The 22-year-old from London, Ontario, scored on a one-timer against Ottawa’s Ben Bishop at 4:48 of the third period to complete his hat trick. Resumption of play was delayed as hats littered the ice and chants of “KA-DRI” broke out.

“Leafs Nation is everywhere,” Kadri said. “We obviously appreciate the support and want to give back as much as we can. To see everyone, especially at the start of the game with that ‘Go Leafs Go’ chant, and to hear it throughout the whole building, it kind of got everyone going. We took advantage of that.”

Joffrey Lupul scored and added three assists for the Leafs, who have won three in a row and continued an eight-game point streak.

Bishop made 19 saves for the Senators, who were coming off a 3-0 shutout over the New York Rangers on Thursday.

“We thought it was going to be a lot closer,” Senators forward Zack Smith said. “We’re used to playing tight games.

“It was 4-0 but I don’t think it was a 4-0 game. We had a lot of chances, just maybe not the quality third and fourth chances that we’re used to scoring on.”

The Leafs led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after the second.

“I think we had a great start, and that’s one of the things we’ve been focusing on. Any time you can get a decent start on the road, it puts more pressure on the home team to perform,” Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said.

The first of Kadri’s goals came at 12:45 of the second after a giveaway as Senators forward Jakob Silfverberg tried to clear the puck, but instead gave it right to Lupul leading to a 2-on-0 break in front of Bishop. Lupul fed a pass to Kadri at the side of the goal and he put the puck into a wide-open net.

Lupul took advantage of another Senators’ giveaway to set up Kadri again for the game’s final goal.

The Senators appeared to score in the third period as Erik Condra tucked a loose puck in from beside the post, but the referee had blown the play dead.

Senators coach Paul MacLean said whether it was in or not was irrelevant as they didn’t score any others. When asked what went wrong for his team, MacLean said giveaways would be a good place to start.

“Two of them right in front of your net in the third period makes it kind of hard for your goaltender to save you,” MacLean said. “That little bug-a-boo that we’ve had in the past about execution in came back to bite us.

“I don’t know if Toronto had better puck luck than we did, but at the end of the day they ended up playing better than we did and they win.”

The second period produced just one goal, by Kadri on a delayed penalty call. There were also just four minutes in penalties, two delay of game calls against the Leafs, which was a stark contrast to the first period.

The opening 20 minutes also produced a single goal, a power-play effort from Lupul, but there were 40 minutes in penalties, including six fighting majors.

Ottawa’s Matt Kassian was the busiest player in the opening period as he took on both Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren in fights.

“They put the puck in the net and we didn’t. Reimer made some good saves and they got a couple bounces that helped them out too, but we just weren’t good enough from the drop of the puck and they wanted it more,” Kassian said.

“I don’t think we got pushed around or got dominated physically. We just got outworked, outskilled and outplayed. That’s the bottom line.”

The Leafs also held an 11-5 edge in shots over the opening 20 minutes, but the Senators turned the table in that department during the second period as they outshot the Leafs 12-6 in the second.

Ottawa held a 31-23 advantage in shots overall.

Game notes

Clarke MacArthur and Jake Gardiner were scratches for Toronto. Mike Lundin and Peter Regin were the Sens’ healthy scratches for the second straight game. … Going into Saturday, the Leafs led the NHL in hits with 1,143, blocked shots with 590 and fighting majors 34, a number they increased by three in the first period. … The Senators remain just one of four teams (New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild) that have yet to allow a short-handed goal this season. … The loss was just the third in regulation on home ice for the Senators in 19 games this season.

The post Leafs’ Nazem Kadri records hat trick; James Reimer blanks Senators appeared first on IdealCapper.

Totti struck an unstoppable winner in the 58th minute as Roma edged up to within six points of the top five while Juve’s five-point advantage at the top of Serie A could be cut by Napoli on Sunday.

Lazio will also take joy in Roma’s win as it can get back into the hunt with a victory at Siena on Monday night.

There were plenty of smiles and hugs as captains Totti and Buffon exchanged pennants before the coin toss, but as has been the case nine times in the past already, Totti ultimately wiped the smile off Buffon’s face.

His goal in the 58th minute was worthy of winning any match, and it left Buffon with no chance.

Miralem Pjanic’s direct free kick attempt was blocked by a Juve defender and the ball fell to Totti 25 yards from goal.

He did not think twice as he made perfect contact with the ball, rendering Buffon’s dive unnecessary as the net was already rippling before the Italy number one even got near it.

Totti’s strike was no more than the Giallorossi deserved after dominating the first hour against the champions.

Pablo Osvaldo had already wasted a hat trick of chances, the best of which a header straight at Buffon in the 57th minute, while the closest Juve had come was early in the second half when former Roma striker Mirko Vucinic volleyed wide.

