TORONTO - With frustration mounting following three consecutive losses, the Raptors needed a lift as much as any team could seven games into a long season. Theyve been a punching bag for both Eastern Conference finalists, lost a heartbreaker to the lowly Bobcats and now face an increasingly difficult early-season schedule. Returning home to face the NBAs lone winless team was just what the doctor ordered. "We just needed to get our head on straight, come out with some focus and take all our anger out on somebody," said Terrence Ross moments after his team handed the Jazz their seventh straight loss to the begin the season, 115-91 at the Air Canada Centre Saturday. "We came out here and took care of business." "I think its good for our confidence," said Tyler Hansbrough, who led the Raptors - now 3-4 on the season - in scoring with 23 points off the bench. "Especially when youre on a losing streak like this. Its good just to get a win and get your confidence up." A victim of slow starts and/or botched execution down the stretch during the first six games of the season, the Raptors put in their first 48-minute effort, a wire-to-wire victory. "No matter who you play youve got to give it 48," Dwane Casey added after the win. "We started the game out and we ended it playing the game the right way and thats what were looking for." Casey called a timeout after a short-lived Jazz run cut the Raptors lead to two points midway through the first quarter. His team responded by scoring 33 of the next 41 points into the second quarter and never looked back from there, leading by as many as 38. Despite the low level of difficulty - Utah is every bit as bad as advertised - the Raptors desperately needed to get their groove back ahead of another tough road swing. The victory was important for a team that had recently dropped a couple of games to the leagues best - the Heat and Pacers - and failed to take advantage of Wednesdays meeting with the Bobcats. Saturdays game was winnable and it was one they needed to have. Most encouraging was how they got it. For the first time this season, Torontos offence looked diverse and cohesive from start to finish. The Raptors registered a season-high 23 assists and committed just 12 turnovers. They shot 48 per cent, hit 10 three-pointers and no player attempted more than 14 shots. Everyone that played contributed in some fashion, a focus for Caseys club entering the game. "If collectively we can get everybody in the same rhythm, going the same way itll help us a lot," Casey said before tip-off. "Weve got to get everyone clicking at the same time offensively." Second unit production The second unit had been part of the problem, outscored by the opponents reserves in each of the first six games. On Saturday, Torontos bench led the way, scoring 56 points on 50 per cent shooting. Hansbrough was particularly impressive, setting a career-high in free throw attempts with 13 and knocking down 11 of them. "I thought Tyler Hansbrough was just a handful," Casey said. "Thats the kind of intensity it takes to be a winning program, every night not just once a month but every night. What hes doing is contagious." Sophomores Ross and Quincy Acy chipped in with nine points apiece and Julyan Stone added seven as the Raptors were able to rest their starters late in the second half. "Thats our team in practice so we have a chemistry down," Ross said of the second unit. "Were all learning how to play with each other. We know what each player likes to do so were just taking it to the court." Lowry exits early Kyle Lowry hobbled to the locker room at halftime after coming down on the foot of Enes Kanter going in for a layup at the end of the second quarter. He did not return, sitting out the second half with a sprained right ankle. "I think he just tweaked it," Casey said. "I think if he had to go he would have been okay." The Raptors guard said the ankle was sore after the game but expects to be ready to go when the team visits Houston and Memphis - both former teams of his - next week. Up next The Raptors have an off-day on Sunday following their third consecutive back-to-back set before taking on Dwight Howard, James Harden and the Rockets in Houston Monday. cheap jerseys . The (30-26-7) Jets have earned five of a possible six points in their last three games and enter tonight with 67 points.? They trail Dallas by one point for a Western Conference Wild Card playoff spot. wholesale jerseys .ca! Hi Kerry, I am really confused about something that happened in the game between the Flyers and Leafs last night. The Flyers scored a goal that was verified immediately by the ref directly behind the net. http://www.jerseyscheapnfl.us.com/ . LUCIE, Fla. wholesale nfl jerseys . Spencer Abbott and Trevor Smith scored third-period goals erasing a 2-1 deficit giving Toronto a late 3-2 lead. nfl jerseys china . Andres Ambuhl scored the winning goal late in the third period as host HC Davos beat Canada 3-2 Saturday.TORONTO - The Leafs are hanging onto what positivity they can muster amid a season-long losing streak that struck five games on Tuesday night. "We try to accentuate the positives," said Randy Carlyle after a 4-2 loss to the Sharks, "but the big negative is we lost." It was the fifth straight defeat and six in the past seven games for the Leafs. Despite an engaged effort, they were beaten on this night by one of the leagues premier teams, San Jose now a winner in nine of the past 10 games. Discipline issues continued in the loss, but maybe more concerning for the Leafs were ongoing struggles to generate offence at even-strength, both goals coming via the leagues top-ranked home power-play. Toronto has scored just 18 even-strength goals in the past 14 games, held to two goals or fewer in 11 of those games. The Sharks outshot the Leafs by a wide 35-19 margin at even-strength, scoring three of their four goals in such situations, including the eventual winner from Joe Pavelski, a sequence that saw Torontos fourth line pinned in its own zone for nearly two minutes. Certainly dinged by a rising tide of games missed due to injuries, suspensions and other maladies - they were without Nazem Kadri due to a death in the family, Cody Franson to an injury and Tyler Bozak for most of the night with an upper-body injury - the Leafs have nonetheless struggled to find depth offensively all season. In fact, 84 per cent of their total offence has come from just seven players, one of those being Dave Bolland, who hasnt played in over a month. Lacking much punch from their defence, theyve also gotten very little in the way of contributions from their bottom-6 forwards. Tuesdays fourth line of Colton Orr, Jerred Smithson and Frazer McLaren, for instance, has combined for zero points all season. Perhaps the key to unlocking more consistent success offensively is the Leaf forecheck, productive with pressure during an energetic opening 10 minutes of the second frame - theyd be rewarded for those efforts with a pair of power-plays, scoring on both. "The forecheck creates offensive zone time, it creates and draws penalties, creates scoring chances, wears opposition down," Carlyle said. "We have stressed that weve got to do a better job of getting in there and establishing a forechecking game and establishing offensive zone time. Weve been talking about it. And there are periods of games that we do it very well." But as has been the case throughout the opening two months of the season and more specifically during a dreadful November, which saw them win just twice in regulation, the Leafs have been unable to establish such pressure for a complete night. "We have spurts where were good, I think we play well," said Mason Raymond, who scored the first Leaf goal and his 10th this season. "But again its only spurts. We need to figure out how to put those spurts together into 60 minutes." Five Points 1. Discipline A focal point of concern for Carlyle entering the game, discipline became an issue once more on this night, the Leafs yielding four power-plays while drawing just three themselves. Unhappy with Andrew Desjardins body-check on Smithson midway through the opening period, McLaren drew a roughing penalty and while the Sharks wouldnt score with that man advantage they would grab control of the period thereafter. Theyd score once at even-strength on a goal from former Leaf Mike Brown before adding a power-play marker from Joe Thornton during a five-on-three advantage; Raymond and Jay McClement called for hooking and tripping respectively. "That took momentum totally for the period in their favour," Carlyle said of the penalties. "Disciplines a huge part," said Raymond. "Youre killing penalties, youre not playing offence and youre playing in your own zone so were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot there." The Leafs have taken 125 minor penalties this season, second most in the league. 2. Busy Outings James Reimer has faced an average of 36 shots per game in his 12 full starts this season (he left one start after 32 seconds because of injury). But in spite of the heavy nightly workload, Reimer, who faced 40 shots against the Sharks, refuses to be consumed with frustratiion.dddddddddddd "The only reason you get frustrated is if youre focusing on what other people are doing or not doing," Reimer said. "And thats not in my job description. My job description is to stop the puck and do the best I can to give the boys a chance, so whether were giving up 50 [shots] a night or 10 [shots] a night thats what youve got to do. "If were giving up shots because some players arent playing well or maybe were not playing well as a team thats irrelevant. Theres games where Im not going to play well and I dont want guys jumping down my throat because I didnt play well or play well for a couple games. Its not how it goes. We each work our butts off, we support each and we believe in each other and thats the only thing you worry about. I dont worry about what other guys are doing or how many shots [Im facing]." Reimer is now 6-3-0 when making 30 saves or more this season. 3. Raymond Tied for the team lead in November scoring with seven points, Mason Raymond has already matched the 10 goals he scored all of last season with the Canucks. A bargain free agent find at $1 million for one season, Raymond has 19 points in 28 games, third on the Leafs in scoring this season. The most striking difference for the 27-year-old between this season and last is opportunity. Raymond is averaging a career-high of over 18 minutes per game this year, his speed and pluck offensively a valued asset amid a string of early injuries and suspensions. Raymonds numbers this year in contrast with 2013 Year Games Goals Points Shooting % Minutes 2013-2014 28 10 19 14.3 18:10 2013 46 10 22 12.7 15:49 4. More on the Forecheck Following the opening frame, one that saw the Leafs down 2-0, Raymond harped on the need to "create a forecheck". After the game he expanded upon those thoughts. "I think theres a lot of factors that are going to add up to make a team more successful, but thats definitely one of them," he said of the forecheck. "I dont think anybody wants to be playing in their defensive zone if you can be playing in your offensive zone." "When you stick to the game-plan of just keeping things simple, getting pucks deep, getting a good forecheck, thats just kind of the template that I think most teams have when theyre successful in the league," added James van Riemsdyk. 5. Bad Month Over Phil Kessel finished the month of November with just six points in 13 games. It was among the worst months hes had in a Leafs uniform, just one assist to his name along with five goals. Only Nov. 2010 compares with the mild output he managed last month; Kessel had three goals and five points in 13 games en route to 64 points in 82 games. The 26-year-old scored his team-leading 15th goal against the Sharks on Tuesday, now riding a four-game point streak. Kessel sits 20th in league scoring, boasting 25 points this season. Stat-Pack 18 - Even-strength goals for the Leafs in the past 14 games.6-3-0 - Record for James Reimer when making 30 saves or more this season. 23 - Games this season the Leafs have allowed 30 shots or more. 41 - Shots for the Sharks on Tuesday. San Jose leads the league in shots per game while Toronto yields the most against per game. 12:33 - Ice-time for Tyler Bozak against the Sharks. Bozak left the game for good after the second period with an upper-body injury. 8 - Power-play goals scored against the Leafs in the past five games. 14-41 - Leafs power-play on home-ice this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-3Season: 24.7 per cent PK: 3-4Season: 78.5 per cent Quote of the Night "Sometimes you dont play well and you lose and its pretty disappointing, but thats one of the best teams in the league over there and in my mind it was anyones game. Sometimes they dont go your way." -James Reimer, following the loss to San Jose. Up Next The Leafs host the Dallas Stars at the ACC on Thursday night. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys china cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '