TORONTO - Whatever momentum they built up before the 18-day Olympic break is suddenly gone. Three straight losses have quieted the Maple Leafs - winners of 11 of 14 before the stoppage - who dropped a 2-1 decision to Columbus at the ACC on Monday night, their third loss in as many games to the Blue Jackets this season. Alongside overtime defeats in Long Island and Montreal, the interim trends in Toronto are subtly veering in the wrong direction, though they still have ownership of the first wild card position in the East. "The three losses hurt because we had points available to us on the road," head coach Randy Carlyle said, referring to overtime defeats against the Islanders and Canadiens. "Thats the hard part is when you lose two overtime games on the road and we had a one-goal lead in both games. That kicks you. That doesnt feel very good." The most recent case saw his team start strong, stall midway through and eventually push back with a charge that was ultimately too late. "I think part of it is somewhat of an Olympic hangover," said James Reimer, making a rare start in place of Jonathan Bernier. "The last three games its been anyones game, its been a one-goal game and two of them have gone into overtime. I think were right there; were just missing it by a little bit. All three games couldve been Ws for us so I dont think its anything to worry about." The Leafs started the evening strongly with a flurry of opportunities and pair of power-plays, but failed to get anything beyond the reach of Sergei Bobrovsky, nor the multiple bodies that stood at his defence. Phil Kessel snuck one shot through the pads, but it spun just above the goal-line before Bobrovsky rushed it to cover. The home foot came off the gas in the middle period with Columbus scoring twice in less than three minutes. The Leafs turned pucks over, lost battles and wandered around hopelessly in the defensive zone. They failed to even record a shot before Dalton Prout scored the games first goal. Cody Franson labeled it a "mediocre" 20 minutes. "We tried to get cute with the puck and turned it over too many times," he said. "When you play a team that has that type of forechecking style and transition ability its not what you want to do ideally." "I think that was more of a mental lapse than anything because we just started wandering around," Carlyle said. "For the first period we had lots of life, we were on our toes and jumping to pucks and we were winning our battles. In the second we just started to stall in the neutral ice." A late third period rally yielded a goal from Mason Raymond, but nothing more as the Blue Jackets swept the season series from their new Eastern Conference counterpart, outscoring them 13-3 in the process. The Toronto dressing room was hardly in a state of panic afterward. Though dismayed with their performance against a mediocre Islanders squad last week, they were generally pleased with their effort in Montreal over the weekend - outside of penalty trouble and another lost third period lead - and pointed to the loss to Columbus as an incomplete effort, but not one that should cause alarm. They cant hide from points left on the table, however, especially against those theyre either chasing (Canadiens) or those chasing them (Blue Jackets) and a difficult schedule ahead. Just behind the Leafs (72 points) in the standings are the likes of Detroit (6, Washington (6 and these very Blue Jackets (67), all with games in hand and opportunity to narrow the gap further. The alarm should not be sounded with three straight losses, but some degree of caution should be taken by those wearing the blue and white. "Were fine," said Joffrey Lupul afterward. "Were certainly not losing perspective, but were not happy about losing two points to a team below us in the standings." Five Points 1. Rare Start James Reimer hadnt made a start for the Leafs since Jan. 25, a long stretch of 37 days that saw Jonathan Bernier gripping tight on the starting job right into the 18-day Olympic break. "Besides an injury I dont know if Ive ever had this much time in between starts," Reimer said. In spite of the long layoff, the 25-year-old looked sharp, stopping 31 of the 33 shots peppered by Columbus, including a Nick Foligno breakaway in the opening five minutes. "There was a little rust there," said Reimer, "but honestly I felt pretty good. I felt like I battled as hard as I could and tried to fight to see the puck and its unfortunate we came up a little short tonight." The two that passed could hardly be pinned his way. The first from Prout sailed through a maze of traffic from the point, the latter from Artem Anisimov coming by way of a laser back-door point pass from Nikita Nikitin. "I dont think you can point to the goaltending as a deficiency, thats for sure," said Carlyle. "He did his part to give us a chance." 2. Rare Night off the Scoresheet Kessel missed his 34th goal of the year by mere inches. The 26-year-old had a rare night off the scoresheet, finishing with two shots in just over 23 minutes of ice. It was just the third time in the past 18 games that the scorching Kessel failed to register a point. Indicative of his value, the Leafs dropped to 4-17-2 this season on such nights, a rarity these days for sure. 3. Power-play Life Unhappy with the state of his clubs special teams, Carlyle directed that the near-entirety of Sundays practice be spent on the matter. Much of the focus a day before the game against Columbus centered on a power-play that was suddenly missing much of its pep. "We stood around," he said of the man advantage in losses to New York and Montreal. "And other teams have made adjustments to our break-out and we havent reacted to what we normally would do in situations. Obviously other coaches in the league do pre-scout. They do work to devise plans against what you do." Though they failed to score in two attempts on this night - now 0-13 in the past six games - they did manage some signs of life, including a good opportunity for Morgan Rielly in the first frame. "At least today our power-play created some momentum for us whereas in the past couple games it seemed like itd been a bit of a momentum killer," said Lupul. The Leafs own the leagues fifth-best power-play this season with much of that success coming on home ice – they sit second in the NHL at 26.5 per cent. Considering