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. Josh Rosen Jersey . 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. Sam Bradford Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Chase Edmonds Cardinals Jersey . The league announced Thursday that Tom Higgins is leaving that post effective immediately. http://www.azcardinalsfanspro.com/Black-Chase-Edmonds-Cardinals-Jersey.html?cat=932 .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final.SEATTLE - The run support Felix Hernandez deserved in his three previous starts finally arrived. Logan Morrison hit two long home runs, Hernandez threw seven strong innings to win for the first time since June 2 and the Seattle Mariners used a six-run fourth inning to rout the Boston Red Sox 12-3 on Monday night. Seattle won its fourth straight after a weekend sweep in Kansas City. The Mariners finally provided Hernandez (9-2) with some runs and battered right-hander John Lackey (8-5) in his shortest outing since September 2011. Seattle had scored one run total while Hernandez was on the mound in his previous three starts. Getting a dozen against the Red Sox was more than enough for Seattles ace. "I was so happy. They came through. They were pretty good," Hernandez said. Hernandez set a club record with his eighth straight start pitching at least seven innings and allowing two earned runs or less. He struck out six, walked none and efficiently handed the Red Sox their fourth loss in five games. Hernandezs only miscues were David Ortizs RBI single in the first and Mike Napolis solo homer in the fourth. Morrison had the first multihomer game of his career. His solo shot in the second inning off Lackey pulled Seattle even and he added to the offensive outburst with a two-run homer in the seventh, a 421-foot drive to centre field off reliever Chris Capuano. Morrison finished with four hits for the third time in his career and four RBIs. Morrison felt he started to have better at bats last week against San Diego and carried over into the weekend series in Kansas City. "Just feeling like I could stay behind the ball better, put better swings on better pitches," Morrison said. "You stick to the process, stick to the process, keep grinding out at-bats and the next thing you know you look at the end of the year and have pretty good numbers. Thats what I hope happens this year." Seattles big fourth inning started with Robinson Canos ddouble. Christian Kirk Cardinals Jersey. Kyle Seager followed with an RBI single and Morrison was able to beat the Red Sox shift with a single into right field to put runners on the corners. Lackey was visibly miffed that Morrisons grounder got through the defence and he followed by walking Mike Zunino to load the bases. Dustin Ackley then had the at-bat that changed the game. Ackley made Lackey work for 13 pitches, eventually hitting a grounder to first. Napoli threw to second to get the second out but Lackey did not cover first base and the chance at an inning ending double play was missed. Seager scored and Lackey struggled with his composure. A wild pitch allowed Morrison to score and a walk to Brad Miller and Willie Bloomquists single loaded the bases. With one swing, Chavez surpassed his RBI total for the season. Brock Holt was playing shallow and unable to chase down Chavezs line drive, clearing the bases and giving Seattle a 7-2 lead. "I was trying to put something in play the whole at-bat and score a run there. He was making pitches," Ackley said. "There were maybe one or two, I could have handled but fouled off the rest. ... Fortunately it went a long way and he tired out a little bit. Lackey was done after 3 2-3 innings, snapping a string of 39 straight starts going at least five innings. He gave up seven hits and walked three. Lackey needed 36 pitches to get through three innings and threw 38 pitches in getting just two outs in the fourth. "I wasnt able to make a pitch to get out of there," Lackey said. "It kind of starting to go downhill and I couldnt stop it." NOTES: Hernandez allowed a homer for the first time since April 21 vs. Houston. ... Lackeys last start of less than five innings was May 14, 2013, vs. Tampa Bay when he went 4 1-3 innings. ... Boston manager John Farrell said its possible injured OF Shane Victorino (hamstring) could rejoin the team this weekend in New York depending on his rehab starts this week. Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Stitched Jerseys ' ' '