NEWARK – The Maple Leafs are teetering on the edge of another late season collapse. [url=http://www.cardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Kolten-Wong-Kids-Jers ey/]Kolten Wong Jersey[/url] . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year –

NEWARK – The Maple Leafs are teetering on the edge of another late season collapse. Kolten Wong Jersey . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year – after they fell again in New Jersey on Sunday night, topped 3-2 by Cory Schneider and the Devils. Playoff fortunes that once appeared secure have slipped into a more precarious state with a troubling tumble in the past week. All-too-recently fighting for second spot in the Atlantic division, Toronto has fallen to the edge of the playoffs, now in the second wild card position – mere inches ahead of Washington and Columbus – with only nine games to play. “The bottom line,” said head coach Randy Carlyle after the latest loss, “is its a results-orientated sport and we have to find a way to stop the bleeding here and do everything in our power to regroup with this hockey club and get them playing to a higher level.” If not playing entirely badly these days, the Leafs are doing just enough to lose, be it through sluggish starts, highly visible defensive breakdowns, and ordinary goaltending. On this night they fell behind for the seventh straight game, allowed a pair of goals via odd-man rush and breakaway, and had their backup goaltender struggle again to come up with a timely save. “I dont think were playing that bad,” said Phil Kessel, who scored his 36th of the year in defeat, crashing into the goal-post in doing so. “[But] its a tough stretch Ill tell you that much.” Tough stretch, indeed. It was only 11 days earlier, after James Reimer stole victory in Los Angeles, that the Leafs appeared in prime position for their second straight playoff spring. They sat three points up on the Lightning and Canadiens, 10 on the Capitals, nine on the Red Wings, seven on the Flyers, and six on the Rangers and Blue Jackets. Five of the seven has since passed them over, only Columbus and Washington trailing – just barely, mind you, with games in hand. Its been a remarkable spiral in a very short window, different in that way from the infamous 18-wheeler collapse of 2012 which cost Ron Wilson his job. The Leafs couldnt emerge unscathed from that storm, but can they find a way out of this one? Pressure is building, time is ticking, and the race is kicking into high gear with the Blues, Flyers and Wings all on deck in the coming week. Concern was evident as they exited the visitors dressing room, one by one at Prudential Center, keen to the reality of whats at stake. “We lost five in a row here right so its building here,” said Kessel of the pressure. “Obviously we need some wins.” Five Points 1. The Struggle Continues His confidence all but shattered at this point, Reimer was yanked for the sixth time this season. He yielded three goals on 10 shots, his save percentage in relief of the injured Jonathan Bernier dipping to .889 in six appearances. The 26-year-old has not won a start in more than two months (Jan. 21). Of that sunken confidence, Reimer concurred. “Its never high after a loss obviously and getting pulled,” he said. “[But] as crazy as it sounds I know Im becoming a better goalie and obviously a better person.” Ever the optimist, Reimer explained why. “Its been a ton of adversity in many different forms,” he said. “And so when you can weather it and keep your chin up you just get better.” Appearing in just his fifth NHL game, Drew MacIntyre stopped all 14 shots he faced in place of Reimer. Where that leaves the Leafs crease with St. Louis on deck is unclear. Carlyle didnt know if Bernier (groin) would be available for the Tuesday affair. If hes not for the sixth straight game, its not hard to envision MacIntyre getting his first NHL start. 2. Finger Pointing The Leafs have been a poor defensive team all year, requiring fantastic goaltending most nights from Bernier to have success. Theyve not gotten such heroics in relief with Reimer. His days in Toronto soon to be numbered, Reimer could not fend off an odd-man rush late in the opening frame – Morgan Rielly caught up ice, Nazem Kadri stuck on a bad line change – beaten glove-side by Damien Brunner. Faked out by Patrik Elias when he snuck behind the defence on the second Devils goal, Reimer then yielded a late squeaker that ultimately drove the hook from Carlyle. “We havent helped him out one bit,” said Tyler Bozak, charged in his defence of Reimer. “Obviously its easy to pick on the goalie when things are going bad for a team. But its a team game. We win and lose as a team. We havent been playing near well enough to win games. It hasnt been him at all.” “Usually in this type of playoff atmosphere youve got to find a way to knuckle down and play a tighter brand of defensive hockey,” Carlyle said. “We seem to be able to give up those opportunities early and then we seem to tighten up as the game goes on.” 3. Season Gone Wrong Just a night before his first game back in New Jersey as a member of the Leafs, David Clarkson barely saw the ice. He played just eight minutes and 54 seconds in the 4-3 loss to Montreal, his lowest total (save for injury) since Nov. 5, 2010. A season gone wrong has seen no signs of let-up for the 29-year-old, who left the Devils last summer for a seven-year deal with the Leafs worth more than $36 million. From suspension to injuries to suspension to struggles to find a role, Clarkson has had few, if any, positives this season. “The way this years gone I could never imagine it,” said Clarkson, before facing his former team. His four goals and 10 points are matched by Dave Bolland, who missed nearly five months with an ankle injury, and Troy Bodie, who has garnered half the ice-time in 13 fewer games. Barring an unforeseeable late season surge, Clarkson would set career-lows in goals, points and shooting percentage (he missed 21 games) – his previous low for points coming in the 2010-11 season when he posted just 18 in 82 games, including only two on the power-play. And if there is one similarity to that year in Jersey to his first in Toronto its the power-play and his opportunity on it. When Clarkson exploded for 45 goals and 70 points in the two seasons which preceded his signing in Toronto he did so in large part because of the power-play. About a third of his production came that way in fact, the Mimico native totaling 14 power-play goals (31 per cent of the total) and 24 power-play points (34 per cent). His ice-time had not surprisingly sky-rocketed from where it had been previously (up to nearly four minutes per game a year ago). This season, that opportunity has tumbled back downward. Buried behind the more skilled likes of Kessel, van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Kadri, Lupul and Raymond, Clarkson has rarely seen the power-play – about 54 minutes total – and thusly has just two points from it. Combine that with a considerable drop in shot attempts and shooting percentage, far less crash and bang and an unending search for a clear-cut role and the season has simply evolved into a nightmare for the former Devil. He played 10 minutes on this night, stuck without a point for the 22nd time in the past 24 games. 4. Falling Behind When Brunner beat Reimer he gave the Devils a 1-0 lead and handed the Leafs their seventh straight deficit to start a game. They fell behind 2-0 for the fifth time in those seven games when Elias snuck by Rielly at the Toronto blue-line before faking out Reimer on the breakaway goal. Sluggish starts continue to be a problem for the Leafs. “Weve been playing from behind a lot lately and just been running out of time I guess you could say,” said Bozak. “Gotta have better starts and try and get a lead early.” The Leafs are now 8-19-4 when they trail after a period and 11-23-4 when their opponent scores first. Bozak and Kessel scored to slice the 3-0 deficit to one, but like their failed comebacks in each of the previous four losses, it was not enough. “Theres no easy way when youre down three on the road to think that youre going to consistently come back in the hockey game,” said Carlyle. 5. JVR Accountability Speaking after the game, James van Riemsdyk made sure to shoulder some of the blame personally for the Leafs failings. Though he had five shots and multiple opportunities on Schneider in a career-high 26 minutes, van Riemsdyk failed to score for the 10th time in the past 11 games. “Its my job to score goals and obviously right now its not good enough,” he said unprovoked on the subject. “Were not winning games, Im not scoring goals, and Ill have to be better.” Stats-Pack 1-6-0 – Leafs record in their past seven games. 7 – Consecutive games in which the Leafs allowed the first goal. 8-19-4 – Leafs record this season when trailing after the first period. 1 – Goal for James van Riemsdyk in the past 11 games. 10:00 – Ice-time for David Clarkson in his first game back to New Jersey. 26:14 – Ice-time for van Riemsdyk, a career-high. 36 – Goals for Phil Kessel, one off matching a career-high. .889 – Save percentage for James Reimer in place of Jonathan Bernier (six appearances). Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-4 Season: 20.8% (T-3rd) PK: 2-2 Season: 78.7% (28th) Quote of the Night “I think everyones just got to relax a little bit and give him some breathing space because we know James is a great goaltender.” - Nazem Kadri, on recent criticism of James Reimer. Up Next The Leafs return home to face one of the leagues top teams with the Blues visiting the ACC on Tuesday. Chris Carpenter Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Falcons by 3 1/2RECORD VS. Ken Boyer Jersey . Huntelaar also had a penalty saved by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. The two goals brought Huntelaars total for the season to 18, level with Bayern Munichs Mario Gomez for most in the league. http://www.cardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Mark-Mcgwire-Kids-Jersey/ . These days, just about anyone can get a taste of the friendship that has blossomed between All-Star Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City Thunder teammate James Harden, most famous in the past two weeks or so for the elbow to the head he took from the Los Angeles Lakers Metta World Peace.PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Howard made the Houston Astros pay for pitching to him. Howard singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 15th inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 victory over Houston on Tuesday night. The interleague matchup between teams with two of the four worst records in the majors lasted 5 hours, 5 minutes. Hector Neris (1-0) tossed a perfect inning to earn the win in his major league debut. Grady Sizemore led off the inning against Jake Buchanan (1-2) with a hard one-hop single under second baseman Jose Altuves glove. After Ben Revere sacrificed, Jimmy Rollins flied out and Chase Utley was intentionally walked. Howard then ripped a 1-2 pitch to right and Sizemore slid in safely ahead of right fielder Robbie Grossmans throw. "You go up there with a chip on your shoulder," Howard said. "Them walking Chase, I wanted to get it done." It was the fifth game of at least 14 innings for the Phillies this season, tying a franchise-record first set in 1958. Both starters -- Philadelphias Kyle Kendrick and Houstons Dallas Keuchel -- allowed one run in seven innings. Howard led off the bottom of the second with an opposite-field homer that just cleared the wall in left-centre, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The run snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak for Philadelphia, which was shut out in Washington on Saturday and Sunday. Howards homer was his seventh off lefties in 97 at-bats. He has only 10 against right-handers in 308 at-bats. Howard, who faces an extreme shift to right in all of his at-bats, still hasnt pulled a homer. The struggling slugger is batting just .217 and was benched three straight games last month. "You guys forget what Ive done," the former NL MVP said. "People look at right now. Ive hit balls hard over stretches. All you can do is hit balls hard and once it leaves the bat, its out of your hands." Jon Singletons RBI single in the seventh tied it at 1. The Astros had runners at first and third with no out, but couldnt get the go-ahead run. Matt Dominguez flied out to shallow right and Jake Marisnick grounded into a double play. "A really touggh game," Astros manager Bo Porter said. Lance Lynn Jersey. "We just couldnt get the offence going." TRAINERS ROOM Astros: Outfielder George Springer, on the disabled list since July 20 with a strained left quad, made his second rehab appearance at Single-A Quad Cities. Springer could be called up before the series ends Thursday. Phillies: Cliff Lee still hasnt had an MRI on his injured left elbow. ... Left fielder Domonic Brown has an infection in his tonsils and wasnt in the lineup for the fourth straight game. ... UP NEXT Astros: Right-hander Brad Peacock (3-7, 4.93) will come up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start Wednesday night. Hes replacing Jarred Cosart, who was traded to Miami last week. Peacock gave up seven runs in 3 2-3 innings in his last start on July 23, a 9-7 loss at Oakland. Phillies: Righty David Buchanan (5-5, 4.40) will be recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Lees spot. Buchanan has allowed three earned runs or less in his last six major-league starts STARTING TIME Keuchel (10-7) has allowed just two earned runs in his last three starts, but is only 1-1 in that span. The lefty lowered his ERA to 2.89. Kendrick remained 5-11 after giving up five hits in his first quality start in six outings since July 3. Kendrick lowered his ERA to 4.74. HUNTER PENCE HAUNTS The Phillies acquired Pence, an All-Star outfielder, from the Astros on July 29, 2011 for Singleton, Cosart, outfielder Domingo Santana and right-hander Josh Zeid. They were 50-30 at the time and finished with a club-record 102 wins before losing to St. Louis in the NLDS. Pence was traded the following July to San Francisco for outfielder Nate Schierholtz, pitcher Seth Rosin and catcher Tommy Joseph. Clearly, the Astros and Giants were big winners in both trades with the Phillies. SAVE THAT BALL Santana walked with two outs in the 10th, reaching safely for the first time in his career on his 22nd birthday. He was 0 for 13 with 11 strikeouts before drawing a walk. NASTY STUFF Phillies lefty Antonio Bastardo struck out six of the seven batters he faced in the 11th and 12th innings and the Astros fanned a season-high 17 times. 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