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Given the depth of the Toronto Maple Leafs struggles, its somewhat surprising they still have an outside shot at a wild-card spot. Rick Martin Jersey . The New Jersey Devils are five points behind the Leafs, but they look like the team thats more eager to make a playoff push. The Leafs return from the All-Star break looking to snap a six-game losing streak when they visit a Devils club thats earned points in five of seven Wednesday night. Toronto (22-23-3) scored more than one goal for the first time in six games last Wednesday but lost 4-3 at Ottawa. The Leafs trailed 3-0 after the first period in suffering their 14th defeat in 17 contests - all the losses coming in regulation. Thats left them 10 points out of the second wild-card spot with three teams to pass. We just have to keep trying to move forward, said center Nazem Kadri, who scored for the second straight game. Thats really all we can do is try and stay positive. We just have to play with that desperation through 60 minutes instead of 40 or 45. Toronto held a 40-26 shot advantage over the Senators - 17-6 in the third period - but exceeded the two-goal mark for just the second time in 10 contests. The Leafs havent been much better defensively, allowing 3.10 goals per game to rank near the bottom of the league, and theyll be without defenseman Dion Phaneuf on a week-to-week basis due to injury. Well definitely miss our captain, Kadri told the teams official website. He also logs a lot of minutes against (opponents) top guys so thats definitely a big hole to fill. Toronto has gone 5-10-3 without Phaneuf since he joined the Leafs in January 2010. They have a .517 winning percentage in the 359 games hes played. Toronto will get forwards Leo Komarov and Peter Holland back in the lineup for tonights contest. Joffrey Lupul (lower body), Stephane Robidas (upper body) and Dion Phaneuf (hand) will all sit out. The Leafs will start with Korbinian Holzer in Phaneufs place on the top pairing with Cody Franson, but head coach Peter Horachek said he may try others in that spot as well. Jonathan Bernier gets the start between the pipes for tonights contest. New Jersey (17-22-8) would need to pass six teams to capture the final wild-card berth, but the Devils have certainly appeared more motivated than the Leafs of late. New Jersey defeated San Jose 5-2 on Jan. 19 to complete a 2-1-0 California road trip, giving it a 4-2-1 mark in the past seven. Cory Schneider made 34 saves and five players scored for the Devils, who went 4 for 9 on the power play during the three-game swing. We can feel good about ourselves, Schneider said. We just have to capture this and realize this is what we have to do night in and night out. New Jersey, near the bottom of the NHL with 2.23 goals per game, has scored four or more three times in the past seven contests. Its likely to get more help offensively Wednesday from second-leading scorer Jaromir Jagr and Tuomo Ruutu, who both missed the last three games before the break due to the flu. You go in feeling good but you cant feel too good, general manager and interim co-coach Lou Lamoriello said. You just have to realize what you did to have success and take that from the game and just pick it up when you get back. New Jersey has won the last two meetings with Toronto and is 2-0-2 in the past four. The Devils took the first matchup of the season 5-3 on the road Dec. 4, getting goals from five players and 29 saves from Schneider. Those last four meetings represent all of Schneiders career starts against the Leafs, and hes posted a 1.93 goals-against average. Wednesdays Projected Lines vs. Devils: Forward Komarov - Kadri - Kessel van Riemsdyk - Bozak - Clarkson Winnik - Holland - Santorelli Booth - Smith - Panik Defence Holzer - Franson Rielly - Polak Gardiner - Granberg Game Notes: NJ is 1-0-0 vs TOR this season, winning in TOR TOR has gone 3-1-0 past 4 games in NJ (lost last) Devils: 4-2-1 past 7 games, 4GF or more in 4 of the games, 5/16 on PP Havlat (2G, 1A) 3 game PT streak Maple Leafs: lost 6 straight, outscored 20-5, 2/18 on PP Kadri (2G) has scored in back to back games Fake Sabres Jerseys . The international synchronized skating competition takes place from January 31 - February 1, 2014, and features 39 teams from 10 countries, in senior, junior, and novice. Rob Ray Jersey . Speaking with TSN 1050 following Brendan Shanahans introductory press conference, the Leafs GM also addressed the clubs perceived leadership issues and the type of working relationship that can be expected within Torontos front office. https://www.cheapsabres.com/1393v-carter...abres.html .com) - DAngelo Harrison posted 21 points to guide No.Admittedly, the Toronto Blue Jays are only seven games into their season and their record is marginally better than a year ago, but some disturbing trends are beginning to emerge. First, lets talk about the positives. Melky Cabrera is back and healthy and has already socked three home runs. Hes also playing the field with far more range and confidence after having that tumour removed from his back. Maicer Izturis is swinging the bat well and Adam Lind and Jose Bautista are off to decent starts. R.A. Dickey and Mark Buerhle each have a quality start (the former also has a shutout) and Drew Hutchison pitched shutout ball for five-and-a-third innings. Still, there are things to be concerned about. The Jays, though they are tied with the Seattle Mariners for second in the American League with eight home-runs, just one behind the Houston Astros of all teams, they are only hitting .216 as a team and their offence ranks ninth in the AL. Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus and Jose Reyes (injured and on the DL after just one at-bat) have almost been non-factors at the plate. The pitching has been a mixed bag. For instance, the Jays registered two shutouts in their first six games for the first time in franchise history, yet their team ERA ranks 11th at 4.57. Of the teams in their own division, only the Baltimore Orioles are worse at 5.02. Yet, the funny thing is that the Jays lead the American League in strikeouts with 63, though they have played one more game than a number of clubs. Heres one stat that can be a staff killer: Through seven games, the Blue Jays have received 39 innings from their starters. That is only slightly better than the 37 innings they got from their starters over the same seven-game span a year ago. Theyve had to use the bullpen for three innings or more in all but two of their games and, in Dustin McGowans start Friday night in the home opener and Sundays Hutchison start against the Yankees, the relievers had to go six-and-a-third  and five-and-two-thirds innings, respectively. A staff simply cant sustain that and hope to contend. Though Dioner Navarro is an upgrade over J.P Arencibia behind the plate, the Jays with Erik Kraatz and Josh Thole having started a game each, as well, have surrended a league-leading 10 stolen bases with only one runner caught. Of their first seven games a year ago (three-game sets with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox at home and one at Detroit against the Tigers), the Jays lost by four or more runs twice and won another game when they gave up four to Cleveland. This year through seven (four at the Tampa Bay Rays and this past weekends three-game home-opening set against the Yankees), they were beaten twice by at least  five runs and have given up at least seven runs three times. In other words, though they are a game better in their record  (3-4 versus 2-5), many of the same problems still exist and most trace back to the consistencyand talent of the starting rotation. Jim Schoenfeld Jersey. - Through the first week of the season, five of the six divisions are fairly tightly bunched. From first to last in those five, the gap from first to last is no more than two-and-a-half games, while in the AL East, the Blue Jays with all their questions marks are still just one game back of Tampa Bay, a half-game back of the Yankees and a half-game ahead of both Baltimore and Boston. The surprise team so far in the American League is the Houston Astros. The Astros, who visit the Blue Jays for a three-game series starting Tuesday night, have split the first six games of their season-opening seven-game homestand. They took two of three from the Yankees and are looking for a split of their four-game set with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday afternoon. As mentioned earlier, Houston leads the AL with nine home runs including five on Sunday in a 7-4 victory over the Angels. A couple of interesting things about the Astros: They are using one of the shortest clean-up hitters in Major League history. Their  55" star second baseman, Jose Altuve, is hitting in the four-hole. Scott Feldman, never considered much more than a journeyman, has emerged as the teams number-one starter and is 2-0 out of the gate. The Jays will miss Feldman and promising rookie Jarred Cosart, though, in the three-game set at Rogers Centre. - The Arizona Diamondbacks are the surprise team in the National League for all the wrong reasons. After losing both games in Australia against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the , they set a franchise record to open the season at 1-7 before downing the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Sunday. The one bright spot for the D-Backs has been the home run-hitting of former Angels slugger Mark Trumbo, who was picked up in an offseason deal with the Halos. He has already hit five roundtrippers, including one in each of the last four games. The Major League record is home runs in eight-straight gamesshared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey, Jr. - I saw a great old baseball movie over the weekend, the original Angels in the Outfield. It starred Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh. Made in 1951, it chronicled the struggles of the Pittsburgh Pirates and their beleaguered manager whose lives were turned around and their season saved by a group of baseball spirits. Yeah , it was cute and at times a bit cheesy , but it was worth seeing, if only for the location shots of old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and cameo appearances by Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb and Bing Crosby, who was a part owner of the Pirates at the time. - I was happy to be on hand at Rogers Centre on Sunday to see Derek Jeter add another chapter to his incredible career. With two hits, he passed former Blue Jay Paul Molitor to move into eighth-place on the all-time Major League hits list with 3,320. He needs 100 more hits in this his 20th and final season to pass Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski for seventh. The Yankees are in town twice more this season, June 23-25 and August 29-31. ' ' '