NEWARK – The Maple Leafs are teetering on the edge of another late season collapse. 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. Kevin De Bruyne Jersey . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Angus Gunn Jersey . According to the Red Wings Twitter feed, Zetterberg plans to practice with the team on Thursday and is aiming for a second round comeback. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.c...er-City-Jersey/. He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. Claudio Bravo Jersey . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. Aymeric Laporte Jersey . Playing in his fourth major league game, Polanco broke a tie in the 13th inning with his first homer, helping Pittsburgh to an 8-6 victory over the Miami Marlins after the Pirates had a ninth-inning meltdown.GOMEL, Belarus -- Franck Ribery scored twice as France beat Belarus 4-2 in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday to make sure of finishing at least second in Group I. Belarus defender Egor Filipenko headed in a corner from Timofei Kalachev in the 32nd minute before France levelled in the 47th with a penalty from Ribery. Kalachev made it 2-1 with a long-range strike in the 57th but Ribery converted a cross from Mathieu Valbuena to equalize in the 64th. Substitute Samir Nasri gave France the lead in the 70th and Paul Pogba scored from close range to seal the win in the 73rd. France overcame a poor first half and two blunders from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to remain second in the group before its final qualifier next month against Finland. It is level on 14 points with leader Spain, which has played one game less. The top teams in each group automatically qualify for the World Cup while eight of the nine second-placed teams go into the playoffs in November. Finland beat Georgia 1-0 in the groups other match to stay third on nine points. Roman Eremenko scored the winning goal in the 74th with a penalty. "It was a weird match, especially in the first half," Ribery told Frances TF1 television. "I think we have a good team, but we must play more relaxed and not put pressure on ourselves. Some players in the squad are young. We must play and have fun like we did in the second half." After a disappointing goalless draw with Georgia on Friday, France coach Didier Deschamps showed his patience had limits by benching Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, who had not scored in his last 15 games with the national team. Midfielders Pogba and Blaise Matuidi were back in the starting lineup after missing the Georgia match because of suspension. However, Frances passing game still lacked the fluidity needed to trouble Belarus. The hosts created the first chance of the match in the seventh minute when Sergei Balanovich took a pass from Anton Putilo to fire wide from a tight angle. Belarus capitalized onn Pogbas indecision and a handling mistake from Lloris to open the scoring from a corner in the 32nd.dddddddddddd. Filipenko outjumped Pogba for a bouncing header that Lloris could only palm into his own net. France needed 34 minutes to test Belarus goalkeeper Sergei Veremko for the first time of the match. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud headed a free kick from Valbuena but Veremko made the save. "Because of the importance of the match, I think there was a bit of tension in our game," Deschamps said. "The desire was so strong that it was a bit messy." Named best player in Europe by UEFA, Ribery was doubtful for the match because of a buttock injury. Ribery had very little impact in the first half but he helped France get back in the game with a run after the break. Veremko brought the Bayern Munich winger down in the 46th and Ribery wrongfooted the Belarus goalkeeper with a low strike from the penalty spot. That goal ended a five-match scoring drought for France, the worst one in its history. France then had a short spell of domination with a long-range attempt from Valbuena in the 52nd, palmed away by Veremko, and an off-target effort from Ribery in the 54th. Just when France seemed to be in control, Belarus took advantage of a counterattack led by Aleksandr Hleb to recapture the lead. From the right flank, Kalachev curled in a shot that Lloris diverted into his own net in the 57th. However, France quickly replied with three goals in a 10-minute span. Ribery sprinted at the far post to tap in a pass from Valbuena. Nasri then came off the bench in the 61st to replace Dimitri Payet and scored with a low drive from 25 yards (meters). Pogba made amends for his defensive mistake on the opener with a late goal. The Belarus defence failed to clear a cross from Valbuena and the Juventus midfielder pounced on the loose ball to net from close range. Spain did not play a qualifier on Tuesday but it will host Belarus and Georgia in October while France will take on Finland. 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