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CHICAGO -- Even with budding star Auston Matthews emerging as the face of one of the NHLs youngest rosters and most storied franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs are experiencing growing pains.Toronto will try to come away with a win in the finale of their three-game road trip on Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six clubs.The Maple Leafs (1-1-2) fell 3-2 at Minnesota on Thursday, one night after seeing a four-goal lead disappear in a 5-4 overtime loss at Winnipeg. However, coach Mike Babcock isnt disappointed.I think weve done a lot of good things, Babcock said after the loss to the Wild. Were .500 after four (games), and so as we grow up here a little bit, weve just got to hang in the hunt as best as we can because were going to get better fast.That might be a difficult task against a team that has won three Stanley Cups since 2010. Toronto has been outscored 15-3 in three consecutive losses to the Blackhawks, including a 7-2 setback on Feb. 15 at the United Center where the Maple Leafs surrendered four power-play goals.Matthews, the top overall pick in last Junes NHL Draft, is tied for the league lead with five goals but has just one since his record-setting debut in a loss to Ottawa on Oct. 12.Its a learning process. Were still a young team, but were competing day in and day out, so I think were heading in the right direction, the 19-year-old center said after the loss to Minnesota.One player looking forward to Saturday is Toronto defenseman Connor Carrick, who grew up in suburban Orland Park, about 25 miles from the United Center. He scored his only goal of the season in Wednesdays loss to the Jets.You want to close the opportunities you get in this league, make sure you finish, stomp on the other teams will, so to speak, Carrick told the Toronto Sun. Its hard to get the full two points in this league and you just dont want it to slip away. We want to reverse that trend.After backup goaltender Jhonas Enroth played against Minnesota, Fredrik Andersen will likely face the Blackhawks. In his only start at Chicago early last season while with Anaheim, Andersen surrendered the lone goal in a 1-0 overtime loss.Chicago (2-3-0) opens a stretch in which it plays four of the next five at home after falling 3-2 decision on Friday at Columbus. Rookie Tyler Motte scored his first NHL goal and Richard Panik, a former Maple Leafs player, produced his fifth in five games to tie Matthews for the league lead.Panik posted a career-high 11 goals in 76 games with Toronto in 2014-15. He leads Chicago with seven points even though the Blackhawks feature two of the leagues dynamic players in Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin.Last season en route to winning the Hart Trophy as the leagues MVP, Kane had four goals and four assists in both wins over Toronto with five of those points coming on the power play.Panarin, the Calder Trophy winner as the NHLs top rookie in 2015-16, had two goals and three assists in two games against the Leafs.But a big issue for Chicago this season has been penalty killing. The Blackhawks are last in the NHL, having surrendered 11 goals in 19 short-handed situations.We have to hit the reset button and just bear down and find a way to get it done because its losing us games right now, defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson told the Blackhawks official website.Corey Crawford stopped 25 shots Friday. However, with games on back-to-back nights, the Blackhawks could start Scott Darling, who recorded a 1.51 goals-against average while winning both matchups with the Maple Leafs in 2015-16.Chicago played Friday without Marian Hossa, who became the 44th player in NHL history to score 500 goals in a win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Hossa is day to day with a lower body injury.Trevor van Riemsdyk, a healthy scratch the previous three games, left Fridays game with an upper-body injury and could be out a bit, according to the team. New Orleans Saints Gear . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. New Orleans Saints Shirts . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/ . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. New Orleans Saints Store .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Fake Saints Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints, a half-century-old NFL franchise whose early decades were defined largely by bumbling ineptitude, have seen their share of losses marked by unlikely plays and surreal drama.The latest -a 25-23 loss against Denver decided by a blocked extra-point kick returned for a 2-point conversion -- repeated another scenario that has become all too familiar for the Saints in the past decade.It marked the fifth time since 2007 that the Saints (4-5) have rebounded from a start of 1/3 or worse to get to 4-4, only to lose their ninth game. The previous four times it happened -- in 2007, 2012, 2014 and 2015 -- the Saints never got above .500 and missed the playoffs.But the Saints want to believe this time will turn out differently over their last seven games. Some untimely mistakes may have cost them a narrow loss to the defending champion Broncos, but New Orleans players say there remains plenty of evidence that their turnaround has not by any means been derailed.Against the Broncos, the Saints had arguably their best game defensively this season, especially with their pass rush. They had six sacks after getting 11 combined in the first eight games. Cameron Jordan provided consistent pressure and had a team-high eight tackles, including one sack.I thought he played exceptionally well, coach Sean Payton said. It was probably one of his best games of the year. The pressure was significant. I think that really helped us in a lot of ways -- coverage-wise and obviously with the sudden changes that we had.The Saints twice intercepted Trevor Siemian and twice they forced Denver to settle for field-goal attempts after reaching the red zone.Although New Orleanns had four turnovers and a slow start that yielded just three first-half points, Drew Brees was 21 of 29 for 303 yards against the NFLs top-rated pass defense.dddddddddddd Brees was sacked just once by a defense that had 28 sacks in its previous nine games.Brandin Cooks finished with 98 yards on three receptions. But fellow wide receiver Michael Thomas, a rookie second-round draft choice, lost two fourth-quarter fumbles, the first of which set up a tying touchdown and the second of which led to a field goal that gave the Broncos a 23-17 lead shortly before Brees and Cooks connected on a 32-yard TD that briefly tied the game at 23.A No. 1 pick in 2014, Cooks has emerged as the Saints leading receiver the last two seasons. He said he called Thomas, who has been the most productive rookie receiver in the NFL, on Sunday night to check on him.Hes doing good, Cooks said. Stuff happens and you learn from it. As young guys we learn to bounce back. Im going to continue to push him and be there for him.The Saints have a quick turnaround as they prepare to visit NFC South rival Carolina on Thursday night.We lost a game that left a bad taste in our mouth, Jordan said. Its good that we get a fast chance at redemption.The Saints beat the Panthers 41-38 on Oct. 16 in the Superdome.The best thing that can happen for us is the next game coming up in four days, Cooks said. The best thing for this team is to get back to doing what we need to do, especially against a division opponent.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '