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With James Anderson sitting out Englands first Test against Pakistan at Lords on Thursday with a shoulder injury, how might the hosts fare without their senior strike bowler? Despite Anderson being the countrys all-time record wicket-taker, England have won 48 per cent of the 52 Tests theyve played without him since he made his debut in 2003, in comparison to 44 per cent of the 116 he has played in.Perhaps somewhat unfair given Andersons early absences coincided with a very strong England team that won the 2005 Ashes with Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard leading the attack.A fairer reflection would be to look at the eight Tests out of 104 that Anderson has missed since he burst back into the team on tour in New Zealand in 2008. Heres how England coped in those…51 ALL OUT(LOSS v West Indies, Jamaica, February 2009) Ryan Sidebottom was preferred to Anderson in Jamaica Following the sacking of Peter Moores as coach and with Andrew Strauss replacing Kevin Pietersen as captain, England left for a tour to the West Indies in turmoil. Things would get much worse as the tourists crumbled to an innings-and-23-run defeat in the first Test in Jamaica.Anderson was dropped from the team following two low-key performances in the warm-up matches, with Ryan Sidebottom preferred as the swing option. Although Sidebottom went wicketless in his 24 overs, it wasnt the bowling that was the problem - England suffering an embarrassing batting collapse to 51 all out in their second innings.RESTED IN BANGLADESH(WIN v Bangladesh, Chittagong, March 2010)(WIN v Bangladesh, Dhaka, March 2010) Graeme Swann took up the wicket-taking mantle with Anderson rested Anderson was one a number of players rested for the two-Test tour of Bangladesh in early 2010 - captain Strauss also given a breather. It allowed for Steven Finn, Michael Carberry and James Tredwell to make their Test debuts on tour. The under-strength England made light work of the hosts, earning 181-run and nine-wicket wins.Stand-in captain Alastair Cook cracked 173 in the win in Chittagong, with Paul Collingwood notching 145 and Graeme Swann taking 10 wickets in the match to spin the side to success. Things werent quite so simple in Dhaka as Bangladesh tallied 419 in their first innings, but 138 from Ian Bell helped England nudge past that total and a second century on the tour for Cook (109no) saw England chase down 209 to win in the second innings.DILSHAN DOMINATES(DRAW v Sri Lanka, Lords, June 2011) Tillakaratne Dilshan racked up the runs against an Anderson-less attack Tillakaratne Dilshan was the dominant performer as England drew with Sri Lanka in 2011, getting himself onto the Lords honours board with a Test-best 193. Matt Prior (126) and Cook (106) also notched centuries in a high-scoring game.It was in stark contrast to the events of a week before in Cardiff as England bowled out Sri Lanka for 82 inside 25 overs to earn a thrilling final day victory. While Anderson played in that game, a side strain kept him from bowling in the second innings - Swann (4-16) and Chris Tremlett (4-40) doing the damage - and also prevented him from playing at Lords.TINO BEST BLASTS 95(DRAW v West Indies, Edgbaston, June 2012) Tino Best smashed England for 95 from 112 balls in Birmingham With the series already won 2-0 with one to play, England controversially opted to rest both Anderson (nine wickets at 26.88) and Stuart Broad (14 wickets at 21.71) for the final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2012. When the game got going after much disruption due to rain, Englands attack of Finn, Graeme Onions and Tim Bresnan struggled.Denesh Ramdin responded to criticism from Viv Richards with 107 and a poorly-scrawled sign saying Yea Viv, Talk Nah, while Tino Best struck a then Test-best score by a number 11, with 95 from 112 balls. Ashton Agar would go on to break that record with 98 against an Anderson-led attack at Trent Bridge during the 2013 Ashes.ASHES ABSENCE(WIN v Australia, Trent Bridge, August 2015)(LOSS v Australia, The Oval, August 2015) Oh My Broad! Stuart tore Australia apart at Trent Bridge It would be a further three years until Anderson would next be absent for England - and what a Test to miss! At a venue he loves, Trent Bridge (53 wickets in eight Tests at 19.24), with an Ashes series on the line (England 2-1 up with two to play), Anderson, again suffering from a side-strain, could only watch as a Broad-inspired England skittled Australia for 60 inside 19 overs on a sensational first morning of the fourth Test.Off the back of Broads 8-15, Joe Root struck 130 to give England a healthy lead before Ben Stokes took 6-36 to wrap up