNING BRIGHT Its been a tough season for the Calgary Flames, but that hasnt meant that everything has gone poorly. A few veteran Flames, for instance, have enjoyed productive years. Defenceman Mark Giordano has put up monster possession numbers and has tied his career-high with 43 points, despite playing in only 54 games. If not for missing 18 games earlier in the season due to a lower body injury, Giordano could be in the Norris Trophy discussion. While its no surprise that Giordano, signed to a reasonable contract, would remain with the Flames through this rebuilding process, there was pretty much shock when LW Mike Cammalleri wasnt moved at the trade deadline. Heading towards unrestricted free agency, 31-year-old Cammalleri made sense as a rental for a playoff team needing a scoring boost, but his late-season scoring has been working for the Flames. In 11 games since the trade deadline, Cammalleri has nine goals and six assists and hes continued, for the most part, to put up solid possession stats. Cammalleris up to 23 goals on the season, his most since 2009-2010, despite playing only 55 games; production that will get him paid this summer, even if its at a rate below the $6-million per season that hes commanding on his current contract. STILL GOT IT There was a time this season, through say the beginning of December, that is looked like Bruins RW Jarome Iginla might be nearing the end of the line. The ever-reliable veteran had five goals and 11 assists in 29 games, while playing on the Bruins No. 1 scoring unit. Maybe it simply took him time to adjust to new linemates David Krejci and Milan Lucic -- a line that coach Claude Julien virtually never tinkers with -- but Iginla has been on a good run since, scoring 23 goals and 19 assists in 43 games. Like many Bruins, Iginlas puck possession stats are strong, but Iginlas riding a bit of good luck too, as he, Krejci and Lucic are among those with the highest PDO (5-on-5 shooting plus save percentage -- which serves, generally, as an indicator of luck) in the league. Luck or not, Iginlas recent run has pushed him to 28 goals, a total that he has hit in every full year that hes played (excluding last years lockout-shortened season) since 1997-1998. ONDREJ THE GIANT When it was looking like Lightning C Tyler Johnson might be pushing for the Calder Trophy as top rookie, competing with Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon, another Tampa Bay forward inserted himself into the discussion. Since the trade deadline, LW Ondrej Palat has scored five goals and nine assists in 10 games, playing more than 21 minutes in six of them. He has spent the bulk of his time on a line with Valtteri Filppula and newcomer Ryan Callahan and rarely gets power play time. There is good fortune at play, as Palat is on the high-end in both on-ice shooting percentage (10.3%) and save percentage (.940), but he also deserves credit for earning his production at even-strength. Palats 35 5-on-5 points ties him with 10 others for 28th in the league. Not bad for a seventh-round pick out of Drummondville in the QMJHL, as a 19-year-old, in 2011. Palat currently ranks seventh in that draft class with 55 NHL points. GOING BACK TO CALLE While its understandable that the Detroit Red Wings wanted immediate help, in the form of veteran C David Legwand, and felt emboldened by the play of their AHL call-ups this season, including Nyquist, Tomas Jurco and Riley Sheahan, they may soon regret sending Calle Jarnkrok to the Nashville Predators in that trade. A second-round pick in 2010, Jarnkrok got off to a slow start in his first AHL season, scoring 17 points in 41 games through January 18. At that point, the numbers started falling into place for Jarnkrok and he scored 26 points (8 G, 18 A), with a plus-9 rating, in 21 AHL games before the Predators promoted him. Skating on a line with Gabriel Bourque and Craig Smith, Jarnkrok has started his NHL career with three assists in three games. Of course this is a super-early assessment, but hes not getting beaten in the advanced stats either, posting positive possession numbers with balanced zone starts. For a team like Nashville, that needs more skill up front, their acquisitions in the past two trade deadlines -- Jarnkrok and Filip Fosberg -- could become major pieces in their attack going forward. And, for the Red Wings, even with all the great contributions they are getting from young players this season, they may soon rue the day they surrendered Jarnkrok. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Sam Huff Womens Jersey . Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to stay unbeaten in road games since last July, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. Sonny Jurgensen Youth Jersey . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Womens-Daron-Payne-Inverted-Jersey/ . The 33-year-old Spaniard, who held the lead since the second round, turned in a solid final round that featured six birdies and two bogeys to finish on 22-under 266. The victory is Garcias first this year with his last win coming at the Johor Open, an Asian Tour event in Malaysia last December. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two games in three weeks have taken their toll on the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. Both of the AFC West contenders were already missing several key players due to injuries before the Broncos 35-28 victory on Sunday. Several more players went down during the course of the game, including Denver wide receiver Trindon Holliday and Chiefs left tackle Brandon Albert. Holliday hurt his shoulder in the first half, shortly after Demaryius Thomas went down with a shoulder injury. Thomas eventually returned and finished the game. Albert went down with a sprained left knee later in the game. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that an X-ray on the knee came back negative, but Albert will have an MRI exam on Monday. "See how he does here over night," Reid said. Chiefs tight end Anthony Fasano sustained a concussion when his head slammed to the turf in the third quarter and did not return. He had caught a touchdown pass earlier in the game. Kansas City safety Kendrick Lewis also left for several plays with a knee injury, though he managed to get treatment during the game and was on the field at the finish. "Im good," he said. "Just a little stinger." Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson went on injured reserve this week after dislocating his right hip in last weeks loss to New England, while defensive end Derek Wolfe was left behind in Denver after he was hospitalized Friday with seizure-like symptoms. Its unknown when Wolfe will be released from the hospital or when hell be cleared to resume football. The team said he did not suffer a stroke or a full-blown seizure. "The Derek Wolfe story, I think our team released enough information that Im not going to spend a lot of time talking about it, but I will tell you that we got good news," Broncos interim coach Jack Del Rio said. "All the tests theyve conducted and put him through, looks like hes going to be OK. At the end of the day, he is going to be all right and were happy to hear about that. John Riggins Womens Jersey. " Denver cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie did not play after jamming his right shoulder last week against New England. For a while it appeared as if hed be OK to play, even though he was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday and was listed as questionable for the game. Tight end Julius Thomas, who led the Broncos with 10 touchdown catches, also was inactive after dealing with a knee injury. He was limited in practice all week and also was questionable. The Broncos did have Knowshon Moreno, who needed a walking boot because of an ankle injury early in the week, and cornerback Champ Bailey, who had missed all but six quarters this season due to a lingering foot injury. Both of them were in the starting lineup. "Were banged up but we have some depth. It shows," said Bailey, who also left for a moment in the first quarter when he got the wind knocked out of him. "Its tough, but weve got some good players in this locker room and theyve stepped up." The Chiefs were missing top pass rusher Justin Houston, who dislocated his right elbow in last weeks loss to San Diego. Swelling prevented him from having an MRI exam until Wednesday, and team trainer Rick Burkholder said Houston is considered "week to week." Fellow linebacker Tamba Hali was active despite dealing with a sprained right ankle. Right guard Jon Asamoah and Fisher, who missed last weeks game with shoulder injuries, were active. But both of them began the game on the bench with Geoff Schwartz starting at guard and Donald Stephenson getting the starting nod at tackle. Fisher wound up getting into the game when Albert left with his injury. "Listen, I thought they did OK," Reid said. "Fish struggled a little bit early in the week and he was getting better as the week went on. Donald handled the majority of the snaps in practice. By the time we got to game time, we felt Fish was ready to go. He had to play and I thought he did a decent job." ' ' '