TORONTO – Randy Carlyle felt helpless. 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. Hernan Perez Jersey . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. Manny Pina Brewers Jersey . LOUIS -- When Braves second baseman Tyler Pastornicky backpedaled into shallow right field to catch the popup and Jason Heyward didnt arrive fast enough to take charge, Kolten Wong got the green light. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/. The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. Devin Williams Brewers Jersey . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Cory Spangenberg Jersey . A lawmaker is hoping the buzz from California Chromes run for the Triple Crown might build support for a bill that would place the U. SOCHI, Russia -- Team Canadas best players brought their best game and left with gold. On the worlds biggest stage, Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby made good on their strong tournaments and controversial roster pick Chris Kunitz sealed the victory as Canada won its second straight Olympic gold medal in mens hockey with a 3-0 win over Sweden on Sunday. Canada did not trail at any point in the final or over the course of the entire tournament and finished as the first undefeated gold medallist since the Soviet Union in 1984 in Sarajevo, beating Norway, Austria, Finland, Latvia, the United States and Sweden along the way. Until Sunday, Toews and Crosby were two of Canadas best players through the first five games but did not have a goal to show for it. Canadian coach Mike Babcock brushed off concerns about a lack of offence from his forwards, figuring they would come but hoping the stars wouldnt "run out of time." Toews, who opened the scoring with a deflection in the first period, and Crosby, who beat Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway in the second, delivered just in time. Putting up two goals meant Sweden would have had to score as many goals in the third period as Canada gave up in its first five games of the Olympics. That defensive dominance continued against Sweden, which was without first-line centre Nicklas Backstrom, a late scratch. NHL stars accustomed to more offensive roles continued to display the kind of hard-working defensive intensity Babcock needed out of them, limiting Swedens scoring chances in the process. Goaltender Carey Price made 24 saves for his second straight shutout to cap off his impressive tournament in which he allowed just three goals in five starts. By beating Sweden, Canada became the first back-to-back gold-medal winner since the NHL began sending its players in 1998. It was the first time Canada won gold in two straight Games since 1948 and 1952. And this didnt take a fortunate bounce Quality chances came fast and furious in the games first few minutes. Crosby generated the first one 57 seconds in when he batted the puck down and found Patrice Bergeron for a shot from between the circles that Lundqvist got in front of. Canadas Jamie Benn and Swedens Niklas Kronwall traded shots before Bergeron picked off a pass from Johnny Oduya three minutes in and shot it right into Lundqvist. Swedens best chance of the first period was a minute later, when Gustav Nyquists shot from close range hit the left post behind Price. Canadas starter looked behind him to see the puck inches from the goal line before covering it up. Bergeron continued his tremendous start by shooting off the shaft of Lundqvists stick and hitting the post 11 minutes in. That helped Canada turn the tide after being on the receiving end for a handful of shifts. It was the line of Patrick Marleau, Jeff Carter and Toews that has been together the longest thaat got Canada on the board at the 12:55 mark.dddddddddddd Carter skated down the right wing almost to the goal-line and found Toews streaking to the net. Able to keep his stick free from Patrik Berglund, Toews got it on the puck and deflected it off the inside of Lundqvists right pad and in. With Martin St. Louis inserted onto the fourth line in place of Patrick Sharp, Canada generated a couple of scoring chances and got a power play after Matt Duchene drew a penalty on Swedish defenceman Jonathan Ericsson. Unable to score in those two minutes, Canada went on the kill late in the first into the second after a Kunitz high-sticking penalty and got the job done. Canada had the lions share of chances throughout the second period, save for a couple of opportunities by Loui Eriksson and Erik Karlsson, who came into the day tied for the tournament lead in scoring. Karlsson also made a good stick check on Crosby to thwart the captain in open ice. But Crosby wasnt going to be denied at the 15:43 mark, when he poked the puck away from Ericsson at Canadas blue-line and blew right by Alexander Steen to get a breakaway. Crosby had just enough time to think, go backhand and bank the puck off Lundqvists left pad an into the net. It didnt have the drama of Crosby beating Ryan Miller for the golden goal in Vancouver four years ago, but as he raised his arms in the air it looked like Canada couldnt be beaten on this day. Kunitz, who made the team because of his natural chemistry with Crosby, did it all by himself to provide Canada with breathing room. Kunitz took the puck away from Daniel Sedin, skated over the blue-line and beat Lundqvist clean at the 9:04 mark of the third period. Because Canada gave up just three goals all tournament, that set off quite the celebration on the bench. Eleven players, including backup goaltender Roberto Luongo, won gold for the second straight Olympics. Crosby, Toews, Rick Nash, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Marleau, Bergeron, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Drew Doughty got to celebrate twice. Some of the biggest contributors in getting Canada to the final came from newcomers, including Carter and Benn. But two of the three goal-scorers against Sweden -- Crosby and Toews -- were the same ones who scored to beat the United States in Vancouver in 2010. NOTES -- With Backstrom out, Sweden inserted defenceman Henrik Tallinder into the lineup because it did not have an extra forward. The Swedes were already without captain Henrik Zetterberg because of a herniated disk. ... Canada had no lineup surprises, scratching injured forward John Tavares and healthy defenceman P.K. Subban along with third goaltender Mike Smith. ... Brad Jacobs gold-medal-winning mens curling team was among the 11,076 in attendance at Bolshoy Ice Dome and interviewed on the video screen at the first intermission. ' ' '