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RALEIGH, N.C. – You could hear a pin drop in the visitors dressing room at PNC Arena after yet another blowout defeat. "I think the talking has to stop," said Jay McClement with evident frustration. "Weve talked all year all about all these things and were just not getting the job done. Nothing seems to be changing. Were just still very inconsistent with our efforts. Somethings got to change. I think weve done so much talking, we just need a little more action." The Maple Leafs lost their third straight and 20th in the past 31 games on Thursday night, blown out 6-1 by the surging Hurricanes. Months of brewing trouble saw the club finally knocked out of a playoff position for the first time all season, now 10th in the Eastern Conference. "I think were searching for answers and thats the hard part," Mason Raymond said. "Its a cliché, but were the only ones that are going to get ourselves out of this mess." It was more of the same from a wildly inconsistent, unpredictable group that has just five wins in regulation since the start of November and not one during that span on the road. The Leafs have been outscored 18-5 during this most recent three-game slide, an "exclamation point" in the words of Randy Carlyle, for the ills of a troubled hockey club. Just when it appears, however, that a low point has been reached does another disastrous performance occur, this one to a Carolina squad that has now won five straight. "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight," said a noticeably deflated and dejected Carlyle afterward. "For whatever reason that nobody seems to have an answer to right now is were doing things standing still. Were watching teams skate and were not engaged in the hockey game to a level that is required to give yourself a chance for success." Carlyle urged his group to play with more tenacity and bite in recent days, something more in wake of a season veering dangerously off course. But aside from a late and rather meaningless push, he didnt get it. The urgency and intensity remained mysteriously absent as domino after domino toppled over on the ice in Raleigh. "Theres no excuse why we dont compete every night," said McClement. "Thats something that has to be there every night. Youre not going to win every night, but the effort and the compete has to be there every night. Theres no excuse for that." It was yet another mess in a season thats had too many to count already. An identity-less team to this point, the Leafs are searching for answers on how to right the wrongs of a season thats teetering closer and closer to the edge of something perilous. The problem is, these troubles have been brewing for the better part of the season with little to no change in performance. These are tough times in Toronto with no readily apparent end in sight. "It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that things arent going anywhere near what our expectations are, thats for sure," said Carlyle. Five Points 1. Pushing the Message Preaching for improvement all year, but especially in recent days, Carlyle wouldnt cast the full weight of whats taken place onto the shoulders of his players alone, but what has to be distressing for the head coach and his staff is how few results the message has yielded. Nothing, it seems, has been able to lift the Leafs from a year-long funk. "Theyre not an island out there," he said before Thursdays game. "We dont put our players on an island. We think its very improper to put our players in a situation to say that we dont support them. We support our players to the utmost. And we look back to the players because theyre the ones that are out there doing it. Theyre the ones that are out there sacrificing. Theyre the ones that are out there putting on the performance." Carlyle said that his staffs role is one of guidance. "Were just in a position to try and guide them as a coaching staff. Theres different ways to guide. Weve tried numerous ways to stimulate our group to play a much more competitive brand of hockey. Well continually push for more of that." 2. Reimers First Start in 19 Days Questioned before the game on how he managed to stay sharp with a long layoff – 19 days – between starts, James Reimer, as is the norm, found the bright side. "Its just good preparation for the Olympic break, I guess," he said with a grin. Reimer had no chance yet again in his first start since Dec. 21, on the hook for all six goals in the 6-1 defeat. "Our goaltenders are strung out and left hanging high and dry if you look where the quality of the scoring chances are coming from, theyre coming from that critical area," said Carlyle. "You cant continually give those chances up." Leaf goaltenders were frequently heroic in the opening half of the season, despite inflated shot totals, but have understandably buckled under helpless conditions recently. Reimer and Jonathan Bernier own a .846 save percentage during this most recent three-game slide. "You just want to hang in there and keep it as close as you can so that you can give the boys a chance," said Reimer, who dropped to 4-2-1 lifetime against Carolina. 3. Gardiner Scratched For the second time this season, Jake Gardiner landed as a healthy scratch. Carl Gunnarsson returned from an elbow injury, while Mark Fraser was inserted into the lineup for just the second time in 12 games as Carlyle shook up the defence. "We felt that Jake has struggled in the last couple games," said Carlyle, "his puck movement and decisions with the puck and we felt had a better option in the other two guys at this point with the way our mix was put together." 4. Phaneufs Production Recently signed to a seven-year extension, Dion Phaneufs offensive production has dipped this season, his fifth with the Leafs. Phaneuf totaled a hearty nine goals and 28 points in 48 games in 2013 – a pro-rated 15 goals and 47 points – adding 12 goals and 44 points in 2011-12. But just beyond the midway point this year and the 28-year-old has just four goals and 17 points, an eight-goal and 33-point pace. "I feel good about my game and the way that Ive played," he told the Leaf Report generally on Thursday morning, "But the bottom line is individual seasons dont matter. It matters about team success and weve got to be better as a team and we know that." One area of admitted focus and needed improvement for Phaneuf is the number of pucks directed to the net. He leads the team with 75 shots, but is on pace for a career-low in shots per game, way down from the numbers he accumulated previously. Season Shots Per Game 13-14 1.76 13 1.83 11-12 2.46 10-11 2.88 09-10 2.78 08-09 3.46 07-08 3.21 06-07 2.91 05-06 2.95 5. Ashton, Holland Trade Places The Leafs deemed Wednesday that Peter Hollands progression wasnt being served by remaining on the fourth line, where hes been slotted