TORONTO – Randy Carlyle felt helpless. Valtteri Filppula Authentic Jersey . He tried scores of video, tried highlight reels, tried countless meetings, tried whatever he could think up to alter the manner in which his seemingly unheard message was presented, anything to jolt a win from his team during the organizations longest losing streak (regulation) in more than 25 years. But it didnt work for more than two weeks, challenged all season for that matter. A narrow victory over Calgary Tuesday night wasnt exactly the Mona Lisa he imagined, but it did breathe the slightest gasp of life into the Maple Leafs sputtering playoff hopes. With just five games to go and ground to gain on Detroit and Columbus – both with games in hand – those hopes remain faint, but could become a little more real with a victory over Boston on Thursday night – however unlikely given both teams recent performance. The most crushing of foes for the Leafs in recent years – see: Game 7 – the Bruins have surged to the top of the NHL after a month of March that featured 15 wins in 17 games and just a single loss in regulation. "When you play teams of that caliber, you have to be on the top of your game," Carlyle said, sounding almost envious of the template created by GM Peter Chiarielli and head coach Claude Julien. "Theres a hockey club thats playing very well. If theres one thing that you can look to Boston is they dont really change. They do what they do and they do it as good as anybody in the league. Theyre a top team. They dont change their template." His team hasnt approached anything close to that level of consistency all year, an unpredictable Jekyll and Hyde bunch from October on. Four entirely different stretches have effectively defined whats been a rollercoaster season in Toronto. The Leafs started with 10 wins in their first 14 games, spiraled with 21 losses in the next 32, rebounded with victories in 15 of 22 before spinning out with eight straight losses in regulation ahead of Tuesdays 3-2 win over the Flames. Rarely did they function as imagined – major defensive deficiencies masked – winning games on the shoulders of a scorching top line and No. 1 goaltender, Jonathan Bernier, who thrived under a heavy workload. Of late, those two prime elements have cooled (or been hurt) and the club has otherwise found all kinds of ways to lose, fatalistic errors and bouts of "freeze mode" as Carlyle described it, often defining close defeats. "Even [Tuesday] night we stopped for awhile, but we got through it," he said of a game that saw Calgary rally late in the proceedings. "Those are the tough things and those are the things that make you shake your head and bang your head against the wall why are we doing that?" Carlyle has been shaking his head all season, unable to jive the current group with his imagined template. As they do now, the Leafs looked all but dead in early January, only to reel off 11 wins in 14 games before the Olympic break, propped up mostly by Phil Kessels dominance and Berniers nightly theatrics. Similar lightning in a bottle is now required – along with a dip from fellow wild card contenders – only now time is not on their side. And even five straight wins alone might not be enough to recover from another late season collapse. Yet another biggest game of the year stands front and centre, this against a Boston hockey club that lost in regulation Wednesday for the first time in more than a month, a 2-1 third period lead erased by the pesky Red Wings. Detroit pulled four points in front of Toronto (with a game still in hand) with the victory, leaving Columbus as the most likely target. "I think we all elevate our game against them," Jake Gardiner said of the Bruins, whom the Leafs defeated on Jan. 14. "It seems like were always prepared to play them." And theyll have to be. Their near-dead playoff fates are on the line. Ryan Callahan Authentic Jersey . Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies. Jason Garrison Authentic Jersey . So far, his encore is even better. Wainwright became the National Leagues first eight-game winner by dominating Cincinnati again, and the St.MONTECOPIOLO, Italy -- A final push from Diego Ulissi saw the Italian win a tough eighth stage as the Giro dItalia took to the mountains on Saturday, while Cadel Evans ended Michael Matthews grip on the overall lead. Ulissi made his move inside the final 300 metres, bursting out of the peloton to edge Robert Kiserlovski for a second stage win in the race. Wilco Kelderman was third on the 179-kilometre (111-mile) leg from Foligno to Montecopiolo, which had two category one climbs, including the final ascent to the finish. "It was a difficult race today, it was really too hard for my characteristics, but of course I am really happy," Ulissi said. Evans finished fifth to take the lead from fellow Australian Matthews, who had worn the pink jersey for six days. Evans has a 57-second advantage over Rigoberto Uran, with Rafal Majka third. "We had hopes of what we could do," Evans said. "Its been a really difficult Giro for all sorts of reasons. We are in a good position at the moment. It was a hard stage with all the contenders there ... We still have huge mountains to go and the gaps there will be even more than today." This years Giro honours the 10th anniversary of Marco Pantanis death, and the eighth stage was one of three dedicated to him. There were many posters of Pantani along the route and a huge cutout of the Italian cyclist on the Carpegna climb, where he used to train. Alex Killorn Lightning Jersey. Pantani won the Giro and Tour de France in 1998. He was found dead in a hotel room on Valentines Day in 2004, and a coroner ruled he died from cocaine poisoning. Julian Arredondo led the race for most of the day as part of an early break of 10 riders who managed to build a lead of more than eight minutes. That advantage diminished on the approach to the first climb. With an average gradient of 9.9 per cent, and 14 per cent at its steepest, the Carpegna was the first serious challenge of this years Giro. Arredondo jumped on the ascent with 36.6 kilometres (22.7 miles) remaining and had a 36-second advantage over Stefano Pirazzi at the summit, with a greatly reduced peloton crossing 1 minute, 57 seconds later. Pierre Rolland attacked off the group on the descent but Arredondo still had an advantage of 1:10 over him at the start of the penultimate climb, with the peloton trailing by 2:40. Arredondo faded two kilometres from the finish, and Rolland continued on solo before being swept up by the peloton with 350 metres to go. Daniel Moreno jumped but he was passed by Kiserlovksi, who looked to take victory until Ulissis attack from nowhere. Sundays ninth stage is a 172km leg from Lugo to Sestola, which ends in a category 2 climb to the finish. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
