ERST LESEN! » a Test match, we always try to stay under three runs a

Things started off quite well for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but their January slide has pushed them out of playoff position. So whats exactly wrong with the Blue and White these days? The team opened 2014 on a high, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout in front of more than 105,000 fans at Michigan Stadium for the NHLs Winter Classic. Since the outdoor win, the Leafs have dropped three straight games and have been outscored 18-5 in those contests. On top of that, the club has just five regulation/overtime victories over their last 31 games and a 4-13 record in the 17 games that ended in regulation. By comparison, the Leafs had 13 regulation/overtime wins in their final 31 games under Ron Wilson. Going into Friday nights game against Washington, theyve gone 2-7-4 in their last 13 road games, are 4-for-43 on the power play and their last road regulation win was Oct. 30 in Calgary. Is it the coaching? Many fans have called for the firing of head coach Randy Carlyle. In his lone full season with the Leafs, he led the team to their first playoff appearance since 2004. But is it possible that his good will with the players has taken a turn south? Many observers have blamed Carlyle for the Leafs defensive system, which has allowed a league-high 36.4 shots on goal per game and league-worst minus-9.2 shot differential. Others argue that the shot totals have been high all year and are nothing new for the Leafs. Their goaltending struggles, however, certainly are. Is the problem in goal? The Leafs relied on the strong play of James Reimer and more specifically Jonathan Bernier to get wins this season, but both have struggled of late. Bernier played 29 games with the Leafs this season before getting pulled for the first time on Saturday in a 7-1 loss against the New York Rangers. He allowed five goals on 32 shots in just under two periods of play. And Bernier struggled again the next time out against the New York Islanders, allowing four goals on 24 shots, three of them that Carlyle said Bernier wanted back. The Leafs lost again, 5-3. The team turned back to Reimer on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, but he allowed six goals on 36 shots and the team lost its third straight game, 6-1. As TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger noted on TSN Radio 1050 on Friday morning, the Leafs, "played 60 minutes like they were killing a 5-on-3." At the same time, Torontos offence hasnt been anywhere near good enough to make up for the defensive shortfall. The Leafs top two scorers, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, have just one point between them over the last three games. The losing skid could be attributed to many things, but is it as simple as a Winter Classic hangover? The Leafs played most of December under the watchful eyes of television cameras documenting their lives, on and off the ice, for HBOs 24/7 Winter Classic series. When they won the game and shook their opponents hands at centre ice, the camera crews packed up and life was supposed to return to normal. But since then victories have been hard to come by. And now the Leafs find themselves on the outside looking in for a playoff spot with just under half the season remaining and Olympic break four weeks away. The time has come to ask, whats wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs? As always, its Your! Call. Soccer Jerseys For Sale . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. https://www.cheapsoccerjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . The last team in the NBA that will have any sympathy for the Thunder is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are showing signs of putting everything together after two years of devastating injuries. Soccer Jerseys From China . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Soccer Jerseys . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.Fit-again James Anderson felt no ill-effects on his successful England comeback - but confirmed that Stuart Broad struggled with a foot injury on day one of the second Test against India. Anderson claimed an impressive 3-44 on a flat pitch in his first Test for three months following a shoulder injury as India racked up 317-4 after winning the toss.Team-mate Broad (1-39) did pick up the other wicket to fall, removing opener Lokesh Rahul with his fifth ball, but appeared to be hobbling later in the day. Stuart has got a bit of a foot problem, confirmed Anderson. Hes been a bit in the wars - hes got a graze on his arm as well, so hes nursing those.I thought he did really well to get through the day. We dont know how serious his foot is but he ran in really well and hopefully hell be fresh for us in the morning. The best of the action from Day One of the second Test in Visakhapatnam Assessing his own fitness, Anderson, who was recalled in place of Chris Woakes, told Sky Sports Ian Ward: The body feels alright so far. It might be a different story at 7am. I got through the day without any drama and hopefully I will have a good nights sleep and come back fresh tomorrow.I think it probably took me a little bit of time to get into the spells because of a bit of stiffness but once I did I felt fine. Test Cricket: The Verdict November 17, 2016, 3:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Andersoon broke a 226-run stand for the third wicket by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara for 119 but India skipper Virat Kohli was unbeaten on 151 at stumps.ddddddddddddThere isnt a lot in the surface; its pretty flat, reflected Anderson. Theres a little bit of uneven bounce maybe at times but if you get yourself set as a batsman then you can bat for a long time on it.We were undecided whether to take the new ball because there has been a big dew in the morning on the last few days here but we felt that two or four overs would be a good option and I was lucky to get the wicket there.When you lose the toss on the first day of a Test match, we always try to stay under three runs an over - conceding 270 in a day is a pretty good effort, especially on a pitch like this, but I think they got 40-50 too many today. Ian Ward and Michael Atherton pay tribute to the class of Virat Kohli We didnt bowl as well as we would have liked but we stuck at it really well in the field. Four down isnt the worse result for us and hopefully well have a good day tomorrow.I think there were more signs today here than in Rajkot that the pitch is going to fall apart.It did reverse a bit; the Pujara wicket came on the back of a bit of reverse swing but there isnt a huge amount. The outfield and the square is quite lush - there is nothing to get the ball into the condition that you need.Watch highlights of day one of the second Test between India and England on Sky Sports 2 from 2pm, then stay tuned for The Verdict at 3pm on the same channel. Live coverage of day two begins at 3.45am on Friday morning on Sky Sports 2 and across our digital platforms. Also See: Watch highlights D1 Report Dog stops play Scorecard ' ' '