surrendered a safety and ran out the clock on the ensuing

TORONTO -- While his players and Leaf Nation might be looking forward to Wednesdays Winter Classic against Detroit, Toronto coach Randy Carlyle is playing the role of Scrooge when it comes to the holiday season outdoor game. "I wasnt waving the pom-poms to be involved with it to start with," Carlyle said after a 5-2 win over Carolina on Sunday night. "Its been a trying time. "Specifically we havent played as well as wed like to hang our hat on. Our group, we believe, has got lots of room to grow, so that always put added pressure on. And then youre much more under the microscope if you can believe it. Were under the microscope with you (media) guys alone and then you add the element of HBO and then the event, theres a lot of factors. "Again were here to win hockey games and thats the most important thing and our focus is going to be on the game." Friends and family will be enjoying the event more than the actual participants, he suggested. The Leafs (20-16-5) head to Ann Arbor, Mich., on a winning note and having picked up points in their last five games. But they needed a pair of goals from sniper Phil Kessel, solid goaltending from Jonathan Bernier and a few lucky bounces to dispose of the Hurricanes before a crowd of 19,452 at the Air Canada Centre. Carolina (14-16-9) outshot Toronto 43-27 on the night, only to see its winless streak stretch to five games. The Hurricanes have won only one of their last nine outings (a stretch that has featured four OT losses). "We had enough chances to win a hockey game," lamented Carolina coach Kirk Muller. "The chances were there. They scored and we didnt." Carlyle agreed it had been a loose performance from the Leafs. "I thought at times we seemed like we were overmatched in a lot of areas," he said. The Hurricanes followed a popular, simple strategy against Toronto -- dumping the puck in and forcing the Leafs to play defence. "We havent been able to handle that or manage the game properly in that area and we have to get better at it," Carlyle said. Kessels second goal allowed him to reach the 20-goal plateau for the sixth straight season and he could have had more on the night, missing on two breakaways. Toronto also got goals from Nikolai Kulemin, Paul Ranger and Dion Phaneuf, with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining. Nathan Gerbe and Justin Faulk replied for Carolina. Centre Tyler Bozak returned to the Leafs top line after a 12-game absence due to an oblique injury. He showed off some of his playmaking skills with three assists and made an important backcheck, snuffing out a Hurricanes threat. The Leafs were loose on defence and were fortunate the Hurricanes did not punish them more. "We had some lapses in the D-zone," said Bozak. "We got some good bounces as well ... The puck was kind of following us around tonight." The game marked the halfway point of the season for Toronto, while setting the table for playing in front of an expected crowd of 100,000-plus at the Big House. "Its going to be a pretty cool event," said Bozak. "I know most guys have lots of family here, including me. Im excited to get to Detroit and see what its all about." Added Ranger: "I think its going to be fun ... Backyard rinks, thats where I spent most of my childhood. Its just a bigger backyard rink." Leafs forward David Clarkson went to the dressing room in the second period to have his elbow stitched up but returned in the third healthy enough to smash Tuomo Ruutu to the ice. "Probably the best period of hockey hes played for us," said Carlyle. The Leafs previous four games were shootouts -- a club-record streak that featured two wins and two losses. After surviving a horrendous start against Buffalo to win via a shootout Friday, it seemed like more of the same Sunday for the Leafs. Leading the league in giveaways with 475 going into the game, Toronto coughed it up 15 more times against the Hurricanes. Toronto also did not manage a shot on net until 11-plus minutes into a first period that saw the Leafs wobble at times in their own end. Bernier seemed the lone defender on duty and Toronto was lucky not to go down. The Leafs went ahead after a faceoff when Bozak dug the puck out to Kessel, whose backhand from behind the goal-line somehow went in off goalie Cam Ward for his 19th of the season at 16:56. It was perhaps payback for the freak goal that gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 win in Toronto in October when a bad bounce off the boards on a shoot-in bounced in off Bernier with the Leafs thinking icing might be called. The five-foot-five Gerbe tied it up at 1:36 of the second period after talking a pass from Alexander Semin in the corner and beating Bernier from near the faceoff dot. Semin outmanoeuvred Jake Gardiner to set up Gerbes ninth goal. Toronto pulled ahead with two goals in 76 seconds in the second period. A pretty passing play between Kessel and James Van Riemsdyk made it 2-1 at 13:42 with JVR unselfishly sending the puck back to Kessel from in-close. Kulemin then beat Ward with a shot from the top of the circle at 14:58 to make it 3-1, prompting Muller to call a timeout in a bid to stop the bleeding. It was Kulemins fifth of the season. A four-on-three helped the Carolina cause with Faulk scoring his third of the season on a slap shot with 2:17 remaining in the period to close the gap to 3-2. Ranger added an insurance goal at 4:58 of the third, firing a low shot through traffic that eluded Ward for the defencemans second goal of the season and the 100th point of his NHL career. For Toronto, it was Berniers 28th appearance of the season, compared to 18 for James Reimer. Bernier has started nine of the last 15 games, with Reimer pulled during two of his six starts during that stretch. Carlyle refused to interpret the numbers when asked what it meant that Bernier had started three straight. "Hes played three straight games. That what it says." Wholesale Athletics Jerseys .J. Ellis hit an RBI single in the ninth inning, Hanley Ramirez hit a tape-measure, three-run homer in the first against Cliff Lee and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Saturday night. Stitched Athletics Jerseys . The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/. -- Lara Gut of Switzerland regained the overall World Cup lead with Sundays super-G win in Lake Louise, Alta. Chris Bassitt Jersey . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract. Custom Oakland Athletics Jerseys . The 25-year-old Brazilian player has only made four Premier League appearances for United this season and underwent a medical test in Italy on Friday.Leading up to SportsCentres Year In Review on Christmas Eve, TSN and TSN.ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at a memorable Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. Super Bowl XLVII featured a solid matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens seemed to be a team of destiny heading into the game. Linebacker Ray Lewis announced prior to the playoffs that he would retire. The Ravens defeated the AFCs top-seeded Denver Broncos in double overtime after quarterback Joe Flacco completed a miracle pass to receiver Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard touchdown in the final minute of regulation. The Ravens then defeated the New England Patriots, who had eliminated them in the same AFC Championship game the previous year, to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. The 49ers experienced their fair share of drama during the season as well. With a record of 8-2-1, head coach Jim Harbaugh made the decision to bench consistent quarterback Alex Smith in favour of the explosive dual-threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Week 12. The decision paid off as the 49ers finished the regular season 11-4-1, securing the NFCs second seed. Led by Kaepernick, the 49ers dismantled the Green Bay Packers before defeating the Atlanta Falcons en route to the Super Bowl. Though the 49ers entered as the favourite, the Super Bowl quickly seemed to be turning into a blowout. Down 21-6 at halftime, the 49ers were struggling. On the opening kickoff of the second half, the Ravens, or more specifically Jones, seemed to deliver a knockout punch. Jones returned the kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown to extend the Ravens leead to 28-6.dddddddddddd The 49ers were reeling; the Ravens had shut down their offence and the team had no answers. That is, until the lights went out. After a 35-minute delay due to a power outage in the stadium, the game resumed. The break seemed to recharge the struggling 49ers offence and they scored 17 third-quarter points and brought themselves back to within five of the Ravens. Baltimore opened the fourth quarter with a field goal to expand the lead to eight points. But the 49ers responded quickly, marching 76 yards in under three minutes with Kaepernick scoring a touchdown on a 15-yard scramble. The 49ers attempted to tie the game with a two-point conversion but failed on the attempt. The Ravens added another field goal, extending their lead to five and leaving the 49ers less than five minutes to score a touchdown and take the lead. San Francisco moved the ball downfield with ease, advancing 73 yards in five plays to set up first and goal from the Ravens seven-yard line with two minutes remaining. Facing fourth and goal from the five-yard line, Kaepernick threw a fade to Michael Crabtree, who was engaged with cornerback Jimmy Smith. The ball sailed over Crabtrees outstretched hands and out of bounds. Jim Harbaugh begged for a flag but none flew. The Ravens then surrendered a safety and ran out the clock on the ensuing kickoff to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history. Flacco was named Super Bowl MVP and Lewis retired a champion. Though the game seemed to be headed for a rout, one of the more shocking and bizarre turns in NFL history allowed the 49ers to fall five yards short of a Super Bowl victory. ' ' '