Inland Waterways » TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs will be out to regain

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs will be out to regain momentum Saturday night and the St. Louis Blues would like to start some momentum of their own.The Maple Leafs (6-2-0) had a five-game winning streak end Thursday night with a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins and will be trying to resume winning when they host the Blues (1-3-2).“We’re obviously (upset) and disappointed that we didn’t get the result Womens Ryan Getzlaf Jersey ,” said Maple Leafs center John Tavares, who took seven shots Thursday. “It’s a good learning opportunity and it’s a good test now to try to find that momentum back and get back in the win column.”Article continues below ...The Blues have lost twice in overtime and could not hold third-period leads three times. The Montreal Canadiens defeated them 3-2 Wednesday on Brendan Gallagher’s goal at 19:49 of the third period.“Bottom line, we’re faced with some adversity right now,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “For me, this is when we’ll really see what people have to bring. This is when you really say something to your teammates. This is when you really show your character.“Obviously, I’ve got to do a better job as head coach, making sure we’re prepared to play, making sure we’re ready to play the right way. Making sure that guys who aren’t, are held accountable. And making sure that we get the right guys on the ice.”St. Louis can take some encouragement knowing that both Toronto losses came at home.The game will also be a homecoming for former Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak, who signed as a free agent with the Blues on July 1. He has one goal and one assist in six games this season.“He’s a real good hockey player, real good hockey sense http://www.officialducks.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-kesler-jersey , real good faceoff guy, good in the power play,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said Friday at practice. “I thought his last year here was his best in the three years that I had him and obviously he’ll be an important part for them.”Bozak played between Pat Maroon and Alexander Steen for the first time in Montreal and that line could remain intact for the game Saturday. They line combined for eight shots on goal.In a Thursday practice in Toronto, two-time All-Star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was used on the fourth pairing with Jakub Jerabek, leading to speculation that he might not play against the Maple Leafs.“Obviously, we’re considering everything right now,” Yeo said. “Again, the results that we’re getting, we have to consider everything.”Bouwmeester, 35, was limited to 35 games last season because of a fractured ankle and a hip injury that resulted in surgery.The Maple Leafs Ryan Miller Jersey , meanwhile, had more than a winning streak stopped Thursday. Center Auston Matthews had at least two points in each of the first seven games until Thursday when the Maple Leafs were shut out for the first time this season. He has 10 goals and six assists despite being without a goal in his past two games.One of the keys to the Penguins’ success Thursday was that they kept the Maple Leafs on the outside, limiting close-in chances so that many of Toronto’s 38 shots (Pittsburgh took 39) were not dangerous.“I think there are a lot of things that we can improve on,” Matthews said. “It seems like they were just calm, cool, collected out there. They didn’t run around, they just played smart and didn’t force anything and made plays. It seemed like they had us running around quite a bit.”The Maple Leafs were in it until the Penguins scored twice on an empty net.“I think we’ve got to do a little better just sustaining some of the momentum we create,” Tavares said. LAS VEGAS (AP) The bookies in this gambling city have to be getting a bit nervous.Hockey fans, though, are nothing short of ecstatic.They screamed, danced and cheered as the goals came one right after another in a first period blitz Thursday night as the Vegas Golden Knights remained undefeated in the playoffs by dominating the San Jose Sharks 7-0 in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.The hottest show on the Las Vegas Strip got even hotter as the Knights – who were 200-1 at many sports books to win the Stanley Cup before the season began – opened their second playoff series with a rout of the Sharks that was over before the Zambonis hit the ice.This had nothing to do with the so-called Vegas Flu that has overcome some visiting teams who might have not resisted some of the pleasures on the Las Vegas Strip. This was a simple beat down Womens Alex Goligoski Jersey , by a group of players who had never been together on the ice before the season began.”It’s not going to be like this every night,” Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”We’re going to enjoy this and move on.”Once again, the Knights played like no expansion team ever before. Once again, they showed that perhaps the fantasy of bringing the Stanley Cup to the Las Vegas Strip may not be such a fantasy after all.And once again, 18,444 fans sang ”Viva Las Vegas” and went home happy – but not before watching Fleury join them in doing the wave in the closing minutes.”It’s a great home crowd,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”We like them a lot.”There’s a lot to like about a team that a year ago was nothing more than an expansion project with an uncertain future. Now the Knights are tearing through the playoffs like a hot dice thrower at the craps table.That might be a problem at the sports books, which are on the hook for possibly millions if the Knights should win it all. But it’s playing out nicely around the rest of Las Vegas, which is awash in Knights merchandise as the city that has never had a major sports team eagerly embraces one that is its very own.If getting to the playoffs was seen as almost impossible before the season began, the Knights are 5-1 in sports books on the Strip to win it all, just behind Nashville and Tampa Bay as favorites.With good reason. The Knights are the only remaining unbeaten team in the playoffs Christian Dvorak Jersey , and have the hottest goalie around. Fleury, picked up from Pittsburgh in the expansion draft, got his third shutout of the playoffs and has allowed only three goals in five games.He didn’t allow any against the Sharks, stopping 33 shots to record the shutout.”I don’t go looking at my stats,” Fleury said. ”A win is a win and I’ll try my best to get my team a win. That’s what it’s all about.”The team that proudly declares itself Vegas Born thrilled a raucous crowd at the T-Mobile arena, scoring three goals within a span of 1:31 in the first period to pretty much put the game away early.Against a team that – like the Knights – swept their opening series, they turned the game into a rout early. Seven players scored goals, though with Fleury in net there was no way seven would be needed.”You don’t get extra points for winning by a touchdown like they did,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. ”We just have to be better.”Earlier, Knights general manager George McPhee talked about how good the team he put together might be. But even he had to be surprised at the ease the Knights, coming off a nine-day layoff after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings http://www.officialcoyotes.com/authentic-adidas-clayton-keller-jersey , won their second-round opener.”We think we’re a pretty good club but we’ll keep trying to do what we do and see where it takes us,” McPhee said. ”We haven’t really looked at the season in its totality before it started, or the playoffs in its totality.”The formula for the Knights has been as simple as it has been effective. With some top talent there for the taking in the expansion draft the Knights combined a fast, swarming attack with stellar work of Fleury to win their division.Nothing changed in the opening game against the Sharks except the goals came early and often.”We play fast, we play quick, we play direct hockey,” Gallant said. ”So far it’s worked for us.”The Knights have done all of that, and more to move into the serious conversation about what teams can win the Stanley Cup.If any more proof was needed, even the bookies are believers now.—-Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg