ide receiver Reggie Wayne, still recovering from a torn ACL in

MONTREAL – When Max Pacioretty scored the fourth straight Montreal goal, a shorthanded marker that squeaked through the pads of Jonathan Bernier, he holstered his stick in celebratory fashion on the ice surface of the Bell Centre. "Thats when we finally got involved in the game, we got emotionally mad," said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle of the late goal in the middle period. "What we have to question ourselves is why wouldnt we have that from the first 20 minutes." The Leafs would score 22 seconds apart after the Pacioretty goal and celebration, but their inspired rallying attempts would ultimately fall short. They would lose a season-high fourth straight game and fifth in the past six, edged 4-2 by the Habs on Saturday evening. It was the conclusion of a turbulent month of November for the Leafs, one that saw them drop nine of 13 games (4-6-3), falling into the fifth seed in the Atlantic division, two points back of Montreal. Only 58 seconds had elapsed in this one before another storm began to brew. Somehow sneaking in behind the Toronto defence on an early power-play, Pacioretty took four whacks at Bernier before he beat the Leaf goaltender for the quick strike and lead. The Habs would add three more unanswered, including the shorthanded goal from Pacioretty that seemed to ignite the Leaf bench, albeit a response that fell short on this night. "Again, there are times that we didnt play as well as we couldve and those are the times that probably cost us the game," said James van Riemsdyk, who scored for the third time in three games. "They buried their chances, we hit some pipes…those tend to be the difference when two hard-fought teams play the game." "Were having good spurts, but were not putting together 60 minutes," said Mason Raymond, the last Leaf to beat Carey Price, who made 34 saves. "Weve got to figure out how to create more opportunities, feed off good opportunities and ultimately get leads and run with them." Fortunate to win a string of games early in the year on the backbone of superb goaltending and special teams, both elements have fallen off somewhat in recent weeks and once more on this night. Bernier made 35 saves, but was less effective than Price, who stopped all but two shots. The Habs meanwhile, scored once on the man advantage and again shorthanded, the Leafs coming up dry in their four power-play opportunities. "If you look at our games weve been giving up a lot of shots, and at a certain point you cant have luck on your side all season," Bernier told reporters in French, according to NHL.com. "There will be highs and lows, and right now we need to find the little spark we had at the beginning of the season and be excited to come play hockey and find a way to score. If we give up four then score five. I think thats what we had at the beginning of the season." The success of October (10 wins) is but a memory after the increasingly sour vibes of November. As the calendar turns to December the games only get tougher for the Leafs with a string of top opponents, including the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins on the docket. Adversity has hit hard and is demanding a response. "Weve got to continue to push for our group to stay with the program, build on some of the positives," said Carlyle. "Obviously theres negatives that we need to clean up and well continue to do that, but thats the way were going to look at it." Five Points 1. Goalie Regression As was to be expected following a boiling start to the season – one that saw the tandem steal game after game early along with special teams – Leaf goaltending has tapered off somewhat in recent days. Still ranked fourth overall this season, James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier have combined to post an .894 save percentage in the past six games. In his first start against the Canadiens this season, Bernier, a native of nearby Laval, yielded four goals on 39 shots. The 25-year-old has allowed four goals or more in each of his past three starts. "Ive got to be better," said Bernier. "Obviously giving up four goals Ive got to find a way to keep it a tight game." All alone on the opening goal from Pacioretty, Bernier was then beaten by a P.K. Subban wrist shot through traffic, Tomas Plekanec back-door and Pacioretty once more on a shorthanded rush. 2. Offensive Struggles Scoring only the pair against Price, the Leafs finished with two goals or fewer for the ninth time in November. They mustered only 17 even-strength goals in 13 games all month, still struggling to consistently brand themselves as the cycling group Carlyle envisions them to be. "Teams dont score very much on the rush anymore in the NHL," said Carlyle. "A lot more goals are created with offensive zone time, cycling, a lot more deflections, a lot more second and third opportunities from shots and rebounds." The Leafs have gotten almost no offence from their bottom-6 forwards all season and very little (as noted in more detail below) from their defence. In fact, a group seven forwards has combined to score 82 per cent of the teams 72 goals this season. Kessel leads the way with 14, followed by van Riemsdyk at 12, Raymond at nine, Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri at seven apiece, Dave Bolland at six and Tyler Bozak at four. 3. Offence on Defence Considering those struggles to generate offence the lack of firepower from the Leaf defence is certainly worth noting. The group has totaled just three goals – two from Dion Phaneuf – one of those coming into an empty net. Their most poignant struggle has been an inability to get pucks through to the net from the point, thereby creating second and third opportunities and subsequent chaos for opposing netminders. Phaneuf, who led the Leafs with nine goals in 2013, has just two on the year, shooting the puck with far less quantity than in previous years. The 28-year-old is averaging only 1.45 shots per game, by far the fewest of his nine-year career. Season Shots Per Game 13-14 1.45 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 The Leaf captain appeared to score his third of the year midway through the opening frame on Saturday, but the goal was waved off immediately. The officials determined that van Riemsdyk was in the crease. "I thought we were just jockeying for position," said van Riemsdyk, who disagreed with the decision. "But its the refs call. At least he was nice enough to explain it to me without reaming me out." 4. Moving the Puck A subtle aspect of the Leafs overall game that could certainly stand to improve lies in their ability to break out of their own zone effectively. "I think it all starts with how we play (the opposition) when theyre coming into the zone," said Carl Gunnarsson, who played 20 minutes against Montreal. "If we can be more aggressive from the start, not give them time (then) that usually gives us an advantage." "Its obviously a five-man thing," added Jay McClement. "Its a lot of moving parts. Its a huge difference if we can get out of our zone clean and we have fresh legs going up the ice and you have a better chance to forecheck and get the puck back." 5. Franson injured The Leafs had to make due against the Canadiens without Cody Franson. Franson, believed to have suffered the lower-body injury during a scuffle with Matt Moulson on Friday, was forced to depart the pre-game warmup on Saturday, limping notably as he did so. To fill the void of the 26-year-old, Carlyle reinserted Morgan Rielly back into the lineup, the 19-year-old sitting a night earlier against the Sabres. Already a point of instability, the Leaf defence can ill afford an injury to Franson, who leads the group with 13 points and sits second in ice-time. Jake Gardiner, who replaced Franson alongside Mark Fraser at the outset and was eventually paired with Paul Ranger, led the group with a season-high 25 minutes. Stat-Pack 0-3-0 – Career record for Jonathan Bernier versus the Canadiens. 4-6-3 – Leafs record in November. 25:30 – Ice-time for Jake Gardiner on Saturday, a season-high. 18 – Points for Mason Raymond this season, four off the 22 he had in 46 games last season. 15 – Number of power-play goals the Leafs allowed in November. 25:32 – Ice-time for Phil Kessel on Saturday, a season-high. .894 – Save percentage for Leaf goaltenders in the past six games. 83% - Percentage of offence from the Leafs top seven goal-scorers this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 23.2% PK: 1-2Season: 78.6% Quote of the Night "I dont know what they thought. They didnt tell me what they thought. They dont come close to you when those things are happening out there." -Randy Carlyle, on the explanation (or lack thereof) that he received from officials after Dion Phaneufs seemingly good goal was waved off in the opening period. Up Next The Leafs kick off December on Tuesday when San Jose visits the ACC. Vapormax Off White Fake . -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Vapormax Homme Moins Cher . Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization. http://www.vapormaxsolde.fr/basket-vapormax-plus-grossiste.html .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre. Vapormax Off White France . (January 11, 2014) – Once again Kevin Martin proved why he is the all-time TSN skins leader, winning $11,500 in prize money and a spot in the Travelers All-Star Curling Skins Game presented by Pintys final following a semifinal victory over Brad Jacobs earlier this evening at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta. Air Vapormax Flyknit Pas Cher . As future stars prepare to make the big leap to the professional ranks, TSNs Draft Week delivers wall-to-wall coverage of both the NHL and NBA Entry Drafts, highlighted by exclusive live coverage of both events. NEW YORK -- Michael Vick has watched Geno Smith every day for nearly two weeks. Every snap and every throw. Sure, Vick would like to be the New York Jets starting quarterback. But, from what he has seen, theyre already in pretty good hands with Smith. "Hes going to be great," Vick declared. "Hes going to be 10 times better than where he was last year and Im looking forward to it." Thats quite an endorsement from a guy who still believes he can be a star in the NFL. As it stands, Vick is a big-name, veteran backup who can step in if needed and push Smith to be better in his second season. Some fans and media wonder when -- not if -- Vick will replace Smith under centre. The doubters arent sold on Smith being able to improve that dramatically from a rookie year in which he threw 21 interceptions and just 12 touchdowns. Smith gets a chance to show everyone where he stands Thursday when the Jets -- with newcomers Eric Decker and Chris Johnson -- play their preseason opener at home against Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. "Execution. Its always about execution," Smith said. "Its always about us doing the right things on the field. We want to execute to the best of our ability. Go out there and be sharp mentally, be sharp physically, be accurate, be sharp with the reads, and get good plays in." Sounds simple, huh? Smith found out last year that the leap from college to the pros isnt always without some stumbles. He has used the off-season and training camp to try to make the game slow down a bit. "I felt it coming at the end of last season," he said. "Its still a work in progress. Im still getting better. Im still fine-tuning a lot of things. Still need to focus on the mental aspect of it and all the small things that will make me better." As far as Rex Ryan is concerned, having Vick around can only help Smith -- which, in turn, will help the Jets determine if theeyve got their quarterback of the future.dddddddddddd. "I think that if you have Mike Vick come in here, you better be on top of your game, and obviously Geno is," Ryan said. "Whether he needed Mike Vick to be here or not, Im not sure. But probably not because I know Geno wants it in the worst way to be a great quarterback and the preparation that he did in the off-season, the things he did. "But certainly, with Mike Vick in there, that does push him." Ryan expects the starters to play into the second quarter Thursday night, with Smith opening the game and Vick perhaps getting the final series before backups come in. Chuck Pagano was unsure how much Luck and the Colts starters will play. Wide receiver Reggie Wayne, still recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, will not suit up but is expected to be ready for the season opener at Denver. "Youd love to see in a perfect world, them go out there and have a six-, seven-, eight-play drive, score a touchdown, kick a PAT, and make a decision there, get them out of the game and whatnot," Pagano said. That wont be in the game plan for Ryans defence, which expects to be among the leagues best this season. "As luck would have it," a grinning Ryan said, with a pause punctuating his attempt at humour, "we play a heck of a quarterback. ... I think its going to be a good test for our defence and a good test for them, too." Whether its one series or a handful, Luck has a few goals of his own set for the preseason opener. "Take care of the football, convert third downs and score touchdowns," he said. "Positive, positive plays." Thats exactly what Ryan and Smith expect. "Im excited about it just like, shoot, no different than our fans," Ryan said. "Lets see where this team is at. Lets see how Decker fits in, lets see how this defence looks. So, Im excited to watch us play against somebody else." ' ' '