since the return of Tyler Bozak. They opted to send the 22-year-old to the Marlies, recalling Carter Ashton, who has strung together 15 points in 14 AHL games this season. "He wasnt going to play on the top two lines," Carlyle said of Holland, who had eight points during a 10-game stretch with Bozak out. "We felt it was probably hurting his development curve to leave him as a fourth-line centre." The challenge for the 22-year-old Ashton meanwhile is translating the success hes attained in the minors into something substantial in the NHL. Ashton has just one assist in 33 games with the Leafs, offering only fleeting glimpses of readiness in a bottom-six role. "A young player that has got size and skill and the ability to skate and protect the puck at the American League level doesnt always translate to that in the NHL," said Carlyle. "Its much more difficult, obviously. Youve got a lot less time and space and [youre] playing against bigger and stronger men. We think that hes continually showed some progress." A natural winger, Ashton slotted into the fourth line centre spot against the Hurricanes and barely played, totaling just under four minutes. Stats-Pack 0 – Regulation road victories since Oct. 30. 19 – Days between starts for James Reimer. 3 – Consecutive games with a goal for Joffrey Lupul, who scored his 14th this season in defeat. 18 – Goals allowed by the Leafs in the past three games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 21.4% (5th) PK: 3-5Season: 76.9% (27th) Quote of the Night Up Next The Leafs visit the Capitals in Washington D.C. Friday for the second end of a back-to-back set. Gordon Hayward Jazz Jersey . -- Oklahoma State freshman guard Stevie Clark has been kicked off the basketball team. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Hornets Jersey . Central Scouting made them the top-ranked skaters in its final ranking of prospects this season. The NHL draft is June 30 in New Jerseys Prudential Center. http://www.nbaofficialonline.com/Boston-Celtics-Authentic-Marcus-Smart-Jersey/ .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. John Starks Knicks Jersey . -- Chris Tillman paid no attention to the Baltimore bullpen as it started to stir in the ninth inning. Ben Wallace Pistons Jersey . The 26-year-old Cisse joined for an undisclosed fee, with some reports in the British media valuing the transfer at 10 million pounds ($15.3 million). Cisse will not be available to Newcastle while Senegal is competing in the African Cup on Nations, which starts on Saturday.HAMILTON, Ont. -- The Hamilton Bulldogs had enough fight left in them on Friday to take their second game in as many nights against the Toronto Marlies. Hamilton fought back twice from a goal down, before riding a strong third period to 4-2 victory over Toronto in American Hockey League action. "It shows character to fight back the way that we did," said Hamilton winger Sven Andrighetto. "You always want to play with the lead instead of chasing. But we showed what we can do tonight." Mike Blunden scored twice for the Bulldogs (14-14-4) while Andrighetto and Martin St. Pierre added the others. Dustin Tokarski made 20 saves in the win. Carter Ashton and Sam Carrick scored for the Marlies (16-10-3), while Drew MacIntyre stopped 45 shots. Bulldogs head coach Sylvain Lefebvre had praise for MacIntyre, who faced 89 Hamilton shots over the course of the teams home-and-home series on Thursday and Friday. "The last two games have been full of scoring chances," said Lefebvre. "It was an enigma, trying to solve MacIntrye. But we kept shooting pucks at the net and kept driving it." The first quality scoring chance of the night fell to the Bulldogs three minutes into the opening period, when Gabriel Dumont held the puck in the left circle and tested MacIntyre with a low wrist shot before chasing his own rebound. It would be the Marlies who struck first, however, after Bulldog captain St. Pierre was whistled for charging at 4:59. Torontos Spencer Abbott shifted the puck to Greg McKegg, who found Ashton in the low slot with a centring pass. Ashton drifted out to the top of the slot, turned and fired a rising wrist shot that beat Tokarski just inside the near post at 6:27. Hamilton used successful cycling to produce a tying goal early in the second period. Dumont fought off a defender behind the net and circled out front, shovelling a backhanded shot along the ice that MacIntyre kicked to his left. But Blunden spotted the rebound as it slid through the crease, and quickly reacted to slot it in at 3:45. Special teams were a difference-maker for Toronto once again as the Marlies counter-attacked on the pennalty kill to retake the lead at 9:20.dddddddddddd Carrick latched onto a loose puck in the neutral zone and carried it into the Hamilton zone, where Blunden was the last line of defence. The Bulldog made an ill-advised attempt to hit Carrick, and the Marlie dodged him and skated in on Tokarski, flipping a high shot over the sliding goaltender. Having been burned on the defensive end, Blunden redeemed himself in the offensive zone to level the game once more. Maxime Macenauer carried the puck into the zone along the left wing, and spun to create space before sliding a backhanded shot toward MacIntyre. The goaltender turned aside the initial chance, but Blunden pounced on the loose puck to fire home his second goal of the night at 14:06. Lefebvre was glad to see Blunden rewarded for his hard work. "Blunden has been a horse for us all year so far," said the coach. "To see him get two goals tonight is great, because hes been working really hard and the goals dont come as naturally for him as they do for natural snipers. "But hes been there and been killing penalties. Hes been the forward that Ive used the most and hes there every night banging and crashing the net." The Bulldogs enjoyed a strong second period, and outshot the Marlies 34-14 through 40 minutes of play. Hamiltons momentum carried into the third period, where the Bulldogs struck almost immediately to take their first lead of the game. A stretch pass by Nathan Beaulieu sprung Patrick Holland and Andrighetto on a 2-on-1 break, with the former carrying the puck into the offensive zone and faking a shot before sliding a pass across to Andrighetto. The rookie winger made no mistake, firing a high wrist shot over the shoulder of MacIntyre and just inside the crossbar at 1:38. St. Pierre struck with 45 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach. With the Bulldogs cycling the puck on the power play, Andrighetto threaded a short pass to St. Pierre along the right boards. He faked and then fired a low slapshot that beat MacIntyre through traffic. Hamilton defeated Toronto 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday and lead the season series 5-2-1. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '