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. Frederik Gauthier Jersey . "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." Kris Versteeg Jersey . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. Connor Carrick Jersey . The former world No. 1 Djokovic, who is the top seed here despite being ranked No. 2, snuck past 35-year-old Czech showman Radek Stepanek in four high- quality sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), on Centre Court. Djokovic appeared relieved when he converted on his first match point by swatting a cross-court forehand winner that just caught the line to end an affair that featured only two service breaks. http://www.leafsauthority.com/authentic-darryl-sittler-maple-leafs-jersey/ . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own.DENVER - Adam LaRoche has been scuffling this month. He hopes one swing will turn things around. LaRoche broke out of a July slump with a tiebreaking home run in the seventh, Anthony Rendon had three hits and the Washington Nationals rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies 7-4 on Tuesday night. It was the Nationals fourth straight win and increased their NL East Division lead to two games over Atlanta, which lost to Miami on Tuesday. The win might have come at a cost after third baseman Ryan Zimmerman left the game in the sixth inning with a strained right hamstring. He is scheduled to have an MRI done Wednesday morning. "Its pretty sore tonight. Get the MRI, get some results tomorrow and see where were at," manager Matt Williams said. "Its concerning. Anytime you have to leave the game with a hamstring injury its concerning." Zimmerman missed 44 games with a fractured right thumb earlier this season but has played well since coming off the disabled list on June 3. "Hes swinging great, playing great, but we have to deal with it," Williams said. "Well see how he feels tomorrow and what the doctors say." Ian Desmond followed Mondays 5-for-5 performance with hits in his first two at-bats Tuesday for Washington. He was hit by a pitch in the sixth to reach base safely in eight consecutive plate appearances. The streak ended when he struck out in the seventh, but the Nationals had taken control on LaRoches three-run homer off reliever Rex Brothers. It was LaRoches first home run off a lefthander since May 28, 2013. "You swing hard enough enough times youre bound to run into somethings. Ive been playing long enough to know a lot of times it takes one swing," LaRoche said. "Ive been in a rut for a little while, my timings been out of whack, so this came at a good time." Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson homered for the Rockies, who have lost seven straight and remain tied with Texas for the worst record in the majors. Before the game the Rockies placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day disabled list with a left hip flexor strain and recalled left-hander Yohan Flande. Tuloowitzki is the third Colorado player in two days to hit the disabled list. Bruce Boudreau Jersey. First baseman Justin Morneau (neck) and reliever Boone Logan (diverticulitis) were put on the DL on Monday, adding to the long list of Rockies out of action. "Its unfortunate, its what Im dealt with, Ive been dealt many, many things in my career," Tulowitzki said. "This is just a bump in the road." Flande started well before faltering in the sixth. He allowed four runs on five hits and walked two in 5 1-3 innings. He left with a 4-2 lead and runners on the corners, but Colorados bullpen couldnt hold it. Zimmerman made it 4-3 with a fielders choice but left the game after hitting the first base bag hard trying to beat out his grounder. "Guys just coming back from the DL, getting his swing back and you hate to see that," LaRoche said. "Cross our fingers its nothing major." Wilson Ramos tied the game with an infield single, and then the Nationals broke it open in the seventh. Brooks Brown (0-1) walked Denard Span and Rendon singled. Brothers relieved Brown one out later and LaRoche pulled a 93-mph fastball into the Rockies bullpen to make it 7-4. It was his 13th of the season and his second hit of the night off a lefty. "When youre facing a bunch of lefties it can get you right again because you have to stay on the baseball," Williams said. Reliever Craig Stammen (1-4) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win. Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his 23rd save. The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the second on DJ LeMahieus RBI triple to right. Arenado made it 3-0 in the second with a two-run homer to centre. It was his seventh of the season and first since May 5. The Nationals got two back in the fourth before Dickersons solo shot to the upper deck off Jordan Zimmermann in the fifth made it 4-2. NOTES: LaRoche holds the franchise record for consecutive plate appearances reaching base safely with nine. ... LeMahieu finished with three hits. ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg (7-7, 3.55) will face Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (10-6, 4.39) in the series finale on Wednesday. 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