The Toronto Maple Leafs were dominant as recently as two weeks ago, but offensive issues are partly why theyve cooled off considerably. Having Phil Kessel face the Winnipeg Jets could get the offense going again. Kessel looks to extend the NHLs longest goal streak against an opponent in almost 21 years as the visiting Maple Leafs face the Jets on tonight. Toronto (21-15-3) leads the league with 3.23 goals per game, and averaged 4.08 during a 10-1-1 stretch that was capped with a 6-2 win over Anaheim on Dec. 16. The Maple Leafs have totaled 19 goals in eight games since, including seven in the two victories over that stretch. Those issues continued in Fridays 3-1 loss at Minnesota as they dropped to 2-4 on a season-high seven-game road trip. We played a pretty solid game on the road, said Jonathan Bernier, who had 26 saves. We didnt find a way to score more goals and that was the bottom line. Kessel leads Toronto with 18 goals, but has managed only one in eight games after scoring six in the previous eight. He hasnt had any problems producing against the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise, scoring in 10 straight meetings and totaling 11 during that stretch. Its the longest streak against an opponent since Brett Hull had goals in 13 consecutive meetings with the New York Islanders from Jan. 30, 1990-March 12, 1994. Kessel scored with 1:33 left in regulation at MTS Centre on Jan. 25, but the Leafs fell 5-4 in overtime to lose for the fifth time in six visits. Theyve dropped four in a row overall in the series. The Jets (19-12-7) lost their second straight overall and third in a row at home, 5-2 to the Islanders on Wednesday. Theyve allowed 12 goals during that three-game skid after matching that total in the previous five games on home ice. Winnipeg is expecting a similar challenge against the Maple Leafs, despite their recent offensive woes. A team that skates and generates an awful lot off the rush and a real good power play, coach Paul Maurice said. Puck skills off transition into motion, so they can make the plays that snap it around. If you can get to them to take away that ice, you got a whole lot better chance. You just cant give them that room, so we gotta play that game. Andrew Ladd has eight points in the past five meetings with the Maple Leafs, collecting two assists in each of the last three. The captain enters this matchup with six points in four games after failing to get any over the previous four. His two goals against the Islanders gave him 14 and tied him with Bryan Little for the team lead. He moved past Blake Wheeler for the scoring lead with 29 points. After Ondrej Pavelec started against the Islanders, Michael Hutchinson could be back in net Saturday. The undrafted Hutchinson leads the NHL with a 1.87 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage. Nike Zoom Scontate Italia . His right arm rested in a sling and was encased in a cast from above the elbow to his hand. "Im excited," Fernandez said with a grin. Nike Zoom Outlet Italia . Johansen scored twice and Derek MacKenzie, Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson also had goals to lead the Blue Jackets to a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, ending a three-game losing skid. http://www.nikezoomscontate.it/ . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Scarpe Zoom Scontate .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. Nike Zoom Saldi ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships.In the end Toronto FCs British Invasion Sale led them to Sunderland who bought their unwanted rubbish and threw some back of their own. Both sides left hoping one teams trash is another teams treasure. The events of the last few days mean that forever in Toronto FC history Jermain Defoe will always be linked with Jozy Altidore. It didnt have to be that way, of course. We now know that Defoe was wanted by a number of teams in the Premier League but ultimately his destination happened to be Sunderland, where an American striker stood on the sidelines desperate for a move elsewhere. Toronto FC looked at Altidore and decided he was the man to replace Defoe. It is a bold decision. The MLSE team can shop with deep pockets. Yes, they will have been burned by the Defoe experience but they have the resources to ensure they do all the work necessary to get the right player for a pivotal position. Their due diligence has brought them to a striker who they are investing in based on the not so recent past. Given the growing apathy towards a club synonymous with losing, you would have to think those running the club thought long and hard about this. This is a decision they have to get right, not only for their own jobs but also for the club long-term. Thats why the signing of Altidore is the most important acquisition this club has ever made. On the surface replacing a man like Defoe shouldnt be too difficult in Toronto. The Englishman never fully committed himself to the course in Major League Soccer and his relationship with the fans turned sour the moment they found him in England on transfer deadline day while the club were in the middle of a playoff push. Defoe made his bed and now he will have to lie in it when it comes to how he will be remembered around Toronto. Not that he will lose any sleep on it. The attention he has received at home since August will have flattered him and he returns to the league as a proven goalscorer at that level. The same can not be said for Altidore, who departs having scored just once for Sunderland in the Premier League. The 25-year-old rejoins Major League Soccer in the prime of his career and will be looked upon to take a franchise to a place Defoe couldnt. It is easy for our minds to brush aside Defoes time in North America and call it a bust, but as the attention now turns to Altidore, it is important to remember some of the challenges the team had with Defoe in it. The 32-year-old scored all of his 11 MLS goals in his first 13 league appearances. When he scored what was to be his final ever MLS goal, a penalty against Vancouver at home, he was netting at a rate of just over a goal every 100 minutes, a ratio rarely seen at this level and one that would see him score close to 30 league goals if he played a full season. Despite such accomplishments, he was playing in an unbalanced side that found it hard to create genuine scoring opportunities. They were a side that couldnt keep the ball and one that was forced to become more of a counter-attacking team because of it. Much of the supply to Defoe during his best times was putrid and a lot of his goals were born out of his own individual brilliance. This was a key reason in the firing of Ryan Nelsen. Greg Vanney was brought in but we were unable to see if he could changge that with Defoe, who was far from 100% when he returned and played just 210 minutes in three games.dddddddddddd By then the former Tottenham striker was a frustrated man. Hed still make the runs but still the passes didnt find him and more and more times his arms would go up in despair. Stuck in a 4-4-2 maze he was surrounded by players who couldnt help him unlock defences. Defoe has now gone, but many of those asked to provide him with service remain. Vanney will have spent much of the winter wondering how he can get the best out of them and a new one striker system is likely to be part of that plan. Altidore arrives as the key component atop of that. What becomes of fellow DP striker, Gilberto, remains to be seen but the clubs desire to get a playmaking number ten likely signals the end for the Brazilian, who was always linked with Nelsen anyway, after he used his contacts to sign the player last winter. Moving Gilberto on will be the best thing for Altidore, a player who blossoms as a lone front man in a 4-3-3 and who got his confidence at AZ Alkmaar in that formation as the main goalscorer at the club. I was given a great opportunity, which is kind of rare, he said of his time in the Netherlands. I came here and was basically told, Youre going to have your chance, and its yours to take. I never had that anywhere else. You always have to fight for your position -- youre never going to walk into a team -- but I was given a direct crack at it. For the second time in his career he is going to get that chance and thats why Toronto have spent the millions it has taken to bring him to Canada. The day Altidore packed his bag to head to Sunderland he was full of praise for his team in the Eredivisie. Thats the player Toronto FC hope they have now. A happy, easygoing forward, liked by his teammates, who scored goals regularly with both feet and his head. Much like the player, TFC will try to forget his struggles in the Premier League but they would be better off embracing it and learning from it. Unlike Defoe, this will not be a player who will score lots of goals on a bad team. Behind him he will need a cohesive group of five, in front of the back four, who will need to work on their service. Altidores American teammate, Michael Bradley, will be the true leader of that five and his role as a deep lying playmaker will be crucial but the form of whoever is alongside him centrally and the three in front of him will go along way to determining whether Altidore is indeed the right man for this team. A year ago why cant we be great became the title for a new chapter in the history of this club. MLS Cup predictions followed but once the games played themselves out, the sport itself laughed in the face of all the hyperbole. Lesson learned. The hype has stayed away in 2015 for the clubs latest big name signing and although this may not be labeled as a bloody big deal it should be described as its most important. What attention you have left from last season needs to be kept and momentum needs to build again. To stop the declining attendances that happened under past regimes, there cannot be another high-profile, expensive mistake. This time they have to get this right. The trash they found in Sunderland cannot become recycled trash in Toronto. Wholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '