LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings might be the NHLs best defensive team, and they hadnt blown a two-goal lead in a loss in nearly a full calendar year. Stitched NHL Jerseys . The Toronto Maple Leafs broke down that defence and pulled out an impressive road victory despite nearly running out of goalies along the way. Mason Raymond broke a tie with a short-handed goal early in the third period and the Maple Leafs snapped the Kings eight-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory Thursday night. James Reimer made 31 saves in the final two periods after replacing the injured Jonathan Bernier for the Leafs, who have won four of five. Captain Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson also scored as Toronto beat both Southern California NHL clubs in a four-day span, albeit with a blowout loss at the Shark Tank sandwiched in between. "We need every point that we can possibly get," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "Were in desperation mode as every team is, and we just found a way to gut it out. We gave up a two-goal lead, and we found a way to get a big goal." After the Leafs erased that early 2-0 deficit, Raymond put them ahead with 14:54 to play. Kopitar was stopped by Reimer on a golden scoring chance, and Raymond alertly countered on a 2-on-1 rush with James van Riemsdyk for Raymonds 19th goal. Bernier gave up two goals in the first period of his first game back in Los Angeles against the team that traded him last summer, but then sat out the final two periods with a lower-body injury. Reimer filled in admirably, making a number of stunning saves. "I wouldnt blow it up too big," Reimer said. "I just came in and did my job. Every time you go in is an opportunity." Reimer, who gave up six goals in San Jose, also got up quite slowly in the second period after getting an accidental blow to the head from Jarret Stoll when the goalie dived to stop a puck. Reimer eventually shook it off, but said he "got (his) bell rung." "I was sitting beside Bernier when that happened," said Nazem Kadri, who had two assists. "I told him to take off his pads. I might have to throw them on." Marian Gaborik had an early goal and an assist in his home debut with the Kings, who fell just short of matching the longest winning streak in franchise history. Anze Kopitar had a power-play goal and Jonathan Quick stopped 26 shots in his first loss since Feb. 3. After losing nine of 10 in a skid stretching into early February, the Kings won their final game before the Olympic break and hadnt lost since. This loss prevented the Kings from equaling their record nine-game streak in 2010. "Its a stinger every time you lose after a pretty strong road trip," Kopitar said. "We didnt want to start off a homestand with a loss. I dont know how they execute their system, but it seemed like they were skating and playing a tight-checking game. But it was just a case of our game tonight not getting it done." Gaborik still came through in the Slovak goal-scorers fourth game with the club, providing exactly the boost they sought for their sagging offence. Wearing their Forum-blue-and-gold throwback jerseys, the Kings went ahead just 1:57 in when the rebound of Drew Doughtys low shot went straight to Gaborik, who scored his seventh goal of the season. "I think its coming along," Gaborik said of his line with Kopitar and Justin Williams. "We had some chemistry with our line and created some chances, so I think its going the right way." Kopitar then scored a power-play goal on a beautiful cross-ice pass from Doughty, the gold medal-winning Canadian defenceman. Gunnarsson tied it up early in the second with just his second goal in 67 games this season. Bernier was the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft by Kings general manager Dean Lombardi. He played 62 games for Los Angeles over five NHL seasons, but never managed to beat out Quick, a lower-round pick by a previous regime who eventually became the Kings Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Lombardi traded Bernier to Toronto in a deal for Ben Scrivens -- since traded to Edmonton -- and Matt Frattin, who was sent to Columbus in the deal for Gaborik. Bernier lost 3-1 to the Kings in Toronto in December. NOTES: Mike Richards accidentally shot the puck into teammate Justin Williams face with 3 minutes to play. Williams stayed in the game. ... Toronto scratched C Peter Holland, who has the flu. ... The Kings announced their 100th consecutive sellout at Staples Center since December 2011. Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ .5 million, four-year contract with the Texas Rangers that could be worth $32.TORONTO – They were making Morgan Rielly hold the shopping bags as they strolled through Eaton Centre during a rare day off the ice. Nazem Kadri was there and so was the 24-year-old walking backwards and documenting the light mocking of his junior teammate with a cell phone camera. Then he tripped over a garbage can. Things just aren’t going Jake Gardiner’s way these days. Gardiner has been a healthy scratch in each of the past two games, an odd show of faith to a player who signed for five years and more than $20 million in late July. The Maple Leafs, though, have consistently taken a tough love kind of approach to the former Ducks first round pick. The results mostly indicate that such an approach has failed to reap much in the way of reward, Gardiner struggling to find consistent form in each of the past two seasons – some of that, no doubt, the growing pains of a young defenceman. In question is whether such an approach is beneficial to the long-term development of a talent the organization is clearly high on, but also someone whom the head coach, Randy Carlyle, has prodded most often. Tough love from a coach can have its benefits, say various players in the Toronto room, but only if the personality in question is right for that type of motivation. Some respond to old-school types, benefiting from constant barks in the ear. Dion Phaneuf, for example, recalls his time under hard-edged former Flames coach, Mike Keenan, fondly. Others need that positive voice. Nazem Kadri would probably fall more under the latter. He took his share of prodding over his early Toronto years from the likes of Dallas Eakins and Ron Wilson. And while he hated it, he also was the fiery type to respond to it. “It sucks,” said Kadri. “I don’t like it all. But I’m not going to let it ruin my confidence or my self-esteem as a player because at the end of the day I know what I can do and I believe in myself. “I don’t want to say it works because then they’ll just keep giving me tough love,” he continued. “[But] I think I respond well to it. It doesn’t really bother me. I’m a pretty thick-skinned kid, even going back to minor hockey; I’ve had some pretty tough coaches. I don’t like it so much and sometimes I’m not so patient with it, but I think I react well. It doesn’t really bother me. It’s not like I go into a shell after I get ripped out or reamed out, I just continue playing my game.” Gardiner isn’t really that fiery type. And the odd seat in the press-box or even down to the Marlies hasn’t done much to affect his performance positively. When the lockout ended in Jan. 2013, Gardiner was first healthy scratched and then sent to the American League, where he lingered unhappily for weeks. He finally returned to the NHL in March – amid the ranting of fans, media and his agent at the time – played a couple games, and then was sent back to the press box for the final days of the regular season and even Game 1 of the playoffs. Gardiner flourished when the Leafs turned to him for the rest of that playoff series with Boston, but promptly struggled again the following fall – drawing another prominent healthy scratch in late November. Is this the best way, then, to motivate Gardiner? A player, mind you, who questioned his security with the Leafs before – amid ongoing trade rumours – only to believe he was done with all that when the team sprung for a five-year deal in the summer. There’s nothing wrong with scratching a player from time to time despite media and fan protests, but to do so three games in the season – given the history of disconnect bettween player and team, the splashy new deal, and fact that said player hadn’t played so poorly – seems off the mark. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online. Gardiner has ultimately been pushed out of the lineup by rookie Stuart Percy, an early revelation in a top-four role. But is removing Gardiner, who was by far the Leafs top possession player a year ago and leading defensive point-getter at even-strength, best for the team and best for his development as a young player? That’s unlikely, especially given the predictable early season struggles of Stephane Robidas. Carlyle, speaking generally, says his motivational tactics are dependent on the individual. “I think a lot of that is feel and a lot of it is personality,” he said. “Some people take coaching as criticism and other people take criticism as personal. Those things are things that you to weigh and have to measure when you’re applying it.” Carlyle admits to making mistakes in how he’s handled things in the past, though not specifically with Gardiner. Sometimes, he says, it might be the wrong time or the wrong setting for certain tactics. “We’re all human,” he said. “We all make mistakes. Those are things that you have to gauge with experience. I think those are learning curves for a coach.” Communication can make all the difference. And to Carlyle’s credit, he has been up front with Gardiner about why he’s not playing – though not anymore so than usual. He’s told the Minnesota native that his play hasn’t been up to the level that they expect. Today’s players, Carlyle says, want more of that. They want answers and responsibility. And despite his old-school leanings, it’s apparent that Carlyle has tried to adapt. There was a point last year before a game in Philadelphia that saw him bring Gardiner onto the visitors’ bench at Wells Fargo Center, pull out the iPad and show him a few video clips on what needed improvement. More of that might be helpful. And through some film dissection this fall, Gardiner has been told that he needs to contain the opposition more effectively in the defensive zone and move the puck quicker. Cody Franson wasn’t afforded such treatment by the team’s previous head coach, Ron Wilson, during his first training camp in Toronto. Franson found out he’d be the seventh defenceman to start the regular season not from the coach himself, but from an online video of the coach speaking to media. The worst part about it, he says, was leaving the rink every day uncertain of why he wasn’t playing and when he’d get back in. “When I went through it it wasn’t the best thing for me,” Franson said. “But every guy’s a little different. Some guys need stuff like that. Some guys just need to be talked to. It all depends on the individual.” “It always helps when you get some words of encouragement,” Kadri observed. The leash for Gardiner, however, has seemed short at times and especially now. He seemed to say as much in his exit meeting with Carlyle last spring – revelations that went beyond the imagination of the head coach. All that being said, Carlyle did doll out more even-strength minutes to Gardiner than any other player on the team last season, an indication of trust if there was ever was one. “We feel that we have a quality hockey player that can play to a higher level and he agrees with that,” said Carlyle earlier this week. “So to me that’s end of story.” Asked what Gardiner could do to impress once he earned another opportunity, Carlyle responded bluntly, “Play better.” Time will tell if he does and Carlyles tough-love approach is worth pursuing. ' ' '