TORONTO - There are many questions surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, namely: How did this happen? How, in less than two weeks, did a team that was sitting pretty in second place in the Atlantic Division fritter away a three-point lead over the Montreal Canadiens and nine-point advantage over the Detroit Red Wings? As the players come to grips with the roots of their six-game losing streak, Tuesdays almost-comeback against the St. Fake Hawks Jerseys . Louis Blues highlighted a big issue: Why cant the Leafs play with the desperation they show when down two or three goals at the start of games? "Thats the million-dollar question right now," winger James van Riemsdyk said. "It seems like every time we get down we start to ramp it up, and then its always just a little too little, too late at the end." It may be too little, too late for the Leafs if they cant figure out how to solve that problem. Theyre tied at 80 points with the Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals but are fourth among those teams for the Eastern Conferences two wild-card spots because theyve played the most games (74). Of course that also means their eight remaining are the fewest among those in the race and theres not much time to figure out slow starts, a central problem during this losing skid. Against the Blues, the Leafs scored first for the first time since March 10, but they also gave up a season-high 23 shots in the opening period and were hemmed in their zone often. "We just couldnt get out of our zone," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "They put a lot of pressure on us, and we couldnt handle it." Coach Randy Carlyle noticed some of the pressure that has been building on his team early on Tuesday night. "Theres a lot of tenseness in our players," he said after the 5-3 loss. "The first three puck recoveries, we just slapped the puck away. We didnt pick up the puck and skate with it at all. Thats showing signs of being nervous, tense, (a lack of) confidence not wanting to make a mistake, which led to more offensive-zone time (for St. Louis)." The listless Leafs led for less than five minutes, then trailed from the time David Backes scored with 32.3 seconds left in the first period until the end of the game. It was only after ex-Toronto forward Alex Steen scored to make it 4-1 that the Leafs showed some fire and launched a comeback bid that fell short. At this point, players are even self-aware that the transformation is happening once they fall behind. "It seems like when we get down, then were playing with no fear, were letting some of our skill take over, our defencemen are rushing the puck out of the zone and making plays," Lupul said. "Theres something to be said about being down and not having that fear anymore, but realistically weve got to play like that right from the start. Its more of a psychological thing than it is a physical thing." If its a mental problem, defenceman Carl Gunnarsson doesnt have the answer. "Weve been talking about it," he said. "I dont know whats going on there, but weve got to figure out a way here to change it." Changing it and managing to play as well as they did in the bulk of the third period against the Blues would give the Leafs a good chance of coming out of this tailspin and making the playoffs. Gunnarsson and goaltender Jonathan Bernier agreed that, although thats a challenge, the end result could be scary for opponents. "If we play like we did in the third period for 60 minutes, I dont think theres a lot of teams that can beat us," Gunnarsson said. Of course if the Leafs make mistakes like they did in the first half of the game and throughout this losing streak, they can lose to any team left on the schedule. They visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday before returning home to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and also have games against the Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators to close out the season. We have a lot of fight left in us," van Riemsdyk said. "Theres eight games left, and well have to leave it all out there in every game." Dan Roundfield Jersey . Obasi chested the ball past one defender, prodded it past another and then rounded the keeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 16th minute. Seconds after the restart, Obasi set up Klaas Jan Huntelaar for the Dutchmans 11th goal from 13 games this season. DeAndre Bembry Jersey .com) - The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are ready to put all the talk and hype surrounding their meeting at Dodger Stadium behind them. https://www.cheaphawks.com/614r-herm-gilliam-jersey-hawks.html . De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, Todd Helton homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night.WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike OShea may not know exactly what to expect from the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday but he says there are a lot of reasons, including quarterback Henry Burris, not to look at them as just an expansion team. "Theyre going to be well coached," he said of the Redblacks, who play their inaugural regular-season game Thursday at Investors Group Field. "Their GM didnt hire guys that dont have CFL experience. These are all guys that are very well-versed in the CFL game. Theyre going to be well-prepared "The expansion draft saw them get a lot of good players. Theyve got a quarterback that passed for 50,000 (yards) and ran for five (thousand). He was right up there for MVP of the league last year. I dont look at them as an expansion team." He says he expects them to come out flying. He says the Bombers will only be guessing at what the Redblacks will bring but that same uncertainty applies to all teams up to a point at the start of a season. Veteran Winnipeg defensive back Johnny Sears seconds OSheas assessment of Burris, who took Hamilton to the Grey Cup final last year. "Theyve got Henry Burris so you now they have a chance to win no matter who else theyve got on the team, so thats a challenge in itself," said Sears, who will be competing against former teammate Jovon Johnson in Ottawas secondary. Burris, 39, shows no signs of sslowing down. Bob Houbregs Jersey. After 14 seasons in the CFL with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Hamilton, he has completed 3,672 passes for 51,526 yards and 324 touchdowns. Hes rushed for another 5,033 yards and 55 touchdowns. He earned two Grey Cup rings with the Stampeders, one in 1998 as a backup and another in 2008 as the starter. The Bombers were also looking at Burris in the off-season but he picked the expansion Redblacks, who bring the nations capital back to the CFL for the first time since 2005. The Ottawa Renegades, the short-lived replacement for the Ottawa Rough Riders, folded after just four seasons due to mounting losses. Not that Winnipeg is unhappy with their final choice at quarterback, former Saskatchewan Roughriders backup Drew Willy. The Bombers surprised many by dominating the Toronto Argonauts 45-21 last week with strong games from both their offence and defence. Willy threw four touchdown passes in that win but says as far as preparing for Ottawa, he agrees they will have to wait and see Thursday. "You kind of look at the (defensive) co-ordinators past and where the head coach has been and try to get some tendencies here and there but they could come out with something entirely different so really youve got to play what your eyes see," he said. He said theyve prepared well for that with the unorthodox defence they had to compete against in Bomber training camp. ' ' '