Dein erstes Forum » the heightened expectations of a club seemingly

TORONTO – High above the ice, while practice took place on Thursday afternoon in Toronto, stood Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis. Wholesale Panthers Jerseys . He watched his team work through various drills, hash out lingering points of confusion and prepare for the latest biggest game of the year - a Friday clash with the Philadelphia Flyers. Nonis can do nothing, however, to affect the fortunes of his skidding team at this very late stage in the season, one tumbling precariously close to another late-season collapse. "Eight games left," said Phil Kessel, shortly before departure to Philadelphia. "Weve got to win some games and get in the playoffs here." "This is desperation time," Nazem Kadri added. "Were playing for our lives, so weve got to go start acting like it." It was exactly two years ago that the 18-wheeler of 2012 officially crashed for good. Losing for a stunning 19th time in 24 games against the Carolina Hurricanes on a late March night, the Leafs were eliminated from the postseason, the culmination of an epic unraveling that would cost Ron Wilson his job. Can they avoid a similar and yet perhaps more stinging fate this time around? The thought would have been almost unthinkable only two weeks earlier, but with six straight losses - all in regulation - and not a single point gained, the Leafs are indeed facing that reality. With a blink or two of the eye, theyve been passed by seven teams, now trailing the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets for the final two wild card positions, and are in danger of fumbling away a second-straight trip to the postseason. Aspirations of capturing second spot in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage in the first round have been replaced by simply making it outright. The shift has been stunning. "I know right now it seems like were at a low point, but we will come through it," said captain Dion Phaneuf, speaking after a near 90-minute practice in Toronto, his performance and subsequent absence afterward a point of much consternation just a couple days earlier. "Im not going to stand here and say that weve played well. We havent. We havent won games, but theres been stretches that weve done some good things, we just havent found a way to win a game and were going to have to do that Friday." The pressure to do so has never been higher. At some point, the pit of despair becomes just too deep to dig out of, the snowball too large to stop from rolling. That was the case for the club in 2012. Four straight early February losses rapidly morphed into nine of 10, a souring fan-base and the sudden dismissal of Wilson. Things would get no better in the early days of Carlyles tenure with 10 more losses in the next 14 games, including the aforementioned knockout blow on March 27. "Theres pressure in any situation like this," said Kessel, "[but] weve just got to bounce back. If we can get a couple wins here, it would be positive for our group. Weve just got to keep going then." Fear of it all slipping away has seemingly seeped in. Head coach Randy Carlyle observed "tenseness" in the early stages of Tuesdays loss to St. Louis, pushing his club to be more assertive against Philadelphia, currently third in the Metropolitan Division - three points ahead of Toronto. "If youre going to stand there and youre in a street fight and youre not going to move, youre going to allow somebody to swing away, youre going to get hit," said Carlyle. "But if you move and try to avoid the hit and do what you do youre not going to get hit as many times, simple as that." Starts have become the most obvious foe to success during the two-week slide, early and often deep deficits too much to overcome. "So we have to move ourselves," said Carlyle. "We have to move our feet, we have to continue to move the puck effectively, we have to skate … Those are the things that we have to correct and we have to correct it for [Friday] night." "Were starting the games terrible," Kessel said. "Were getting down a couple goals. Theyre out-playing us the first half of the game and then all of a sudden we wake up and we come [back] and its just too late." The same could be said of their playoff fortunes. A collapse under these circumstances might pale in comparison to 2012, given their comfortable state with just weeks to go - they were up three points on the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning as recently as two weeks ago, now trailing both by a wide margin - and the heightened expectations of a club seemingly on the rise. Its a sting they wont want to experience again. "It snowballed on us," Phaneuf said after that season-sealing loss to Carolina two years ago. "We lost a lot of tight games and we just could not recover or find a way out of it as a group." Will they this time around time around? The answer will come soon enough. Florida Panthers Shirts . Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. Fake Panthers Jerseys . Last years runner-up, Sara Errani, also reached the last eight in straight sets. Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3. https://www.panthersjerseycheap.com/ . - New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club has an agreement to bring back outside linebacker Parys Haralson on a one-year deal.TAMPA, Fla. -- The Detroit Red Wings failed in the shootout, again. Martin St. Louis scored in the sixth round of the shootout, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Red Wings 2-1 on Thursday night. Detroit has lost its last 11 shootouts, including all six this season. "Its one of those things," Detroit goalie Jonas Gustavsson said. "Its going to turn around, and then maybe were going to win five or 10 in a row in the shootout. Thats just how it goes. Weve got to find a way to do it." St. Louis netted the lone shootout goal when he beat Gustavsson to the stick side. Detroit failed this time against Ben Bishop. "Weve got to find a way to score a goal for our goalie," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Our goalie cant shut them all out. Guys that have scored fairly easily before, their attempts look like theyre tight, too. "Weve got to change that, too." Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning in regulation. Kyle Quincey had the Red Wings only goal of the night. "Were finding a way, and you need to do that," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. Detroit is just 1-9, including nine straight defeats, this season in games decided in overtime or a shootout. The Red Wings were coming off a 3-2 shootout loss Tuesday at Florida. Quincey put the Red Wings up 1-0 with his first goal in 51 games, a rebound backhander from along the goal line just past the post at 15:04 of the first. The defenceman also snapped a 16-game point drought. Kucherov tied it when he beat Gustavsson from the high slot with 43.7 secconds remaining in the second. Florida Panthers Gear. Gustavsson made a first-period save on Valtteri Filppulas in-close backhander. St. Louis sent a shot wide of the net during a short-handed breakaway early in the second. Bishop stopped a shot by Daniel Alfredsson on a 2-on-1 later in the period. An up-tempo third period featured nice saves by both goalies. Bishop made 28 saves in regulation. Gustavsson stopped 26 shots. "Both goalies are as big as a house," Babcock said. "Theres no room, and both played really well." Bishop improved to 16-5-2. "Bish is the backbone of our success," St. Louis said. "Whenever you beat Detroit, its a big one." Both teams had key players sidelined by injuries. Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard hurt a knee in practice on Wednesday and is scheduled to be evaluated Friday in Detroit. Forward Henrik Zetterberg, on the long-term injured list because of a back injury, is eligible to return Dec. 28 against Florida. The Lightning were without star centre Steven Stamkos, who hopes to return in February from a broken right leg. Defenceman Victor Hedman will be out at least another week due to a lower-body injury. NOTES: Detroit senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano and Chicago senior adviser Scotty Bowman, who won three championships as coach of the Red Wings, were at the game. The two Hockey Hall of Fame members have a combined 20 Stanley Cup rings. ... Tampa Bay RW Richard Panik served the first game of a two-game suspension for a hit Tuesday on Washington D Karl Alzner. ' ' '