their ineffectiveness on the penalty kill its an area theyll want to right soon. 4. Trade Deadline Dave Nonis made a minor move at the trade deadline last season, adding Ryan OByrne from Colorado for a fourth round draft pick. The Leafs general manager and his management team have essentially shunned the idea of adding another such rental this time around. Unlike in years past theres not much in the way of frenzy surrounding the club heading into the Mar. 5 deadline, but in Carlyles eyes - traded himself once at the deadline - it remains a distraction for players. "The trade deadlines always a factor in any hockey players life," said Carlyle, traded to Winnipeg from Pittsburgh for a first round pick on Mar. 5th, 1984. "Having played for a number of years and lived and died in one. It was one of those situations that you remember. Its not a lot of fun being a player at this time of year. In todays Twitter world and blogging and that, theres a lot more rumours floating around so its obviously a lot more to it than when I was moved in 84. I dont think they had Twitter then did they?" 5. Rare Home Ice Defeat Before falling Monday to the Blue Jackets the Leafs hadnt lost in Toronto since Jan. 7, a 5-3 defeat that night to the pesky New York Islanders. They had reeled off seven consecutive wins at home for the first time since the 2006-07 season, Stats-Pack 13-3 - Goal differential between Leafs and Blue Jackets this season, favouring Columbus. 4-17-2 - Leafs record this season when Phil Kessel fails to record a point. 0-13 - Toronto power-play in the past six games. 24:46 - Ice-time for James van Riemsdyk versus Columbus, leading the team. 21-11-1 - Leafs record at home this season. 2:54 - Amount of time it took the Blue Jackets to score twice in the second period on Monday. 37 - Days between starts for James Reimer. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 21.2% (5th) PK: 1-1Season: 77.6% (28th) Quote of the Night "In todays Twitter world and blogging and that, theres a lot more rumours floating around so [theres] obviously a lot more to it than when I was moved in 84. I dont think they had Twitter then did they?" -Randy Carlyle, speaking about Wednesdays trade deadline. Up Next The Leafs head to the Big Apple for a trade deadline day clash with the Rangers. Joe Smith Jersey .com) - Blake Griffin led five Clippers in double figures with 24 points and the LA Clippers got back on track with a 101-97 win over the Utah Jazz. Andrew Wiggins Jersey . Therrien would not confirm his lineup for the game, but he did have the same line combinations practicing together for the third straight day which is usually a pretty good indication of what the lineup will be. https://www.cheaptimberwolves.com/250j-doug-west-jersey-timberwolves.html . With the results, North America claimed 2.5 of the three available points, opening up a 17.5-12.5 lead in the overall standings. A total of 60 points are available, meaning the first team to 30.5 points will win the Continental Cup. Minnesota Timberwolves Store . Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night. Nikola Pekovic Jersey .Y. -- Mark Steenhuis scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Buffalo Bandits over the Toronto Rock 12-10 in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday.TORONTO -- Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd tried to see the positives of the Nets 100-95 Game 2 loss to Toronto. "Were right where we want to be," he said in his pithy manner. "We had the opportunity to take the lead late in the game and we came up short." "Again its basketball," he added. "Sometimes they go in, sometimes they dont." They went in more for Toronto in the fourth quarter Tuesday night. The Raptors shot 75 per cent -- 12-of-16 -- in the final 12 minutes to even the NBA playoff series. After trailing 45-39 at the half, the Nets stepped it up to lead 66-64 at the end of the third quarter. Brooklyn led several times in the fourth and it was tied at 85-85 before Toronto pulled away. "We kind of took control there for a little bit," said New Jersey guard Deron Williams. "But we didnt do a good job on keeping them off the boards. And then we allow 36 points in that fourth quarter, which is way too high for us, somebody that prides themselves on defence and getting stops, especially down the stretch. We didnt do that tonight." Added veteran Paul Pierce: "We have to be better in the fourth quarter defensively." Down 79-78, the Nets sent in their shock troops of Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson and Williams midway through the final quarter. Johnson had done his part in the third with 12 points to drag the Nets back into it. But this time they could not pull ahead as Torontos DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry stole the late show. Piercce, who scored nine of his 15 points in the final three minutes of Brooklyns 94-87 win Saturday, went 2-for-6 in the fourth quarter and finished 2-for-11 with seven points.dddddddddddd "It happens," said Kidd, who was in definite glass-half-full mode. "There are a lot of positive things that weve done in these first two games so now we have to go home and protect home." Expect an equally loud and proud crowd at the Barclays Center on Friday. Toronto GM Masai Ujiris Brooklyn slur prior to Game 1 is not likely to be forgotten. Garnett, for one, wondered what kind of reception such potty talk might bring back home. There will be no shortage of resolve on the court. Tuesdays game saw players from both sides throw themselves on the floor to corral a loose ball before an opponent did, as well as one in which pretty much everyone objected to the officiating. The hand-wringing and pained body language would have done Marcel Marceau proud. Given both sides seemed equally irked, the officials probably went home happy. Toronto, which had 19 turnovers in Game 1, coughed up 21 in Game 2. Coach Dwane Casey attributed it to a young team trying to do too much too quickly. On the plus side, Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 52-30. So the series switches to Brooklyn, with the veteran Nets looking to regain the lead over a young Raptors squad that continues to overachieve. The two have now played each other six times this season, with three wins apiece. "These two teams are very similar," said Kidd. ' ' '