Clan-Members » I want to have the most dominant scrum.

NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders will see an old friend Sunday night, when Matt Martin makes his first visit to Barclays Center as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. As glad as the Islanders will be to see Martin, theyd be even happier if their old offense returns, too.The Islanders will look to snap out of a season-long goal-scoring funk when they host the Maple Leafs in the opener of a five-game homestand. New York (3-5-0) last played Thursday, when it fell 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toronto (2-3-3) will be playing the second game of a back-to-back set after losing to the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Saturday night.All eyes, at least early on Sunday night, will be on Martin, who spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Islanders before signing with the Maple Leafs as a free agent in July. Martin was wildly popular with Islanders fans and teammates for his feisty on-ice demeanor as well as his locker room leadership and off-ice involvement with the community.The Matt Martin Foundation raises funds for a variety of causes, including children with cystic fibrosis. Martins girlfriend, Sydney Esiason, has a brother with cystic fibrosis.Im sure itll be emotional for me, Martin told Newsday on Saturday. I matured as a player and a person on the Island. Itll always be special for me. Im trying to win a game, but as soon as its over, Ill be rooting for those guys.The Islanders surely feel the same way -- especially about the trying to win a game part. New York, which has lost two straight, has been tied in the third period in all five of its losses.The major problem for the Islanders has been a struggling forward corps. Defensemen have accounted for eight of the teams 22 goals. Center John Tavares (four goals) is the lone forward with more than two goals, and left winger Brock Nelson and right winger Ryan Strome (two goals each) are the only other ones with more than a single tally.Left winger Andrew Ladd, who was expected to become New Yorks No. 2 threat upon signing a seven-year deal in July, has yet to score a goal and was actually played on the fourth line last Wednesday against the Canadiens.Were just not getting offense from our forwards right now, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano told Newsday following Thursdays loss. Weve got to find a way to score goals if this team wants to win games. End of story.The Maple Leafs enter in a bit of an offensive funk themselves. Toronto, which was held to fewer than two goals for the first time this season on Saturday, has scored seven goals in its last three games after racking up 18 in the first five.The good thing about this game is that maybe tonight you feel sorry for yourself, but then youre right back at it (Sunday), Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. Weve got a big game against the Islanders that weve got to win. Weve got another chance to redeem ourselves, so thats a good feeling.Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said goalie Jhonas Enroth will make his second start of the season Sunday. Enroth will likely face Islanders no. 1 goalie Jaroslav Halak, who started Thursdays loss.Enroth is 2-4-0 in six games against the Islanders. He was a member of the Los Angeles Kings the last time he opposed New York on Feb. 11, when Enroth took the defeat after stopping 25 of 29 shots in the Kings 5-2 loss at Barclays Center.Halak is 8-3-3 in 15 games against the Maple Leafs. He earned the win the last time he opposed Toronto on Feb. 12, 2015, when Halak stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced in the Islanders 3-2 victory at Nassau Coliseum. Rudy Gay Jersey . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Lonnie Walker Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/Bruce-Bowen-City-Edition-Jersey/ . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Pau Gasol Jersey . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. Trey Lyles Spurs Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Owen Farrell has been Englands standard-bearer and is the spirit of the team that has won 14 matches on the bounce, according to Eddie Jones.As Jones reflected on Englands 37-21 win over Australia and a year which has seen his side win all 13 of their matches, he singled out Farrell as the player pushing the standards in the squad. He hailed Ben Youngs and outstanding Courtney Lawes as the players who have impressed him most from the autumn Tests, but it is Farrell who has emerged as their key player.Owen Farrell is the spirit of the team, Jones said. Hes an absolute competitor and always wants to do things well.He hasnt been at his best this autumn -- its quite clear hes still recovering from his back injury, Id say hes probably been at 80 per cent of his total fitness.To win those four Test when your inside centre is nowhere near his best is a pretty good effort. Hes enormous for us. Hes the standard-bearer.Jones knows him well having handed the then 16-year-old Farrell his debut during his time in charge of Saracens. The England coach remembers being impressed by the way Farrell dealt with big hit from Sonny Bill Williams in a trial match between Saracens and Toulon.Sonny Bill Williams was making his debut for Toulon, Jones continued. Owen got the ball and Sonny Bill Williams whacked him and stood over the top of him. He just bounced up on his feet and continued on like nothing had happened. You could tell he was going to be a good player.Farrell started all four of Englands end-of-year Tests with his goal-kicking, communication and work-rate integral to their unbeaten year. The 9-10-12 axis with Ben Youngs, George Ford and Farrell is continuing to develop and winger Marland Yarde also impressed Jones in their win over Australia.I remember going to a Quins game about eight months ago, sitting in the crowd and the Quins supporters were going: Hes crap. This guys hopeless. I dont know why they play him all the time, Jones said. And hes really worked hard at his game and had a storming game today, really good game.Jones singled out their win over Argentina - a match they won despite being down to 14 men for 75 minutes - as their performance of the autumn Tests and said they went through a growth spurt in that game. On-field leadership has been a constant theme running through the series with Jones impressed by how they rectified their dreadful start against Australia to get a foothold and then push on in the second-half to win convincingly.Central to that was Dylan Hartley but even he is not guaranteedd a place in Jones England side as he says no one, not even Farrell, can take their spot for granted.ddddddddddddDylans been absolutely outstanding, Jones said. Physically hes not at his best for this series, hes probably 80-90 per cent mark.He needs to rectify that for the 6Nations. But his leadership has been enormous. Hes one of these guys who give added value.He leads from the front, hes proactive. If he senses things are wrong, he fixes them. He has really driven this side. The credit he deserves is enormous.Jones gave individual feedback to the players on Sunday and will meet the coaches on Monday as attention shifts to the Six Nations where England will be chasing back-to-back grand slams. He says the championship will be an altogether different challenge to the end-of-year Tests and is expecting the players to come into camp fatigued.But he has already prioritised one area for England to focus on and improve: the scrum.The only thing Im interested in now is winning the Six Nations and to win the Six Nations we need more consistency in our set piece, Jones said. I want to have the most dominant scrum. The scrum in the Six Nations is enormously important so we want that dominance.Jones says he has already picked his Six Nations squad but it will be fascinating to see how he integrates those players who missed the autumn Tests through injury. Maro Itoje and Manu Tuilagi have made their returns to club rugby at while Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell, Billy Vunipola and James Haskell are all set to return in the coming months.The England coach is expecting players to be left disappointed if they miss out on selection but is predicting as many as 15 players may be picked for the British & Irish Lions tour. And it is this battle to make the England team and ultimately the Lions tour which he feels will ensure his team stay on this upwards trajectory.If players arent hungry and you see it in their performance straight away, then they wont be here, Jones said. We have enough depth to change the squad if we need to. You want intrinsically the players to want to do it.Were developing players like that. Theres a tipping point in the team when you get six, seven, eight players with that absolute desire to want to do well then if youre not in that group, you tend to fall out. Thats how great teams keep on getting better. We havent got that tipping point yet but were moving towards it. ' ' '