a convincing innings-and-78-run win and secure the urn for the hosts. A slight hangover followed at The Oval, with Australia captain Steve Smith striking 143 and leading his side to an innings victory of their own and a consolation win.BOXING DAY WIN IN DURBAN(WIN v South Africa, Durban, December 2015) Moeen Ali put in a man of the match display in Durban Anderson returned for Englands autumn tour of Pakistan, but was again forced out for the first Test in South Africa, struggling with tightness in his right calf. Chris Woakes came in, taking match figures of 1-53, but it was a man-of-the-match effort from Moeen Ali that inspired an emphatic England win by 241 runs.Nick Compton (85) and James Taylor (70) bailed England out of trouble from 49-3 to a score of 303 in their first innings. Moeen and Broad then shared four wickets apiece to give England a near 100-run advantage which Root (73) and Jonny Bairstow (79) added to in the second innings before Moeen spun South Africa out for a second time, finishing with match figures of 7-116. Anderson would return for the second Test in Cape Town and England would go on to claim a 2-1 series win.See how England cope without Anderson - and Mohammad Amirs likely return to Test cricket - by watching their first Test against Pakistan, at Lords, from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2. Also See: Pakistan v England: Story of 2015 Who is Toby Roland-Jones? Bumbles Blog Live cricket on Sky Kyle Rudolph Jersey . With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night. Chris Doleman Jersey .Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. http://www.officialminnesotavikingsfootball.com/authentic-pat-elflein-jersey-womens . Smiths former Atlanta teammates were glad to hang on for an ugly win. Adrian Peterson Jersey . -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. Paul Krause Jersey .com) - Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is set to return Tuesday against Nashville after sitting out the past two games because of a minor upper body injury.TORONTO – The difference was as simple as special teams on this night. The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. “Theres a responsibility thats borne out by special teams in tonights hockey game,” said Randy Carlyle after the 5-2 loss to Boston, which snapped a brief two-game win streak. Combative with their top rival for much of the 60 minutes, the Leafs were ultimately undone by both special team units. Their once prideful penalty kill allowed two more power play goals – falling to fifth-worst overall – while a typically potent man advantage stood empty in four chances. “Our PK just let us down again,” said Jay McClement after the loss. “Its a huge momentum builder for us and right now its going the other way. Its killing our momentum.” Up 1-0 on the Bruins after a period – on a goal from Peter Holland – the Leafs veered off the road when penalties to Carter Ashton and Carl Gunnarsson struck early in the middle frame. Boston scored twice in less than two minutes with the consecutive power plays, momentum spiraling downward in rapid order for the Leafs. “It was bang-bang,” said Carlyle. “All of a sudden they score two goals and the life went out of our hockey club.” The Bruins scratched out another marker at even-strength late in the period, a puck from rookie Kevan Miller squeezing through the pads of Jonathan Bernier. And though they would claw back to cut the deficit to 3-2 on McClements first of the year, the Leafs failed to score with consecutive man advantage opportunities in the third. “We made a few mistakes on our penalty kill and thats the difference against top teams,” said a terse Dion Phaneuf. At equal with the Atlantic division-leading Bruins for the most part at even-strength – the shots were 32-25 in Bostons favour – the failure on special teams proved disappointing, especially in light of the daunting schedule that lays ahead. The Leafs clash with the Kings, Blues, Blackhawks and Penguins over the next week, clutching just two regulation victories in their past 17 games. Five Points 1. Penalty Killing Funk Countering the effects of a potent Toronto power play (more below) is an increasingly ineffective penalty kill, one that surrendered two more goals to the Bruins on Sunday night. The unit, now stumbling at just 77 per cent, has allowed an astounding 13 goals over the past eight games – at least one in all eight – and two or more in five of the past 10. “Our penalty kill is something that definitely needs work,” said Jake Gardiner, the 23-year-old leading the Leafs with over 25 minutes against the Bruins. “Youve seen that in the past few games or even weeks I guess so its something we need to work on.” Simple mistakes were punished. The Leafs failed to clear pucks on each of the two Boston power play goals; Dion Phaneuf moments before the first marker from Carl Soderberg, Mason Raymond shortly before the second from Torey Krug, a blast that ricocheted off the shin-pad of Gardiner. “Those two specifically came back to haunt us,” said Carlyle. His team has allowed a league-leading 28 power play goals this season. 2. More Penalty Kill Carlyle slightly altered the composition of the penalty kill in the past couple games, cutting down on the minutes of the increasingly over-worked James van Riemsdyk while inserting rookie Jerry DAmigo, a mainstay for years on the Marlies typically strong unit. Personnel aside, the confidence of a group that finished as the leagues second-best last season has simply vanished in recent weeks. “I think when were going really good with it – last year and then the start of this year &ndassh; we had almost a swagger when we went out there,” said McClement.dddddddddddd “We expected to kill it and we were all working together. And right now were just making tiny little mistakes and it seems like we just cant get away with anything so we have to correct those [mistakes].” Not helping matters much either is the amount of penalties taken. The Leafs have earned more power play opportunities than their opponent in just one of the past nine games. 3. A Little Depth The Leafs entered the night with 83 per cent of their offence emerging from just seven different sources, but against the Bruins they finally managed to find some depth. Energizing the fourth line – and later moved up to the third unit – Peter Holland scored his second goal with the Leafs, setting up McClement with his first this season in the third. “Obviously weve been relying on our big guys pretty much completely all year,” said McClement, who has just three points all season after posting 17 in 48 games last season. “Its huge if we can get contributions from the rest of us and take the weight off our big boys a little bit.” 4. Power Play Right up there with goaltending, the Toronto power play has been a consistent hub of success so far this season. Though it came up empty against the Bruins, the unit still ranks third-best in the NHL through 31 games. “We work on it a lot and we focus on trying to execute cleanly,” said Cody Franson prior to the game, the 26-year-old leading the team with 11 power play points. “When you can do that it enables things to speed up a little bit and its harder to defend as a penalty kill.” “Just movement, lots of traffic, timely goals,” said Nazem Kadri, asked whats made it effective to date. “Theres a few things that have been contributing; the way we bring the puck up the ice to set up the power play. Its definitely been working for us and one of our strengths of the year. But weve got to keep going and weve got to keep putting pucks to the net. Sometimes maybe we get a little too cute and sometimes were just better off just looking for those bang-in rebounds around the crease.” Especially potent on home ice – save Sunday – the Leafs have clicked on 31.9 per cent of their power plays at the ACC, tops in the league this season. Of note is the limited number of penalties drawn, just 97 on the year, seventh-fewest in the NHL. 5. Critical Areas Harping on the need to cut down on goals against from the critical areas, Carlyle was bothered by the various locations of the Bruin markers on Sunday. “The disappointing part for us as a coaching staff is where the goals are scored from,” he said. “We have got to have better coverage in those areas. If they score them from the outside those are going to happen … Its where theyre scoring the goals from is the most important thing for us to attend to right away.” After yielding 50 shots in consecutive wins against Dallas and Ottawa, the Leafs allowed a comparatively scant 39 on Sunday night against Boston. Stats-Pack 13 – Power play goals against the Leafs in the past eight games. 8 – Consecutive games in which the Leafs have allowed at least one power play goal. 25:21 – Ice-time for Jake Gardiner, leading the Leafs against the Bruins. 28 – Power play goals against the Leafs this season, most in the NHL. 14-19 – Jay McClement in the faceoff circle against the Bruins. 32-25 – Shots advantage for Boston at even-strength. 3 – Points for Peter Holland in nine games with the Leafs. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4 Season: 26.7% PK: 1-3 Season: 77% Quote of the Night “Our PK just let us down again.” - Jay McClement, following the 5-2 loss to the Bruins. Up Next The Leafs host the Kings at the ACC on Wednesday night. 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