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PHILADELPHIA – Like the rest of his teammates, Carl Gunnarsson was doing what he could to remain positive after yet another loss, the seventh straight for the sinking Leafs, but it wasnt easy. The 27-year-old wants to believe that a turnaround is still possible, that his team can salvage the season, dig out from a deepening slide and claim a second straight playoff berth. But as time ticks down and the results continue to linger in the wrong direction, that belief is tested. "Its a struggle," he said in a near-empty visitors dressing room at Wells Fargo Center. "Ill tell you that. We thought we had something going here tonight." Whatever fight they mustered in a 4-2 loss to the Flyers didt matter by the time the night was through. It was just another empty loss, another opportunity to regain ground for not. "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night," said coach Randy Carlyle afterward, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." Never more evident than at this late stage in the season, the difference between winning and losing remained painfully thin. And for the Leafs it was just enough for defeat. Two power-play goals against, a few too many odd-man rushes, a bad break or two and a key mistake at the wrong time. Claude Giroux was the benefactor of one such mistake that sealed defeat for the visitors. The Flyers captain picked off former teammate James van Riemsdyks neutral ice pass attempt - the puck ricocheted off the skate of Scott Hartnell - and zipped a bullet beyond the glove of Jonathan Bernier. "Right now every big scoring chance they get, I think it feels like its going in," said Bernier afterward. "When its not going your way, thats usually what happens." "I thought we played pretty good," he continued. "A few mistakes that end up being goals. From the last game, obviously, I think we played a lot better." But like their harrowing loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, one that saw them manhandled for half the game by the top team in the West, Fridays defeat in Philly counted all the same. It was just another loss at a critical point in the season. "We worked hard," Carlyle said. "Did we work smart enough in some areas? No." Any chance the Leafs have at resuscitation starts Saturday night in a massive showdown with the Detroit Red Wings. A victory reignites whatever belief and hope still lingers. They may have no hope of catching either the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning, but sitting on near-equal ground with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Washington Capitals - all have 80 points, but with games in hand - a wild card position is still in play. "Obviously, this one, its going to be a tough one to swallow," Bernier said. "But, at the same time, we cant feel sorry for ourselves. [Saturday] is a big game and we all know that." Five Points 1. Carlyles Approach Carlyle has tried to push a few different buttons in midst of his teams recent slide. "Some days, it is a little bit more harsh. Some days, its a pat in the back. Some days its a hug," Carlyle said on Friday morning. "Whatever it is, whatever you feel is necessary. Nobody in life feels like coming to work and being ground into the dirt everyday and thats part of the process. Youve got to pick and choose when to apply pressure and when not to." As to his preferred approach of late, Carlyle said, "Its been more reality of the situation. Just showing and trying to get an understanding that were not that far away. But there are some areas that need to be addressed. Thats as simple as I can put it. Our compete level has to go up. We havent won enough one-on-one battles. Weve given up too many odd-man rushes and breakaways. Weve got to play better on the defensive side of the game." 2. Penalty Kill The Flyers scored twice on the power play, marking the 12th time this season that the Leaf penalty kill has given up two goals in a game this season. Vincent Lecavalier fired a laser for the first of two, a five-on-three goal that was not without some controversy. Jay McClement, taking the draw as Torontos lone forward, was thrown out of the face-off circle, charged with knocking the puck from the hand of linesman Michel Cormier. Dion Phaneuf promptly stepped in and lost the first (and likely last) face-off of his career, Lecavalier blowing the one-timer by Bernier just three seconds later. "Thats not something that you want to happen," McClement said of the face-off incident. "I dont think [Cormier] wanted to do it either. But he explained to me that its black and white when I knocked it out of his hand." Scott Hartnell would add the second power-play marker, redirecting a Kimmo Timonen point shot just beyond the grasp of Bernier. The Toronto penalty kill remains third-worst in the NHL this season. 3. Bollands Comeback Dave Bolland scored for the third time this season in Philadelphia and the first time since his left ankle was sliced by the skate of Zack Kassian on November 2. The 27-year-old hasnt played more than 13 minutes since he returned from the injury and he was kept right in that region against the Flyers. "I just see that in some of the situations, hes struggled with the mobility," Carlyle said of Bolland before the 4-2 loss. "Its not sore, [but] it just doesnt have the strength there. Wre going to try to find a way to get him some more minutes. We know what kind of player he is." 4. The 18-Wheeler Luke Schenn was there in 2012 when the Leafs collapsed and knows all too well how quickly the pressure rises in Toronto. "Lose a couple in a row and everything magnifies that much more," he said. "You lose three in a row and people tend to get on you a little bit. All the fans and the media think that everythings falling apart. Thats just the way it is over there. "Its obviously a tough market to play in when things arent going the way you want them to, but its a great market when things are going well. Theres always adversity in Toronto. Its never going to change. Im sure those guys are going to get through it." Reflecting back to the infamous 18-wheeler skid two years earlier, Schenn couldnt put his finger on just what wrong. "There is no exact reason why. Its probably a combination of different things. Id have to go back and look. Obviously, youre probably getting off to some tough starts in games. Special teams probably werent as good as they need to be. At the end of the day - when I was there - it probably just came down to being outcompeted some nights. Obviously, you lose a couple in a row, confidence isnt always there. Thats just the way it goes. Youve got to find ways to get out of it." 5. Gardiner Offence Just ahead of a clash with the Flyers three weeks ago, Jake Gardiner revealed his disappointment with the offence hed put together to that point. "I dont think my point production has been that great this year,"he said. "Id like to improve on that." The 23-year-old scored a goal the next night in a 4-3 overtime win, rounding up nine points in the past 11 games, including a helper on Bollands seventh goal this season. "Ive tried to jump in the play a lot more and be an offensive threat from the blue line," he explained of his recent surge prior to the game. Gardiner has 26 points on the year. Stats-Pack 1-8-0 – Leafs record in the past nine games. 