TORONTO -- Playing the second half of back-to-back games, the Toronto Maple Leafs refused to use fatigue as an excuse. Kai Forbath . Coach Randy Carlyle noticed his players were tired and how much that played a role in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at Air Canada Centre. But inside the locker room the talk was much more about a lack of execution. "Theres never an excuse: Injuries, tired, its all B.S.," goaltender James Reimer said. "Those are all excuses. Theyre useless." Winger Mason Raymond, who scored Torontos only goal, scoffed that he and his teammates "simply got embarrassed." They committed turnovers that led to all three Panthers goals and were never really able to keep up. "I echo those remarks as something that we cannot be proud of our performance tonight," Carlyle said after the Leafs (17-16-3) lost for the fifth time in their past six games. Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim and Brad Boyes scored for the Panthers (13-17-5), who won their fourth straight and sixth in their past seven games. With the victory, Florida crept to within six points of Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. "Were looking for progress," coach Peter Horacek said. "Were looking for consistency in our play." The Panthers certainly showed more consistency Tuesday than the Leafs, who couldnt get much of an attack going until the third period when Raymonds goal broke up Scott Clemmensens shutout and cut the deficit to two goals. Before that, Carlyle bemoaned his team being on the wrong end of far too many 50/50 puck battles. It didnt matter that the Panthers have the lowest payroll in the NHL because they didnt look like it. Torontos lacklustre play helped. "We just didnt play well enough. Thats the bottom line," Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. "We take pride in being a team that doesnt get outworked. Tonight we were outworked." Couple that with mistakes at inopportune times and the result was the Leafs 12th loss in 18 games at Air Canada Centre this season. Each of Floridas goals came as a result of a noticeable turnover. Centre Nazem Kadri was the first Leafs player to make a costly error, before some of the 19,076 fans even settled into their seats. Kadri lost the puck at the Panthers blue-line, and seconds later Fleischmann had a jump on Carl Gunnarsson and beat Reimer to make it 1-0 just 3:29 in. Sloppy play continued, but it didnt hurt the Leafs again until a disastrous defensive-zone shift in the second. Defenceman Jake Gardiner put the puck right on Bergenheims stick, but Reimer made a stop to keep the threat at bay. When the Leafs couldnt clear it, Bergenheim got it back in front and scored 5:54 into the second. "We had clear-cut possession of the puck, won a faceoff, it goes back to (Gardiner), they end up with a breakaway out of it," Carlyle said. "Its pretty hard to defend a player in that position, and I told him so. Youve got to expect to have a higher level of execution than that in that situation." Boos predictably followed, and then continued when Phaneufs turnover directly contributed to the Panthers third goal of the game. Boyes poked the puck away from Phaneuf and scored seconds later on his own rebound thanks to some help from Bergenheim in front. "I made some mistakes tonight that are unacceptable," Phaneuf said. "Take responsibility for it." It couldve been even uglier had the Panthers converted on a short-handed odd-man rush in the third period. Shawn Matthias missed a wide-open net, and Toronto didnt have to stare down a four-goal deficit. The Leafs cut it to 3-1 not long after on their most opportunistic play of the night. Centre Peter Holland, filling in amid injuries to Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak, held onto the puck long enough to get some traffic in front, and Raymond tipped the puck past Clemmensen 3:43 into the third. "I thought we got a little life after that," Raymond said. "We played some better hockey then." Aided by that third-period onslaught, Toronto outshot Florida 29-23, but Carlyle didnt like the lack of second opportunities. "I classified our game as we tried to plan shinny against an NHL hockey club tonight," he said. Clemmensen, who made 28 saves for the victory, was hardly stressed for most of the game. The veteran netminder acknowledged, as did Horachek and other Panthers players, that the Leafs were tired. But it was incumbent on the visitors to take advantage of that. "We were hoping to have a little bit more energy than they had," Clemmensen said. "Fortunately for us, we kept them off the board until the third period. That, in turn, kept the crowd out of it. That was big." This was their third victory in the past two weeks against a team being featured on HBOs "24/7" program. Florida beat the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 7 and Dec. 10. As for the Leafs, the frustrating is growing bigger amid losses. And with the excuses thrown out, answers are also lacking. "Everyone is trying to turn it around," centre Jay McClement said. "It seems like we need all of us to step up and take the reins and change things. But it seems like were waiting too long to do that." NOTES -- Centre Trevor Smith broke a bone in his right hand when blocking a shot from the Panthers Shawn Matthias in the third period, Carlyle said. Smith has four goals and five assists in 24 games this season. ... Last years Calder Trophy winner, Jonathan Huberdeau, missed his second straight game with a foot injury. Horachek said the Saint-Jerome, Que., native could have played and is hopefully on target to be in the lineup Thursday when Florida visits the Ottawa Senators. Robert Griffin III . 10 shirt. The Japan forward was presented on Wednesday as an AC Milan player after signing a 3 1/2-year contract on a free transfer from CSKA Moscow. Darrell Green Jersey . "The opportunities are going to come," he said Monday on a conference call from Slovenia, where the team was preparing for a friendly. "If we werent creating chances then it would be a different conversation.BEREA, Ohio -- Mike Pettine knows he might not have been Clevelands first choice or even the Browns second pick. All that matters to the son of a high school coaching legend is that hes the one they selected. "Its been my life-long dream to be an NFL head coach," Pettine said Thursday, "and however that opportunity presents itself, its fine with me." After nearly a month of twists, turns and talk, the Browns found their man. Buffalos defensive co-ordinator, who didnt seem to be on Clevelands radar when the team began a coaching search last month, signed a five-year contract Thursday and was named the Browns seventh full-time coach since 1999. Pettine replaces Rob Chudzinski, fired on Dec. 29 after just one season. The Browns interviewed 10 candidates before deciding on the 47-year-old Pettine, who has built a solid reputation with a no-nonsense approach with his players. "I have been nicknamed BFT -- Blunt Force Trauma," he said. "The days are too short to dance around subjects some time and I think guys appreciate that." His straight-forward style attracted Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who set out to find a "strong winner" and feels the clean-shaven Pettine can lead Clevelands resurgence. "Hes very smart," Haslam said. "Hes aggressive. Hes innovative. You can see hes tough. Hes going to be very demanding. Hes going to set high standards for our organization." Pettine spent one year with the Bills after four as Rex Ryans defensive co-ordinator with the New York Jets. Before that, Pettine was an assistant coach in Baltimore, giving him some familiarity in Clevelands division. Pettine understands there are challenges in turning around the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past six seasons and made the playoffs once in their expansion era. Pettine believes the Browns have talent -- as evidenced by their six Pro Bowlers -- and wants to be the one to return them to glory. "Theres only 32 of these jobs and they dont come along often," Pettine said. "People ask me, Why didnt you wait? There will be chances next year? I dont know if I believe in that. When you put all the factors together, this franchise is in position, given the right leadership, to win." Pettine emerged as the favourite to become Clevelands fourth coach in six years as the Browns eliminated candidates and Denver offensive co-ordinator Adam Gase, considered the front-runner when the search started, told the team to move onn without him. Robert Griffin III Jersey. His hiring ends a 25-day odyssey for the Browns. It was a quest filled with rumours, denials, withdrawals and far too much drama for a franchise seeking stability. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, Browns tight end Jordan Cameron echoed the sentiments of most Cleveland fans. "Im just happy to have a coach," he said. The Browns flew to Mobile, Ala., on Tuesday to interview Pettine for the second time at the Senior Bowl. The four-hour meeting came shortly after Gase, the first candidate the team contacted, called Haslam and withdrew from consideration. The team had been expected to give Seattle defensive co-ordinator Dan Quinn a second interview, but if he was their pick, the Browns would have had to wait until after the Super Bowl to finalize a deal. Banner said the decision to hire Pettine before speaking with Quinn a second time was "tough." As six other teams filled their head-coaching vacancies, the Browns kept looking. The lengthy delay led to a national perception the team didnt have a clear plan. Aware of the criticism, Haslam sent a letter to Cleveland fans last week explaining why the team was being "methodical" in finding Chudzinskis replacement. Haslam argued the view of the Browns was media driven. "Thats a perception that you all have generated," he said to reporters. "Thats not the perception among candidates or football people that Ive talked to around the country." Browns CEO Joe Banner took a playful jab at Clevelands front office, which was characterized locally as "The Three Stooges" when the search began. "I dont know if you had a chance to meet Mike, but since (GM) Mike Lombardi and I are Moe and Larry, we went and set out to find Curly and we succeeded," he said. "Thats why it took so long; there arent a lot of Curlys running around the country." Now that hes in place, Pettine is ready to roll up his sleeves and fix the Browns. Football is in his blood. He learned the game from his father, Mike Pettine Sr., who won four Pennsylvania state championships and retired as the winningest coach in state history. Not long after getting the job, Pettine phoned his dad. "It was special," he said. "It didnt last very long because he knew I had a lot of stuff to get done. My poor mom answered the phone and he said "Is that Michael?" He ripped it out of her hands. They were both excited and knew how much work it went into this." ' ' '
