We havent planned anything about moving back to Sweden,

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. Noah Vonleh Jersey . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. C.J. McCollum Jersey . - The Minnesota Vikings have ruled Christian Ponder out for Sundays game at Baltimore, because the quarterback has not yet passed all of his post-concussion tests. http://www.blazersteamofficial.com/Shabazz-Napier-Blazers-Jersey/ . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team. Al-Farouq Aminu Jersey . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St. Terry Porter Jersey . No surprise there. Kershaw, who also earned the title after throwing his first career no-hitter in June, had a 1.Nico Rosberg is braced for a fightback from Lewis Hamilton, who he says is as focused as ever, in their battle for this years world championship. But Rosberg insists he wont change his approach after his win at the Japanese GP put him 33 points ahead of Hamilton with four races to go. With that kind of margin, no-one could blame Rosberg for beginning to allow thoughts of winning the title to enter his mind, but the German has maintained throughout the season that he is just taking each race at a time. At the final four races in Texas, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, he could afford to just follow Hamilton home in second and still take the championship - but Rosberg has vowed to carry on targeting victory.I really try not to as its working quite well as it is, so Im going to keep on going like that, he told Sky F1.Theres no point getting into any of that stuff. I just want to keep on trying to win the races, I dont want to start calculating or bringing home second places.In the post-race news conference Hamilton described Rosbergs lead as a healthy margin and it seems the German cant help but acknowledge he is in a strong position:Im well aware of the points. 33 points - its better that way than the other way round. Mercedes Nico Rosberg speaks to Sky F1s Rachel Brookes after victory in Japan Rosbergs reflections on the weekend as a whole sum up the kind of coonfidence he appears to have right now:Its been a great weekend for me from the word go.dddddddddddd I got everything right. I felt comfortable from the first lap on Friday.Contrast that with his team-mate, who had an off-track battle to contend with as well as fighting one on the track. But does Rosberg think Hamilton was distracted by the on-going spat with sections of the media?Im the guy who knows, as I see backstage, and Lewis was as focused as ever this weekend. He was putting in the long hours and getting the car perfect. Rosberg has maintained the same stance all season - that Hamilton is still the bench mark whatever the standings suggest - and he fully expects his title rival to push him all the way.You dont need to expect him to back off in any way. Lewis is always a fighter. Its always a good battle and its going to continue to be. Hes going to be going for it in the last four races. Theres still a long way to go.And what about those around him? Well, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has this to say about Rosberg: If you want to be a world champion you should avoid mistakes to the minimum and thats what hes doing.33 points is quite a big gap if everything goes right. But we have seen that one DNF and the other guy winning is 25 points lost and then the championship is open again.Up next is a track that wont bring back the fondest of memories for Rosberg. The United States Grand Prix was the scene of Hamiltons title win last year and also that memorable cap-throwing incident. But despite that hes feeling positive about whats ahead: The upcoming races really suit me, Ive always felt comfortable at those tracks.That said, its a race Hamilton has won three of the four times it has been held so far in Texas, whereas Rosberg has never experienced victory at Austin.Dont miss The F1 Reports review of the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday evening. Also See: Nico extends title lead in Japan Hamilton takes blame for start Japanese GP Recap F1 Gossip Column Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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