TORONTO -- Another night, another tough outing for Jonathan Bernier. Buddy Hield Kings Jersey . The Toronto goaltender wasnt sharp in a disappointing 5-3 home loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. It came just three nights after Bernier was pulled after allowing five goals on 32 shots in the Maple Leafs lopsided 7-1 home defeat to the New York Rangers. Bernier was the victim of some bad luck as two Islanders goals were deflected off Toronto players. But Berniers inability to keep the puck from entering the no-play zone behind the Leafs net allowed New Yorks Michael Grabner to score easily unassisted early in the second, to the dismay of the Air Canada Centre gathering of 19,164. "That was obviously my bad," Bernier said. "I thought the puck was stopped. "When I looked up to see where the guy was, the puck was still rolling." Despite giving up five goals against the Rangers, Bernier made his sixth straight start Tuesday. And he wasnt surprised that Leafs coach Randy Carlyle let him finish the contest rather than go to James Reimer for a second consecutive contest. "Why would I get pulled," Bernier said when asked if he appreciated Carlyles decision to leave him in. Bernier has often been outstanding this season for Toronto (21-18-5) and Carlyle wasnt about to blame his netminder for the clubs second straight disappointing defeat following three consecutive wins. "You could say it wasnt one of his better nights, thats for sure," Carlyle said. "Weve called upon him too many times this year in a lot of situations. "We did some good things but it just seemed like we were climbing a mountain. Every time we got things going and got back even we couldnt push it over the mountain. I thought we played passive, we were afraid to make a mistake versus being aggressive and going after it." Frans Nielsen, Calvin De Haan and Cal Clutterbuck had third-period goals as New York (16-22-7) outscored Toronto 3-1 in the final period to kick off a six-game road trip with its second win in as many nights. The Islanders beat the Dallas Stars 7-3 on Monday. Toronto outshot the Islanders 26-25 and made it interesting when Nazem Kadris shot deflected in off Joffrey Lupul at 16:55 of the third to cut New Yorks lead to 4-3. It was Lupuls 13th goal of the season but Clutterbuck cemented the win with an empty-net goal at 19:51, his sixth. "Early on I dont know if it was nerves or a lack of poise or confidence," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "But now were just playing with an attitude, playing with an edge, playing with confidence and doing the right things to give us a chance." Islanders captain John Tavares had another productive outing with three assists. Tavares, named to Canadas Olympic team earlier Tuesday, had three goals and two assists against Dallas. "We got some timely goals and you take advantage of those when they come your way," Tavares said. "We did a good job trying to limit their chances. "When you start to win a few, your confidence starts to come back. I still think the ability is here, its the execution and obviously thats been there the last few weeks." Kyle Okposo had the other goal for the Islanders. Tyler Bozak and Mason Raymond also scored for Toronto, which fell to 14-10-1 at home. Forward Nazem Kadri added two assists and caught Carlyles eye. "I though Nazem was more noticeable around the puck, I thought he was much more visible with the puck," Carlyle said. "I just think weve got to get a lot more aggressive. "Were not skating and being the tenacious Toronto Maple Leafs that I expect or everybody expects. Obviously we dont have enough tenacity in our game right now." Kadri said theres only one way for Toronto to get out of its present funk. "You just have to go back to work," he said. "Obviously it takes away a bit of momentum with those lucky bounces but theres nothing you can do. "I have to play like that more often, its about finding that consistency. The best is ahead of me, I just have to make sure I keep working." Bozak opened the scoring, deflecting Paul Rangers point shot past New York goalie Kevin Poulin at 5:05 of the first, his sixth of the season. Bozak has two goals and four assists in four games since returning from an oblique injury. Poulin started ahead of regular Evgeni Nabokov, who was injured in Monday nights 7-3 win over Dallas. Nabokovs absence is a definite concern as the Islanders were 1-9-2 when he was out with a groin injury earlier this season. Okposo pulled New York even at 19:16 with his 17th goal of the season, his wrist shot eluding Bernier. New York went ahead on the peculiar no-play zone incident early in the second. Bernier left his crease to stop a loose puck behind the Toronto goal but couldnt prevent it from going outside the no-play zone. That allowed Grabner to take the loose puck and score his sixth goal unassisted on the wraparound at 3:06. Toronto had four power-play chances in the period but only scored at 8:25 to make it 2-2. Poulin stopped Jake Gardiners point shot but Raymond converted the rebound for his 12th goal of the season but just his second in 16 contests. NOTES -- Defenceman Tim Gleason made his Toronto debut . . . Toronto beat the Islanders 5-2 in the first meeting of the season Nov. 19 at the ACC . . . The Leafs visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before heading to Washington on Friday night. Their next home game is Sunday against New Jersey . . . The Islanders placed Nabokov (lower body) on injured reserve after Mondays game and recalled Anders Nilsson from Bridgeport of the AHL . . . Okposo missed Mondays win over Dallas to be present for the birth of his daughter . . . Tavares extended his points streak to seven straight games but teammate Thomas Vaneks string ended at nine contests. Dewayne Dedmon Jersey . Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen. Caleb Swanigan Kings Jersey . Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period. https://www.kingslockerroom.com/Demarcus-Cousins-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans.LOS ANGELES -- When Blake Griffin soared past Stephen Curry and hammered home his one-handed rebound of Danny Grangers missed jumper, the slam emphasized everything thats so impressive about the Los Angeles Clippers nine-game winning streak. The Clippers are on this roll against good teams, at a perfect time for their playoff preparations -- and just like Griffins mind-blowing dunk, theyre doing it with style. Griffin had 30 points and 15 rebounds, Granger added 18 points off the bench, and the Clippers surged past the Golden State Warriors 111-98 Wednesday night. Chris Paul had 16 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who split their four-game season series against their Pacific Division rivals with an impressive finish to a tight game. "This is the time of year when you want to be playing your best," Griffin said. "Our fight has been great. Whoever is on the court ... up 10 or down 10, I think weve come to a point where it doesnt really matter. We stick together and try to pull it out." Griffin was in top form on both ends of the court, punctuating his latest monster performance with that rebound slam with 8:18 to play. The four-time All-Star has scored 20 points in 24 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in the NBA this season. Los Angeles has the third-longest winning streak in club history and the teams best record after 66 games (46-20), but the Clippers dont seem satisfied by their five-game lead over Golden State in the division standings. "Its impressive, because for the most part, weve been playing good teams," Granger said after his fifth game with the Clippers. "You really want to peak at this time going into the playoffs, because if a team is hitting on all cylinders, you look up and youre in the finals." Klay Thompson scored 26 points and David Lee had 20 for the Warriors, whose five-game winning streak ended with their fourth straight loss to the Clippers at Staples Center. Curry had just 13 points and 11 assists before sitting out the final minutes. Golden State got an impressive game from Thompson, but its normally reliable bench went 3 for 25, struggling mightily for most of the second half. "WWeve been playing great basketball against some good teams, and we thought we could come in here and play very well and get a win," Curry said. Peja Stojakovic Kings Jersey. "It didnt turn out that way, but one loss isnt going to stop us. Were going to continue that momentum, that rhythm." Los Angeles held Golden State to just one field goal in a 9:40 stretch spanning the final two quarters. The Warriors stayed in it with defence and free throws, but Darren Collison scored six quick points down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and Matt Barnes 3-pointer with 1:25 to play essentially sealed the win. The California clubs completed their series with another demonstration of the reasons they might have the West Coasts best current rivalry, although both teams agree they need playoff stakes to develop true enmity. "All four games this year have been very competitive games," Lee said. "Both teams took care of their homecourt. I think were two pretty evenly matched teams that have big plans for the post-season, so we look forward to seeing what happens the rest of the season. These last three games weve played felt like playoff-style games." Granger kept the Clippers in it during a rocky first-half stretch, making his first six shots without a miss in about 11 minutes. Los Angeles rolled off a 15-3 run to close the third quarter with an 84-79 lead, scoring nine straight points capped by Pauls 3-pointer on a crosscourt assist from Griffin with 0.1 seconds left. NOTES: Paul missed eight of his first nine shots and struggled all night under tight defence from Thompson. Paul went back out on the Staples Center court after the game with an assistant coach to work on his shot after his 5-for-15 effort. ... Clippers G Jamal Crawford sat out for the fifth time in six games with a strained left calf. Jared Dudley returned from a three-game absence with back spasms, but played just one minute. ... Griffin grabbed his 3,000th career rebound late in the first half. He is the third player in NBA history to have 6,000 points, 3,000 boards and 1,000 assists in his first four full NBA seasons while also making 50 per cent of his shots, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley. ' ' '