Andrea Pirlo, who suffered an early scare after a clash of knees with a concerned Totti, had also brought a fine save out of Maarten Stekelenburg with a curling free kick, but Juve was lacking its usual bite.

Roma, on the other hand, continued to cause the Juve defence concern with Erik Lamela dancing his way through, but overdoing it a little in the 70th minute as his last stepover let him down.

Nicolas Anelka was sent on by Juve coach Antonio Conte to add further weight to his attack but although he set up fellow substitute Sebastian Giovinco for a chance late on, he could not alter the course of the game as Roma picked up a morale-boosting victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

In Saturday’s other game in the Italian top flight, Palermo moved off the foot of the table thanks to a 1-1 draw at Chievo in a game of two contrasting halves at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.

The Rosaneri took the lead in the fifth minute through Mauro Formica and it was a one-sided opening 45 minutes in which Palermo failed only to add a second goal.

Chievo responded well in the second half, though, and equalized through Cyril Thereau’s penalty.

The post Francesco Totti lets Roma beat Juventus appeared first on IdealCapper.

Villas-Boas was at pains to point out the similarities between Bale and Ronaldo during the week, and the Welshman put in a performance the Portuguese would have been proud of today.

Bale beat Tim Krul with a 25-yard free kick to open the scoring for the Londoners and then sealed the win with a superb breakaway goal that ended with him slotting the ball between the Newcastle goalkeeper’s legs.

“It was a massive game today. It was just important to come back and put pressure on the teams above us,” Bale told Sky Sports 1. “I am enjoying my football at the moment and that’s the most important thing. I’m just going to keep my head down and be focused.”

Newcastle dominated large parts of the game but Bale, like he has done so many times this season, swung the game in Spurs’ favour.

Bale was employed through the middle for large parts Saturday, which Villas-Boas believes is helping the midfielder make an even greater impact.

“Today we started where he finished the second half against West Brom (last weekend),” Villas-Boas said. “We gave him the same freedom. When a player feels good about the position he enjoys it more.”

The 23-year-old, who scored the decisive goals in Tottenham’s last two matches, now has 19 goals for club and country this season. Only the athletic brilliance of Krul prevented him from scoring a hat trick.

Newcastle’s goal came from Yoan Gouffran, who was later carried off on a stretcher with a serious-looking leg injury.

The win stretched Tottenham’s unbeaten Premier League run to 10 matches and put the north London club into third temporarily until Chelsea beat Wigan later Saturday.

Villas-Boas and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew fell out last season, but there was a strong sense of bonhomie as they embraced on the touchline before kickoff.

Bale was in no mood to show the visitors the same love. Just 70 seconds had elapsed when he burst down the left after a clever one-two with Lewis Holtby, but Davide Santon cut the Welshman’s cross out before Clint Dempsey could convert.

Three minutes later and Spurs had the lead. Fabricio Coloccini clattered into Dempsey 25 yards out and Bale stepped up to deliver a Ronaldo-esque free kick that dipped over the wall past a diving Krul.

Spurs dominated the rest of the opening quarter with some scintillating attacking football.

Mousa Dembele penetrated the box and rolled the ball back to Holtby, who came within inches of scoring his first goal for the club.

Thereafter Newcastle came back in to the game. Lloris saved from a Gouffran curler and Cisse directed a free diving header just wide of his compatriot’s goal.

Holtby momentarily raised the hopes of the home crowd, but Newcastle remained on top and the seemingly inevitable equalizer came with 24 minutes gone.

Sissoko galloped down the right on a Newcastle counter and pulled the ball back to Gouffran, who beat Lloris via a deflection from the diving Michael Dawson.

Spurs had two penalty appeals turned down. The first — when Aaron Lennon’s shot struck Santon’s arm — looked credible, but the second — when Bale’s volley brushed Mathieu Debuchy’s shoulder — was not.

Gutierrez whipped a cross in to the box to find Yohan Cabaye, but the Frenchman miscontrolled and Lloris came to the rescue.

Tottenham failed to up its performance straight after the break.

The game came to a pause for seven minutes as Gouffran received treatment for what looked like a serious injury. Kyle Walker clipped the forward’s right shin on the halfway line and he needed oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher. He was then taken to hospital for an X-ray.

“His shinbone looks sore. It’s fingers crossed,” Pardew said. “We don’t want to lose him, he’s only just come to the club.”

Bale looked to be Tottenham’s best hope of finding a winner. The Welshman, who fired his country to victory over Austria in midweek, picked the ball off Lennon and fired a low cross in to the box but it was cut out before Dempsey could score.

Bale came forward again, charging at the defense before firing a powerful shot that Taylor blocked bravely.

Taylor went from hero to villain moments later, however, as his mix-up with Coloccini allowed Bale to race through the Toon defense and fire between the legs of Krul to make it 2-1.

Caulker had a chance to seal the win moments later with a free header when Krul went walkabout, but the defender nodded wide.

Only Krul’s fingertips prevented the Welshman from adding a third after he raced through from a long punt downfield before firing a powerful volley at goal.

“He is definitely a great keeper,” Bale said. “I was disappointed with the goal I missed on my right foot. I’ll have to work on that.”

Cabaye put in a terrible tackle on Dembele, stamping on the Belgian’s ankle in a late attempt to win the ball. Spurs’ players demanded a red card, but Phil Dowd issued just a yellow.

Newcastle threatened to equalize in the second of seven added minutes through substitute Shola Ameobi, but Lloris saved well to deny the striker.

Krul’s acrobatics denied Bale his hat trick twice in added time, but the winger did not mind. He had already done enough damage to see off the Toon.

The post Tottenham wins with Gareth Bale’s brace appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Matt Cooke also scored, Sidney Crosby had three assists, and Tomas Vokoun made 21 saves against his former team for the Penguins, who have won three straight and four of five to lead the Atlantic Division.

Mike Green, John Carlson and Mike Ribeiro scored for the Capitals — and Carlson’s goal was an accident that took a weird carom off a stanchion along the glass. Two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin, who said before the game that he was somewhat embarrassed to have only three points on the season, contributed a secondary assist on a third-period power-play goal with Washington trailing by three.

Washington has lost seven of nine games to start the season. Hosting the Penguins as a Super Bowl warm-up for the third straight year, the Capitals no longer look like the formidable team that beat Pittsburgh 5-4 in overtime with a hat trick from Ovechkin in 2010 and shut out the Penguins 3-0 a year ago — both feisty games that included punches thrown by Ovechkin.

Ovechkin was overly physical in this game as well, getting a roughing call in the final two minutes.

Under new coach Adam Oates, the Capitals are feeling their way around the ice, especially on defense. Braden Holtby stopped only 20 of 26 shots, allowing Letang and Kunitz to beat him glove side 37 seconds apart in the second period to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead.

Vokoun, who shut out the New York Rangers on Thursday, made a successful return to the Verizon Center. He was signed to be the Capitals’ No. 1 goalie last season but hurt his groin and was eclipsed by Holtby during the playoffs, prompting Washington to trade him to Pittsburgh.

Martin scored from the point after Crosby won a faceoff in the Capitals’ zone to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period. Washington tied it less than two minutes later after a nice sequence in which Ribeiro won the puck along the boards and passed it to Wojtek Wolski, who then sent it along to a wide-open Green.

After Cooke made it 2-1, Carlson tied it on a bizarre goal in the second period. The Capitals defenseman was merely trying to dump the puck along the boards, but it rose up and took an odd deflection. Vokoun had already started to retreat behind the net to intercept the puck and tripped trying to change direction to get back to the crease.

Game notes

Ovechkin said before the game that the Capitals were in a “desperate moment.” He noted that he and other NHL players who spent the lockout playing in Russia should be doing better. “Right now I’m standing here, I have only three points, and, you know, it kind of embarrass me.” … The Capitals played the first of three games without D John Erskine, who was suspended for three games for elbowing Wayne Simmonds in Friday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers. … Washington had been 12-1-3 in its previous 16 regular-season meetings vs. Pittsburgh.

The post Chris Kunitz’s hat trick powers Penguins by Capitals appeared first on IdealCapper.

Pittsburgh at Winnipeg
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, January 25, 2013
Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
TV: 8 p.m., ROOT (Pittsburgh), TSN (Winnipeg)
Prediction: Penguins 4, Jets 1

Pittsburgh has a good chance to return to its winning ways if recent history holds true. The Penguins have won three straight and 15 of 16 against the Jets’ franchise. Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler collected a goal and an assist apiece in Winnipeg’s 4-2 triumph over Southeast Division foe Washington on Wednesday.

Malkin, who has secured points in all three games this season, has tormented the Jets by registering five-point performances in each of the last two meetings. James Neal led all scorers with five goals in the season series – including a hat trick in Pittsburgh’s 8-4 victory on March 20, 2012. The eight-goal effort was the second straight in the set by the Penguins, who won three of four against Winnipeg.

While the MTS Centre was pretty much a safe haven for Winnipeg last season, coach Claude Noel’s club lost its final four home tilts in the 2011-12 campaign before suffering a 4-1 loss to Ottawa in Manitoba on Saturday. The Jets collected three points (1-0-1) on their two-game road swing – and doubled their previous scoring output by erupting for four goals versus the Capitals. Ondrej Pavelec boasts a spectacular .929 save percentage this season, but – like his team – has struggled versus the Penguins.

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