ends of the court, from Smiths crowd-pleasing block of P

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs enter an Original Six clash with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena having lost two of its last three games, but with 80 points, the Leafs are occupying the first of the two wild card spots in the East. Detroits sagging offence is making the clubs push for a 23rd straight playoff appearance a difficult task. The Red Wings, who last missed the postseason during the spring of 1990, are three points behind the New York Rangers for the last playoff berth in the East and seven back of Toronto. The Leafs fell to 2-2-0 on a five-game road trip after dropping a 4-2 decision at Washington on Sunday. Toronto fell behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game and never recovered. Dion Phaneuf and Troy Bodie lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, while James Reimer stopped 29 shots in defeat. Reimer will start again tonight with No. 1 netminder Jonathan Bernier currently dealing with a groin strain. Bernier suffered the injury in Thursdays win over Los Angeles and was unable to dress for Sundays tilt in D.C. Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle updated Berniers status after practice on Monday. "Jonathan Bernier went for an MRI today and it was revealed that he has a low- grade groin strain," Carlyle said. "We dont believe it is week-to-week but rather day-to-day." The Red Wings have scored just three goals over their last four games. The club is 1-3-0 during that stretch, with the lone win coming in a shootout decision against visiting Edmonton on Friday. The offensive issues are no surprise considering the Red Wings are still playing without a host of key forwards, including captain Henrik Zetterberg and Russian superstar Pavel Datsyuk. "You cant look ahead at all," Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser told his teams official website. "You have to take it one game at a time. Every game, if you dont get points it could come back and haunt you. It could be the last game of the year, but we dont want to be at that point. We want to be in the playoffs after 82 games." Detroit managed just one goal in Sundays 4-1 road loss against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings trailed the contest 2-1 after 40 minutes before the defending Stanley Cup champions salted away the win by scoring the only two goals of the third period. "I thought we were in a good situation after two," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. "We were set up and we let it slip away." Jimmy Howard stopped 26 shots for the reeling Red Wings, who have lost five of their last seven games. Adding to Detroits injury problems, forward Justin Abdelkader left Sundays game with a lower-body injury and head coach Mike Babcock confirmed on Tuesday that he is out ten days to two weeks after his leg was cut against the Blackhawks. Questionable for tonights contest is Todd Bertuzzi (lower-body injury). If the veteran winger us unable to go tonight, the Red Wings will us callup forward Landon Ferraro from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Ferraro, the son of former NHLer and TSN Hockey Analyst Ray Ferraro, was a second-round pick by Detroit in 2009, but has yet to make his NHL debut. He has 13 goals and 15 assists in 60 games for the Griffins this season. Howard expects to get the start for Detroit on Tuesday. He is 0-1-1 with a 2.82 goals against average in his career versus the Maple Leafs. Toronto is 14-14-7 as the visiting team this season. After completing its swing on Tuesday, the Leafs will play seven of their next nine games on home ice. Detroit is just 13-11-9 at home this season, but the Wings have won two straight at the Joe and are 3-0-1 in their last four games in Motown. This is the third of four meetings between the Red Wings and Leafs this season. The clubs have split both encounters so far, with each team picking up a shootout win. Tuesdays game marks the first encounter between the clubs since Toronto recorded a 3-2 win on Jan. 1 in the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. Vince Carter Raptors Jersey . 15 in Hamburg. The fight was originally slated for Sept. 6 but had to be postponed after Klitschko tore a bicep in sparring and was forced to miss four weeks of training. Stanley Johnson Jersey . Ortiz hit a pair of two-run homers, including his 400th shot in a Red Sox uniform, and drove in a career high-tying six runs to power Boston past the Houston Astros 10-7 on Saturday night. https://www.raptorsrookiesshop.com/Marc-Gasol-City-Edition-Jersey/ .Y. -- Scott Chandler is returning to Buffalo, where he spent the past three seasons establishing himself as the Bills top pass-catching tight end. Matt Thomas Jersey .Y. - Major League Soccer is prepared to start its season this weekend even if there isnt a labour deal with its referees and other on-field officials. Delon Wright Raptors Jersey . Villa has already confirmed his short-term deal and the Daily Mirror reported early Tuesday that Lampard will join him as both build up match fitness ahead of moves to the new Major League Soccer franchise New York City. NEW ORLEANS -- James Harden capped a 26-point performance with a tiebreaking jumper with 28 seconds left, and the Houston Rockets held on for their third straight victory, 103-100 over the reeling New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. Eric Gordon scored a season-high 35 points, but the Pelicans lost their seventh straight. Terrence Jones scored 23 and Dwight Howard added 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Rockets, who trailed by as many as 17 in the second quarter and by eight with about four minutes to go. Harden had a hand in 12 of Houstons final 17 points, scoring 10 and assisting on Howards alley-oop dunk. Anthony Davis added 24 points for New Orleans, his sixth straight game with 20 or more, but Darius Miller missed a potential tying 3 in the final seconds. Jason Smith and Brian Roberts each added 10 points for New Orleans, but Smith missed a potential tying jumper from the top of the key with 12 seconds left. Chandler Parsons who had 17 points, then made one of two free throws for the final margin. The Rockets made things difficult for themselves by missing 16 of 41 free throws, and won despite leading for only 1:14 the entire game. The Pelicans led by 12 early in the third quarter after Davis jump shot, but Davis then committed three fouls in the span of 1:34, giving him four for the game and prompting coach Monty Williams to bring his star forward to the bench. Less than four minutes after Davis left the game, his former Kentucky teammate, Jones, tied the game at 68. But New Orleans managed to regain momentum, thanks to a pair of 3s by Gordon, and led 81-74 heading into the final period.dddddddddddd With New Orleans missing three top players in Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, the stage appeared set for an easy Houston victory. It appeared it could be another long night for the Pelicans when Howard took an alley-oop lob from Harden and slammed it home with two hands on the opening play of the game. Yet New Orleans wound up dominating the first quarter on both ends of the court, from Smiths crowd-pleasing block of Parsons driving dunk attempt to Davis windmill jam and his 14-foot jumper as he was fouled. Gordon had 14 points, including a pair of 3s, in the first quarter, and New Orleans led 30-19 when the period ended. Gordon scored 22 points before halftime, and New Orleans took its largest lead when Al-Farouq Aminu scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and two free throws to make it 44-27. The Rockets were back within 51-43 when Hardens no-look, behind-the-head pass set up Donatas Motiejunas easy layup. But Davis responded with a jump hook, Gordon added a free throw and New Orleans led 56-45 at halftime. Notes: Houston finished its four-game road trip at 3-1 and returns home to host Oklahoma City on Thursday night. ... The Rockets have won five of six against New Orleans. ... Houston outshot New Orleans 51.4 per cent (37 of 72) to 45.5 per cent (35 of 77). ... New Orleans had not previously lost this season when leading by 17 in any point of a game. ' ' '