rite Slam Dunk entrant Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs return home from a disappointing road trip with a new look on their bench Wednesday night as they take on the Washington Capitals. The Maple Leafs were outscored 8-2 in losing the final two contests of a seven-game swing to Minnesota and Winnipeg, with the defeats on back-to-back days wrapping up a 2-5-0 road trip. Toronto has lost seven of its past nine and owns just a one-point lead over the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conferences second wild card, but despite currently having a playoff spot head coach Randy Carlyle was fired on Tuesday. It just fell into place that this is where were at. If this would have happened and we felt we were trending this way a month from now we would have done the same thing, said Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis. Earlier in the season we had some pretty good stretches where we thought we were going to be the consistent team we wanted to be. That didnt happen and we couldnt wait longer. At this point we felt we needed to make this change. Carlyle was hired by the Maple Leafs during the 2011-12 campaign, not long after being relieved of his coaching duties by the Anaheim Ducks, and led Toronto to the postseason the following campaign. That snapped a franchise- worst seven-season span without a playoff appearance, but Toronto failed to make it back to the 2014 postseason. Assistants Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will handle coaching duties on an interim basis beginning tonight. Horachek previously served as an interim head coach for the Florida Panthers beginning in November of 2013 before joining Toronto the following summer and also spent 10 seasons in Nashville as an assistant under current Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. Spott spent a season coaching the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League prior to his promotion to an assistant coach in July. The Maple Leafs try to pick up the pieces following a 5-1 loss to the Jets on Saturday. James Reimer gave No. 1 netminder Jonathan Bernier a breather and was peppered with 40 shots, allowing all five goals. Mike Santorelli recorded Torontos only goal 2:19 into the second period when he batted in James van Riemsdyks cross-ice pass into the back of the net. Maybe we were a little tired, but I dont want to give that as an excuse, Reimer said. Were professionals, and we have to find ways to win these games. Toronto has been able to pick up some wins over Washington as of late, winning each of the previous three meetings. The Maple Leafs took the first of three meetings with the Capitals this season 6-2 at home on Nov. 29. Bernier made 35 saves and is 3-1-0 with a 2.01 goals against average and .932 save percentage versus Washington. Tyler Bozak scored twice. Justin Peters played the first and third periods in net for Washington, allowing three goals on 11 shots. Braden Holtby took over in the second and gave up three scores on 12 shots. Peters has not started since and Holtby is likely to make his 16th straight start tonight. He is 2-1-1 versus the Leafs with a 1.76 GAA and .943 save percentage in four meetings, including three starts. Holtby came up with 29 saves in Sundays 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. It marked the Capitals sixth victory in eight games and improved them to 10-1-3 in their past 14 games. We are doing a lot of the right things and playing sometimes a boring style of hockey, but its the winning style of hockey and its way more fun playing that way for us, Caps defenseman Karl Alzner told NHL.com. Alzner, Brooks Laich and Andre Burakovsky all scored and Alex Ovechkin tallied and added an assist for his third multi-point game in a row. Ovechkin has three goals and six points over that span, which includes a win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic on New Years Day. Custom Cincinnati Reds Nike Jerseys . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. Custom Los Angeles Angels Nike Jerseys . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/?tag=custom-houston-astros-nike-jerseys . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with cornerback Kelvin Hayden. Custom Atlanta Braves Nike Jerseys . But this time, the Gunners weathered the storm. Arsene Wengers team was on the ropes in the early stages of a lively FA Cup tie, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal against the run of the play. Custom San Diego Padres Nike Jerseys . Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists.Canadas Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kelly Olynyk of the Boston Celtics were named to the World Team for the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star weekend. Wiggins, who leads all rookies in scoring (15.2 PPG), is part of a frontcourt that includes the Utah Jazzs Rudy Gobert, the third-leading shot-blocker in the NBA (2.18 BPG), and the Chicago Bulls Nikola Mirotic. The other World Team players are Sprite Slam Dunk entrant Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets, Gorgui Dieng of the Timberwolves, Dante Exum of the Jazz and Dennis Schroder of the Atlanta Hawks. The leagues annual showcase will debut a format that pits 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the United States against 10 firstt- and second-year NBA players from around the world.dddddddddddd. The game, set for Friday, Feb. 13, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, will be televised live on TSN. Philadelphias Michael Carter-Williams, one of two NBA players averaging at least 15.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds, is joined on the U.S. Team by Sprite Slam Dunk competitors Zach LaVine of the Timberwolves, Victor Oladipo of the Magic and Mason Plumlee of the Nets. The rookie leader in assists (the Magics Elfrid Payton) and the rookie leader in rebounds, blocked shots and steals (the 76ers Nerlens Noel) were also selected for the U.S. Team, which is rounded out by Trey Burke of the Jazz, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of the Detroit Pistons, Shabazz Muhammad of the Timberwolves and Cody Zeller of the Charlotte Hornets. ' ' '