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TORONTO -- Phil Kessel had the game-winning goal, but it was his near fight with a familiar foe that sparked the Toronto Maple Leafs to a comeback victory Saturday night. Ivan Rodriguez Jersey . Kessel scored the second of three straight goals for the Maple Leafs in the third period as they recovered to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 at Air Canada Centre. He assisted on the Maple Leafs third goal and almost had the first Gordie Howe hat trick - a goal, an assist and a fight - of his NHL career when he and pesky Alexandre Burrows scuffled and just about dropped the gloves late in the second period. It would have been the second fight of the season for Kessel and Burrows, who officially scrapped back on Nov. 2 in Vancouver. The two each got roughing minors in Saturdays game, with Burrows getting an additional minor for high-sticking. "(Kessel) wasnt too thrilled about all that and neither was anyone on the bench," said linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Maybe you can look at that as something that got Phil a little bit excited." At the time of the fracas, the Canucks were clinging to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ryan Kesler in the last minute of the first. That all changed in the third period, when the Leafs broke out with three goals in the span of 4:42. "It was a one-goal hockey game and here we had an opportunity to pull a hockey game out of the fire by scoring one goal and giving ourselves a chance," said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. "We have a break coming, and it would make everybody feel a lot better about themselves with a win here versus a loss." The win was the 11th in the past 14 games for the Leafs and their seventh straight at home. "About six games ago, we really focused in on playing well going into the break," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. "We feel weve done that. Weve gotten some big wins. We wanted to get as many points as we could going into the break and we did that." The Canucks lost their seventh straight game and their 16th in their past 20. Theyve scored just 37 goals in that span. Vancouver is now 8-23-5 when scoring less than three goals in game (excluding the shootout). The Canucks are a near perfect 19-1-4 when scoring three or more. "Weve dug ourselves a pretty big hole here, but we need to look at it as a challenge when we get back," said Canucks coach John Tortorella. "I do believe well be healthier to fight our way through it. Were not dead and gone. Weve allowed a lot of teams to get back in and pass us, as far the playoffs are concerned. But we still have enough games to crawl back in." Mason Raymond and van Riemsdyk also scored for Toronto. Jonathan Bernier made 23 saves for the win. Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots in defeat. Vancouvers lone goal came when Kesler took a pass in the high slot from Chris Higgins and flicked a weak wrist shot at the goal. Bernier tried to stop it with his blocker, but it deflected downwards into the net. The Canucks held onto that lead after two periods. "We just wanted to stick with it," van Riemsdyk said. "We know we didnt play necessarily as well as we could. We were playing a little bit loose with the puck. We got back to just cycling them down low and trying to create off that." Raymond got Toronto on the board at 7:23 when he circled the Canucks net and snuck a wrist shot past Luongo for his 16th goal of the season. The Leafs then took their first lead of the game at 10:03. On a delayed penalty call, with a sixth attacker on the ice for Bernier, Kessel snapped a shot near the Canucks blueline that found its way past a screened Luongo. It was Kessels 31st of the season. Tyler Bozaks assist on the goal was the 100th of his NHL career. Two minutes and two seconds after the Leafs took the lead, van Riemsdyk made it 3-1 when his shot at the side of the goal bounced of Alexander Edler and into the Canucks goal. It was his 24th of the season. "We got to be really happy about the last month or so," Bernier said. "Weve been playing really well. Now we just got to take some rest and hit the reset button because the real season is coming after (the break). We have to make sure were ready for the next 22 games." Notes: Canucks centre Henrik Sedin sat out his second-straight game due to injuryaLeafs centre Jay McClement didnt return after suffering an upper-body injury when he fell awkwardly into the end boards early in the second periodaThe game was a rare 6 p.m. start for a Toronto home game on SaturdayaIt was the final game for both teams before the NHL shuts down for the Winter Olympics. Cole Hamels Jersey .Y. - Matt Harvey wants to make sure hes on the mound in late October — if the New York Mets get there for the first time since 2006. Derek Holland Jersey . The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. http://www.rangersapparelsshop.com/joey-gallo-jersey-c-22/ . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et. SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Kyle Okposo scored the tying goal with 1:37 left in regulation and got the game-winner in the fourth round of a shootout to help the New York Islanders snap a 10-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Thomas Vanek also scored in regulation and the shootout for the Islanders. Kevin Poulin made 46 saves and was outstanding early to keep the Islanders in the game until they broke through with two third-period goals. Then he stopped three of four attempts in the shootout despite appearing to injure himself on a pad save against Joe Pavelski in the first round. Patrick Marleau and Pavelski scored for the Sharks, who blew a 2-0 lead and have lost four straight. Antti Niemi made 26 saves. The Sharks seemed to be in control with a two-goal lead heading into the third, but the game changed after Vanek knocked in a rebound of John Tavares shot in the opening minute of the period. The Islanders controlled the play for much of the rest of the period before getting the equalizer shortly after pulling Poulin for an extra skater. Tavares cleanly won a faceoff from Pavelski, and Okposo fired a shot through a screen by Vanek that beat Niemi. The Islanders then snapped their skid in the shootout. New York had also lost 10 straight road games in regulation since beating Ottawa 5-4 in a shootout on Nov. 1. After being stopped on their first 23 shots by Poulin, the Sharks finally broke through early in the second when they got their fourth poweer play thanks to an after-the-whistle roughing penalty against Matt Carkner. Nolan Ryan Jersey. San Jose made the Islanders pay right away for that lack of discipline when Marleau got a rebound in the circle and shot it under a diving Poulin to make it 1-0. The Sharks had converted three of their previous 42 chances on the power play. The Islanders, playing the back end of back-to-back games, got few chances and little luck. They finally got a power-play chance midway through the second period, but Vanek hit the post and the rebound skipped over Tavares stick. The Sharks added to the lead later in the period when Pavelski knocked a rebound of Dan Boyles shot into an empty net for his 10th goal to make it 2-0. The Sharks thoroughly dominated the opening period, outshooting the Islanders 18-3 and getting three power plays. They even had a two-man advantage after Eric Boulton and Travis Hamonic took consecutive delay-of-game penalties. Despite all that, they couldnt get a single puck past Poulin. He robbed Marleau with a blind pad save during a delayed penalty for his best save and made five stops on the three power plays to keep the game scoreless after one. NOTES: The 18 shots were the second-most for the Sharks in a scoreless first period, one behind the team record of 19 set Dec. 30, 2006, at Phoenix. ... Former Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov, sidelined with a groin injury, got a loud ovation when he was shown on the video board in his first trip back to San Jose as a visiting player. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '