TORONTO – As he does at the conclusion of each and every skate, Randy Carlyle gathered his players along the side boards and delivered his message, one that lingered a little longer than usual on this day, his words measured and optimistic amid a late season skid. Gus Williams Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Win our share of games. Find a way to get our team playing back to the way were capable of playing." The Leafs – who may have help on the way – have dropped three straight games for the first time in more than two months, their once secure position in the playoff race suddenly veering toward a more uncertain status. Though they still occupy the first wild card spot in the East, their lead on the likes of Tampa, Montreal, New York, Detroit and Washington has narrowed, if not vanished. And a sweltering stretch which saw them rack up at least a point in 18 of 22 games (15-4-3) – following that four-game slide in early January – has quickly become old news. More important now is a looming back-to-back set with the Canadiens and Devils, Montreal notably just three points up as the third seed in the Atlantic division. "I dont think if you go back and watch the game-tape wed say were playing terrible games," said Joffrey Lupul of close losses to the Capitals, Red Wings and Lightning. "Were working, were skating, [but] were making some critical mistakes to not give us a chance to win." Among those errors was a mistake by Lupul in the middle frame of a Wednesday loss to Tampa, one that saw the 30-year-old winger fail to chip a puck out along the boards, the mistake resulting in Steven Stamkoss third goal of the game. Execution errors of that kind were common in the first half of a 5-3 loss to the Lightning – now five points up on Toronto with a game in hand – the Leafs late push, like others in Washington and Detroit, just too late to snap a three-game skid. Carlyle told his team that their competition level, which helped manifest 22 third period shots opposite Ben Bishop, needed to become a more consistent reality. "That has to be 60 minutes," he said. But whats plagued the Leafs in recent days isnt altogether different from whats lingered beneath the surface all year, defensive concerns standing most prominent. Unlike most of the season, however, their top line has quieted some (with secondary support still inconsistent) and the goaltending in Jonathan Berniers absence has been merely average. James Reimer has a .901 save percentage in five consecutive appearances. Special teams, additionally, have both struggled. "Its just been a mistake here or a mistake there or not getting the job done on special teams," said Lupul. Help could be on the way with Dave Bolland "probable" to return against the Canadiens, Bernier remaining out a fourth straight game because of a groin injury. Sidelined for nearly five months Bolland is expected to play alongside Mason Raymond and David Clarkson, exuding a real excitement about returning to the Toronto lineup for the first time since Nov. 2. "Things are going upwards," the 27-year-old said ahead of the Saturday tilt. Bolland has missed the past 56 games with a severed tendon in his left ankle, grueling through months of slow-moving rehab. He appeared close to a return in early March, but was still having trouble crossing over, pushing his timeframe further back than even the team expected. "Its a grind and its not fun coming to the rink early in the morning and then leaving later after the guys and then getting there for the game and working out and seeing whats going on on the ice," said Bolland. "Its not a fun moment for hockey players to go through that, to battle through that. "You dont get any excitement. You dont really feel the excitement that the guys feel when they win … Youre sort of in the background when things are going on. Its good to see that everything is going upwards." Bernier was on the ice for a third straight day Saturday morning, but was not yet at 100 per cent, according to Carlyle. His status for Sundays game in New Jersey also appears in question with a return more likely early next week. "We were pretty excited with some of our additions coming into camp and it seems that we havent had everyone in there as a whole yet," said Lupul. "Itll be interesting to see." Altering some of the recent maladies though will require improvements elsewhere. Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak were due to cool off from a scorching two-month run and they have, meaning that more is required offensively from Lupul, Nazem Kadri, David Clarkson and other sources of depth from the group up front. Toronto forwards have just seven goals in the last six games. Unable to outscore teams recently, the Leafs have actually cut down on the number of shots against, yielding only 31 on average during the three-game skid. But theyve ceded far too many high-quality opportunities – notably to Stamkos most recently – many of which Reimer could not turn aside as Bernier has for most of the season. Their power-play, additionally, is in need of a spark with just three goals in the past 14 games. And their penalty kill, once rising, has given up five in the three losses. Unpredictable and unwaveringly confident all year in the face of adversity, theres no reason why the Leafs cant turn things around in a hurry. But with just 11 games to play and a stake in their second straight trip to the postseason on the line, the clock is certainly ticking. Billy Owens Jersey . Nainggolan scored his first Italian league goal at Bologna, in October 2010, and he also opened his Roma account there following his January move from Cagliari. The Belgium midfielder volleyed home Miralem Pjanics cross from close range eight minutes from time. Warriors Jerseys 2020 . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug. https://www.cheapwarriors.com/699o-larry-smith-jersey-warriors.html . After overcoming a three-goal deficit the Senators forced the game to overtime only to watch it slip away as Seth Jones scored the winner 3:49 into the extra period as the Nashville Predators defeated the Senators 4-3 Monday night. MONACO -- Six-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic faces an anxious wait to see how long his right-wrist injury will keep him away from tennis. Djokovic lost his Monte Carlo Masters title on Saturday after being beaten by Roger Federer in the semifinal, where the Serb played with heavy strapping on his right wrist and was unable to serve or return to his usual level. "I just rest now. I cannot play tennis for some time. How long, I dont know. Its really not in my hands anymore," Djokovic said. "Im going to rest and see when it can heal 100 per cent, then I will be back on the court." There was some bright news, however. "Well, the good thing is I dont need to have a surgery. I dont have any rupture or something like that," Djokovic said. "Im going to go see doctors tonight and then tomorrow again have another MRI (scan), see if anything changed in this seven days since I had the last one." He does not know what the exact injury is. "I heard so many things in last 10 days," Djokovic said. "Trust me, its complicated." The second-ranked Serb had complained earlier this week about the pain, but then said it felt better aftter taking a day off from playing and training between his matches on Tuesday and Thursday. Howie Dallmar Jersey. His arduous quarterfinal win against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday, needing more than two hours to beat the Spaniard, aggravated the pain. "Long match, long rallies, heavy balls, definitely did not help the state of my arm," he said. "Since last night it was as it is now." Djokovic was looking to win his fifth straight Masters title but felt he was up against it from the outset. "The pain was there every single day from 10 days ago. At some stages it was very painful," he said. "I didnt want to pull out (against Federer) because then people start talking different things about me and my withdraws and so forth. That was the main reason." Djokovic thinks he may have started training too hard on clay after switching from the grueling hard courts in the United States, where he won Masters titles at Miami and Indian Wells. "It happened in two days. Obviously I practiced a lot. Maybe I started a bit too strong," he said. "The transition from hard court to clay, different balls, have probably taken its toll." ' ' '