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TORONTO – When he lines up at centre ice, James van Riemsdyk has an idea of what he might attempt, but doesnt quite know for sure. Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. He and the Leafs continue to find good fortune in the individual reality that is the shootout, now up to a league-leading nine victories following a 4-3 edging of the Sabres at the ACC on Wednesday night. "The shootout is a game in itself obviously," said head coach Randy Carlyle afterward, his team boasting a 9-4 record in such situations. "When you win them its a positive. When you lose them its a negative. Thats the bottom line. "Were fortunate this year that our record in the shootout is a real strong positive for our hockey club and its earned I dont know how many extra points." Still trying to establish who and what they are, the Leafs have needed each and every one of the nine additional points theyve gained from their success in the shootout. On a whole lot of nights, including Wednesdays against the league-worst Sabres, theyve struggled to find a complete performance only to emerge with a victory of sorts in the shootout. Carlyle assigns shootout selection duties to assistant coach Greg Cronin. His choices have narrowed recently around three shooters – van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, and Tyler Bozak – each of whom has been better than 60 per cent on the season. Leaf shooters have actually been among the most accurate in the league this season after posting the worst mark in 2013. Led by Lupul, who has scored on six of seven attempts, including the winner against Buffalo, Toronto owns a 48.6 per cent success mark in the shootout – good for second-best in the NHL. Last season, a year in which they dropped every one of their five shootouts, the Leafs had the most futile shooters in the league – just 12.5 per cent on 24 attempts. Bozak, in fact, was the lone shooter to even score. Toronto boasts eight shootout victories since the start of November, owning just five in regulation in that same span. Now streaking with wins in three consecutive games, they sit seventh in the East with 53 points. "Theres been a lot of extra points gained by it," said Carlyle of the shootout, which sealed the season series with Buffalo. "If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what our job is [to] get ourselves back [on track] and climbing into a playoff position." Five Points 1. Balance Rare is the night in which the Leafs have received offence from many different sources, but against the Sabres that was just the case. Each of the top three units accounted for a goal in victory, including Phil Kessels 22nd of the year, Nik Kulemins sixth and the second in the NHL career of Morgan Rielly, set up by generally quiet second unit (more on that below). "Its always an advantage if you can get three lines providing certain levels of offence," said Carlyle, who moved Peter Holland onto a third unit recently in hopes of spurring more of an attack. Toronto had scored eight goals in the previous three games, all of which came from a scorching top line of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak. "We need everybody contributing," Carlyle continued. "If you look at the teams that are having success theyve spread that offence around and theyve been able to get quality minutes from everyone in their lineup." Often over-dependent on that top unit – each member played more than 22 minutes vs. Buffalo – Wednesday marked just the 13th time in the past 35 games that the Leafs have managed three goals or more. 2. Second Line Slumber Aside from an occasional burst or odd contribution – the line had a hand in the third goal from Rielly – Torontos second line of Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and Joffrey Lupul has remained an infrequent source of offence. Kadri has just one goal in the past 16 games, Raymond has two goals in the past 21, and Lupul, the most effective of the group recently, has still gone pointless in 12 of the past 18 outings. A source of production for the trio earlier in the year, some of the trouble stems from lacking success on the power-play. Kadri has just one power-play point in the past 19 games, Raymond owns three in the past 21 and Lupul, just four in the previous 28 outings. 3. Reimers Night Making just his second start since Dec. 21, James Reimer showing some rust in yielding three goals on 30 shots to the Sabres, including an unlikely game-tying goal from Cody Hodgson. The first marker from Matt Ellis snuck through short side. The second goal, a Matt Moulson snipe from an odd-man Sabres rush, went post to post and under the bar, a slick shot from the former Islander. The final strike, a power-play marker from Hodgson, found an unlikely hole between Reimer and the post – one that still puzzled the 25-year-old afterward. "I still dont really know how it went in," said Reimer, who earned his first win since Dec. 19. "My foot was against the post. Thats my play. Thats what I do. Ill look at the video and see if it squeaked in somewhere where I can close it. I do that every play, every time and its never gone in." 4. Stacked Deck Jonathan Bernier has unquestionably grabbed hold of the Toronto crease in recent weeks, but theres also no doubting that Reimer has been handed a bad deck of cards. A look at the 25-year-olds five starts prior to Wednesday night and the poor performances which surrounded them: • Dec. 12 at St. Louis: 6-3 LReimers Night: 3 goals/15 shots*Post-Game Quote: "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas." – Randy Carlyle • Dec. 17 vs. Florida: 3-1 LReimers Night: 3 goals/23 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We simply got embarrassed." – Mason Raymond • Dec. 19 vs. Phoenix: 2-1 SOWReimers Night: 1 goal/35 shots.Post-Game Quote: "Thats the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and battle." – Joffrey Lupul • Dec. 21 vs. Detroit: 5-4 SOLReimers Night: 3 goals/12 shots* Post-Game Quote: "Obviously we didnt have a very good first period." – Randy Carlyle • Jan. 9 at Carolina: 6-1 LReimers Night: 6 goals/36 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight." – Randy Carlyle *Pulled after the first period 5. Riellys Progress Morgan Rielly is now 40 games into his NHL career, adding his 13th point against the Sabres. The 19-year-old has, according to Carlyle, "taken some steps and then has taken a few sideways", evaluated with a similar lens as his 23-year-old defence partner Jake Gardiner. "Our expectations for Morgan arent as high as they are for Jake at this point just being where he is in his career," said Carlyle. "Theyre both talented young players. We think that theres a future for those two guys to be a big part of our defence. We want to make sure were handling them the right way." Unlike Gardiner, who was pulled from the lineup last week, Rielly has played in every game since early December, when he sat for three consecutive games with World Junior speculation swirling. Stats-Pack 9 – Shootout victories this season, most in the NHL. 48.6 per cent - Effectiveness of Toronto shooters in the shootout this season. 1 – Goals in the past 16 games for Nazem Kadri. 5-6-0 – Record in the second end of back-to-back sets this season. 2 – Goals in the past 21 games for Mason Raymond. 3-1-1 – Record versus Buffalo this season. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel. Kessel has two goals and eight points in that span. 23:33 – Ice-time for Kessel against the Sabres, most among forwards. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 22.1 per cent (5th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Youre in the same locker room then youre in the same bus, the same plane, the same hotel. The hardest part is trying to stop it from going through the entire team. Those guys have kind of been quarantined off and the rest of us have been just washing our hands and trying to stay away from it." -Joffrey Lupul, on stopping the spread of the flu bug through the Leafs dressing room. Up Next The Leafs host Montreal at the ACC on Saturday. Joe Carter Jersey . Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period. Tommy John Indians Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. https://www.cheapindiansonline.com/2258u-graig-nettles-jersey-indians.html . The injury could land Machado on the 15-day disabled list, but its not as serious as it looked on Monday night, when the third baseman crumpled in a heap at the plate after taking an awkward swing in a game against the New York Yankees. Sandy Alomar Jr. Indians Jersey .C. - The housecleaning continues for the B. Willie Mays Hayes Indians Jersey . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies.Chelsea have got a remarkable 38 players out on loan, but who are the ones that have stood out so far this season? Tammy Abraham has hit the headlines for Bristol City while Lewis Baker and Bertrand Traore have impressed in the Netherlands.Heres a look at our pick of the six best Chelsea loanees so far this season - hit the video above to see some of their best bits… Tammy Abraham (Bristol City)Of all the Chelsea loanees it is Abraham who has caught the eye the most this season. The 19-year-old forward has scored 11 goals for Bristol City, including winners in all three rounds of the EFL Cup. His form earned him his first call-up to the England Under-21s for matches against Kazakhstan and Bosnia & Herzegovina and also the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award for August and September. Abraham scored in Bristol Citys win over Nottingham Forest before the international break Bristol City boss Lee Johnson says Abraham is top class and thinks he could get into Chelseas first team. If he continues this in his career, the world is his oyster, he said. He is top class. He could get into Chelseas team now. Hes a poacher. His movement is very sharp and when hes energised and got the buzz hes a handful.Lewis Baker (Vitesse)After winning the Golden Boot as England Under-21s won the Toulon Tournament in the summer, Baker is spending a second successive season with Vitesse, where he has continued to impress. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. He has scored four goals in the Eredivisie this season, including a brilliant long-range strike against Twente and a fantastic free-kick against Groningen. The 21-year-old hopes his experience will help him eventually become a Chelsea regular. Lewis Baker (R) celebrates winning the Toulon Tournament Its just the start of the season but I need to keep doing my best every day and keep improving so I can get back to Chelsea, where Id like to be, he commented.There are also a lot of players who have played out here and moved on to the Premier League. If I keep going the way Im going thats one of my dreams I want to make come true.Bertrand Traore (Ajax)Traore, who scored four goals in 16 games for Chelsea last season, has returned to the Netherlands having also spent time with Vitesse in 2014/15.He recently scored a fine solo goal against PEC Zwolle and is enjoying being played on the right by head coach Peter Bosz. Traore celebrates a goal for Ajax On the right I can reach the same level as I have in past and also do things at a high pace, he said. Here, attacking football is the focus. Thats why I wanted to come to Ajax, and work with this coach.Like Baker, Traores long-term aim is still to return to Stamford Bridge. The key is to develop so I can return to Chelsea.Christian Atsu (Newcastle)Goal on debut? Check. Man-of-the-match award? Check. Praise from the manager? Check. Christian Atsu certainly took his chance after getting in the NNewcastle starting line-up ahead of Matt Ritchie against Rotherham.ddddddddddddIt was a special goal for me and for the team - I gave all my heart for Newcastle, he said afterwards. I have waited for my opportunity. Ive kept focused and kept fit. Rafa Benitez is a great man and I knew he would give me my chance if I worked hard. Atsu scored the winner as Newcastle beat Rotherham Before starting against Rotherham, Atsu had only appeared for the Magpies from the bench this season.But Benitez said: It was what we were expecting from him, a player who can beat players and make a difference.Kasey Palmer (Huddersfield)He might be playing in a senior team for the first time, but Palmer has hit the ground running for Championship leaders Huddersfield.From scoring the winner against Brentford on the opening day with his first touch, to being named in the EFL Team of the Week after netting against QPR, its been a promising start to life on loan for the 19-year-old. Palmer scored on the opening day against Brentford He has some unbelievably good skills, says Terriers boss David Wagner. We will try to develop them and I am very happy we have him in our squad.After starting the season on the bench, the forward has been in the starting line-up for the last three games.Andreas Christensen (Borussia Monchengladbach)Now in his second season on loan with Gladbach, the young defender has established himself as a key first-team player. He made 39 appearances for the Bundesliga side in 2015/16 and has been a regular again this season.With John Terry out of contract at the end of the season and Gary Cahill nearly 31, Christensen could be the future for Chelsea. Christensen tussles for possession with Sergio Aguero But he recently said: I have not spoken with Chelsea about my situation. It is a difficult decision, which I have not thought about.Coming to the Bundesliga as a reserve player at Chelsea was a huge step for me, but I have to say I found my feet really quickly after that testing period.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Chelseas January targets? Chelsea talking points Chelsea fixtures Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '