miaowang123: 17 in the final minutes of the first half b

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TORONTO - No team in the NHL relies more on a core group to produce offence than do the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bobby Simmons Jersey . Seven players have combined for 84 per cent of the teams 74 goals this season, the highest such percentage for any teams top seven scorers in the league. Alarmingly among that group in Toronto are two centres, Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak, who have each missed a months worth of games due to injury already this season and yet remain amongst the teams scoring leaders. The Leafs have dropped a season-high five consecutive games, also losing six of the past seven while skidding through an unhappy November that saw them win just twice in regulation. Prominent in their struggles was a failure to produce offence at even-strength; theyve scored just 18 such goals in the past 14 games, delivering two goals or fewer overall in 11 of those games. Depth or a lack thereof has been the issue, both from the defence and depth forwards. The Toronto blue-line has barely made a blip in the cause offensively, totaling a scant three goals all season, two from Dion Phaneuf and one into an empty-net. By comparison, the San Jose Sharks, who beat the Leafs at the ACC on Tuesday, have 16 goals from their defenders this season. Four Sharks alone have more goals individually than do the Leaf defence as a unit.  "When you describe our hockey club its always the back-end," said Randy Carlyle following practice on Wednesday morning. "oes the back-end need to provide more offence? For sure it does. We need more from our back-end." Unlike last season, the team has also gotten little in the way of contributions from its depth forwards. David Clarkson and Nik Kulemin have a mere two goals apiece while Jay McClement, averaging nearly 17 minutes, has yet to score and has just two assists. A fourth line with plenty of punch has been predictably punch-less offensively, the likes of Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, Troy Bodie, Carter Ashton, and the since waived Jerred Smithson, all with zero goals this season. Phil Kessel (15 goals), James van Riemsdyk (12), and Mason Raymond (10), a late free agent add who sits third on the team in scoring, have been responsible for the bulk of offence, helped by Nazem Kadri (7) Joffrey Lupul (8), and the aforementioned Bolland (6) and Bozak (4). Injuries and suspensions to core players, such as Clarkson, Bolland, Bozak and Lupul, certainly havent helped with their replacements unable to fill the void. One rare exception is Trevor Smith, who since being recalled to line up in an offensive role, has produced six points in eight games. "We need more from secondary scoring," Carlyle said. "Secondary scoring comes from your second, third and fourth line. Weve noted that. Weve asked that." Among the desired changes to the offence would be more shots to the net and more efficient movement of the puck up the ice, thus instigating whats been an inconsistent forecheck. Spending vast amounts of time defending, while struggling to break out of their own end, the Leafs have been unable to establish that forecheck, the lifeblood in some ways of the teams attack.  "The one thing weve got to do is weve got to get stronger on our forecheck," said Carlyle, pointing to brief periods of such success against the Sharks, notably during an energetic start to the season period. Generating much of their offence from a potent power-play this season, if not the flash and dash of their skill players on the rush, the Leafs have yet to produce much off their forecheck, thereby unable to sustain time in the offensive zone in the manner Carlyle would like. "We have to start being more fluent as a group of five," said Cody Franson, who leads the defence with 13 points, but has yet to score this season. "Theres a couple things that were doing systematically that are inhibiting our chances to one, generate things off cycles, and two, generate shots from the point. Just a couple small, little technicalities that are hurting us rather than helping us. Once we can get fluent with correcting those I think thatll help out a lot." Team Percentage of offence from top-7 scorers (Entering Wednesdays action) Toronto 84% Washington 78% Minnesota 78% Tampa 74% Pittsburgh 74% Philadelphia 73% Colorado 72% Montreal 72% St. Louis 72% Winnipeg 71% Vancouver 70% Anaheim 70% Chicago 70% Ottawa 70% San Jose 70% Columbus 69% Dallas 68% Los Angeles 68% Detroit 68% New Jersey 66% New York Islanders 66% New York Rangers 66% Calgary 66% Phoenix 66% Florida 65% Boston 64% Edmonton 64% New Jersey 64% Carolina 62% Buffalo 62% Khris Middleton Jersey . According to Yahoo! Sports, the team has reached a five-year deal to play their home games on the roof of the Plaza Hotel and Casino. Milwaukee Bucks Shirts . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return.Durham, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Freshman Tyus Jones tied his season high with 22 points and No. 5 Duke beat Pittsburgh 79-65 on Monday for coach Mike Krzyzewskis 999th career win. Jahlil Okafor added 14 points, Rasheed Sulaimon scored 13 and Quinn Cook had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (16-2, 4-2 ACC), who have won two in a row. When youre making shots, especially at (Cameron Indoor Stadium), its like another adrenaline boost, said Sulaimon. Krzyzewski, the all-time Division I leader in wins, could get No. 1,000 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday when Duke plays St. Johns. Were really pleased. We beat a good team tonight, said Krzyzewski. Jamel Artis scored 21 points to lead Pitt (13-6, 3-3), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Chris Jones chipped in 13 points and Michael Young scored 11. The Blue Devils were coming off a 63-522 win over then-No. Kent Benson Jersey. 6 Louisville on Saturday after back-to-back losses to North Carolina State and Miami. They scored the first seven points against Pitt -- Amile Jefferson had four of them -- and led by double digits just 6 1/2 minutes into the game after Sulaimons 3 made it 15-4. Duke was 11-for-23 on 3-pointers in the game. Pitt got only as close as seven and Duke pushed its lead as high as 17 in the final minutes of the first half before taking a 41-25 advantage into the break. Dukes largest lead was 21 points with around 12 1/2 minutes left. The Panthers were within 10 after Youngs layup with 3:09 left but scored just two more points the rest of the way. Game Notes Jones was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers ... Duke made 20 of its 25 foul shots, including 16-of-21 in the second half ... Pitt hosts No. 10 Louisville on Sunday. ' ' '