9 – Points in the last 11 games for Jake Gardiner. 3 – Goals by Dave Bolland in Philadelphia this season. 24:31 – Ice-time for James van Riemsdyk opposite his former team Friday, tied for the team-lead. 15 – Consecutive games without a point for David Clarkson, who has just 10 this season. 8 – Number of times the Leafs have allowed the first goal in the past nine games.4 – Seconds elapsed in the second period before van Riemsdyk scored the first Leafs goal. It was the fastest goal to start a period for the team this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 20.6% (4th) PK: 2-4Season: 78.1% (28th) Quote of the Night "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." -Randy Carlyle, following a seventh straight loss in Philadelphia. Up Next The Leafs return home to host to the Red Wings on Saturday night. Wholesale Nike Air Max From China . They named Mark Washington as their defensive co-ordinator on Thursday and appear to be closing in on an offensive co-ordinator. Fake Nike Air Max Replica . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/. Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Cheap Air Max 270 . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. Nike Air Max Sale . Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss.MANCHESTER, England - Chelsea and Manchester City kicked off the Premier Leagues hectic festive schedule with commanding victories Friday to keep the title race finely poised, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool also won on a successful day for the countrys top teams.John Terry and Diego Costa scored as Chelsea beat West Ham 2-0 to retain its three-point lead over City, which netted all of its goals in the first half in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion played in a snowstorm.Only United looks capable of gatecrashing the fight for the title between the top two, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice to set up a 3-1 win over Newcastle that tightened the 20-time champions grip on third place — seven points behind City.Southampton makes up the top four, climbing above West Ham thanks to a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace, but there are a slew of teams battling for that fourth and final Champions League spot.Arsenal is only two points behind in sixth after beating Queens Park Rangers 2-1, with Alexis Sanchez making up for his saved penalty and teammate Olivier Girouds reckless red card for a head-butt with a goal and an assist at Emirates Stadium.Liverpool built on recent encouraging performances by eking out a 1-0 win at Burnley through Raheem Sterlings second-half goal to keep in sight of the top four.Tottenham and Swansea were other teams in the top half to register wins in the first of three rounds of league fixtures over seven days across the relentless holiday period. In the other games, Stoke beat Everton 1-0 and Hull snapped a 10-game winless run by defeating Sunderland 3-1 to climb out of the relegation zone.Leicesters miserable season back in the top flight continued with a 2-1 home loss to Spurs, leaving the team in last place and six points from safety. A winless run of 13 games is piling the pressure on Nigel Pearson, who is the British bookmakers favourite to become the first manager fired in the Premier League this season.Since losing 2-1 at Newcastle to end its unbeaten start to the campaign, Chelsea has rediscovered its fluency and the leaders cut down to size a West Ham team enjoying its best season in nearly three decades, arriving at Stamford Bridge in fourth pplace.ddddddddddddTerry tapped home from close range in the 31st following a downward header from a corner from Costa, who made it 2-0 in the 62nd with a low finish for his 13th goal in the season.It was a dominant performance from Chelsea, which was barely troubled until the last few minutes.The challenge this season was to bring that creativity, that dynamism, without losing the good defensive qualities of the team, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. In this moment, we have a good balance.Playing without a striker for the second straight game, City relied on its midfielders for goals in blizzard-like conditions at The Hawthorns and they obliged through Fernando, Yaya Toure — from the penalty spot — and David Silva.It was Citys seventh straight win in the league, with the defending champions showing the kind of form that swept them to a second title in three years last season.There could be a new twist in the title race on Sunday when Chelsea heads to Southampton, which has recovered from its recent slump and is hard to beat at St. Marys Stadium. City hosts Burnley.Rooney, starting again in central midfield, scored in the 23rd and 36th minutes before setting up Robin van Persie for Uniteds other goal at Old Trafford to help extend the teams unbeaten run to eight games.I was very pleased because we dominated for 90 minutes, United manager Louis van Gaal said. We make progress in every game.Liverpool began its game at Turf Moor in its lowest Christmas position since 1992-93. But a change of formation to 3-4-3 has rejuvenated last seasons runner-up and they recovered from a slow start at Burnley to record a first victory in four matches, climbing to ninth and seven points behind Southampton.Sterling scored the winner in the 62nd, latching onto a lobbed pass from Philippe Coutinho and rounding the goalkeeper to roll a shot into the unguarded net.After having an early penalty saved, Sanchez scored Arsenals opener against QPR before setting up Tomas Rosicky for the second in the 65th. In between, Giroud was sent off for head-butting QPR defender Nedum Onuoha and Arsenal held on desperately to consign the visitors to a record-equalling ninth straight away loss. ' ' '