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PHILADELPHIA – Like the rest of his teammates, Carl Gunnarsson was doing what he could to remain positive after yet another loss, the seventh straight for the sinking Leafs, but it wasnt easy. The 27-year-old wants to believe that a turnaround is still possible, that his team can salvage the season, dig out from a deepening slide and claim a second straight playoff berth. But as time ticks down and the results continue to linger in the wrong direction, that belief is tested. "Its a struggle," he said in a near-empty visitors dressing room at Wells Fargo Center. "Ill tell you that. We thought we had something going here tonight." Whatever fight they mustered in a 4-2 loss to the Flyers didt matter by the time the night was through. It was just another empty loss, another opportunity to regain ground for not. "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night," said coach Randy Carlyle afterward, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." Never more evident than at this late stage in the season, the difference between winning and losing remained painfully thin. And for the Leafs it was just enough for defeat. Two power-play goals against, a few too many odd-man rushes, a bad break or two and a key mistake at the wrong time. Claude Giroux was the benefactor of one such mistake that sealed defeat for the visitors. The Flyers captain picked off former teammate James van Riemsdyks neutral ice pass attempt - the puck ricocheted off the skate of Scott Hartnell - and zipped a bullet beyond the glove of Jonathan Bernier. "Right now every big scoring chance they get, I think it feels like its going in," said Bernier afterward. "When its not going your way, thats usually what happens." "I thought we played pretty good," he continued. "A few mistakes that end up being goals. From the last game, obviously, I think we played a lot better." But like their harrowing loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, one that saw them manhandled for half the game by the top team in the West, Fridays defeat in Philly counted all the same. It was just another loss at a critical point in the season. "We worked hard," Carlyle said. "Did we work smart enough in some areas? No." Any chance the Leafs have at resuscitation starts Saturday night in a massive showdown with the Detroit Red Wings. A victory reignites whatever belief and hope still lingers. They may have no hope of catching either the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning, but sitting on near-equal ground with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Washington Capitals - all have 80 points, but with games in hand - a wild card position is still in play. "Obviously, this one, its going to be a tough one to swallow," Bernier said. "But, at the same time, we cant feel sorry for ourselves. [Saturday] is a big game and we all know that." Five Points 1. Carlyles Approach Carlyle has tried to push a few different buttons in midst of his teams recent slide. "Some days, it is a little bit more harsh. Some days, its a pat in the back. Some days its a hug," Carlyle said on Friday morning. "Whatever it is, whatever you feel is necessary. Nobody in life feels like coming to work and being ground into the dirt everyday and thats part of the process. Youve got to pick and choose when to apply pressure and when not to." As to his preferred approach of late, Carlyle said, "Its been more reality of the situation. Just showing and trying to get an understanding that were not that far away. But there are some areas that need to be addressed. Thats as simple as I can put it. Our compete level has to go up. We havent won enough one-on-one battles. Weve given up too many odd-man rushes and breakaways. Weve got to play better on the defensive side of the game." 2. Penalty Kill The Flyers scored twice on the power play, marking the 12th time this season that the Leaf penalty kill has given up two goals in a game this season. Vincent Lecavalier fired a laser for the first of two, a five-on-three goal that was not without some controversy. Jay McClement, taking the draw as Torontos lone forward, was thrown out of the face-off circle, charged with knocking the puck from the hand of linesman Michel Cormier. Dion Phaneuf promptly stepped in and lost the first (and likely last) face-off of his career, Lecavalier blowing the one-timer by Bernier just three seconds later. "Thats not something that you want to happen," McClement said of the face-off incident. "I dont think [Cormier] wanted to do it either. But he explained to me that its black and white when I knocked it out of his hand." Scott Hartnell would add the second power-play marker, redirecting a Kimmo Timonen point shot just beyond the grasp of Bernier. The Toronto penalty kill remains third-worst in the NHL this season. 3. Bollands Comeback Dave Bolland scored for the third time this season in Philadelphia and the first time since his left ankle was sliced by the skate of Zack Kassian on November 2. The 27-year-old hasnt played more than 13 minutes since he returned from the injury and he was kept right in that region against the Flyers. "I just see that in some of the situations, hes struggled with the mobility," Carlyle said of Bolland before the 4-2 loss. "Its not sore, [but] it just doesnt have the strength there. Wre going to try to find a way to get him some more minutes. We know what kind of player he is." 4. The 18-Wheeler Luke Schenn was there in 2012 when the Leafs collapsed and knows all too well how quickly the pressure rises in Toronto. "Lose a couple in a row and everything magnifies that much more," he said. "You lose three in a row and people tend to get on you a little bit. All the fans and the media think that everythings falling apart. Thats just the way it is over there. "Its obviously a tough market to play in when things arent going the way you want them to, but its a great market when things are going well. Theres always adversity in Toronto. Its never going to change. Im sure those guys are going to get through it." Reflecting back to the infamous 18-wheeler skid two years earlier, Schenn couldnt put his finger on just what wrong. "There is no exact reason why. Its probably a combination of different things. Id have to go back and look. Obviously, youre probably getting off to some tough starts in games. Special teams probably werent as good as they need to be. At the end of the day - when I was there - it probably just came down to being outcompeted some nights. Obviously, you lose a couple in a row, confidence isnt always there. Thats just the way it goes. Youve got to find ways to get out of it." 5. Gardiner Offence Just ahead of a clash with the Flyers three weeks ago, Jake Gardiner revealed his disappointment with the offence hed put together to that point. "I dont think my point production has been that great this year,"he said. "Id like to improve on that." The 23-year-old scored a goal the next night in a 4-3 overtime win, rounding up nine points in the past 11 games, including a helper on Bollands seventh goal this season. "Ive tried to jump in the play a lot more and be an offensive threat from the blue line," he explained of his recent surge prior to the game. Gardiner has 26 points on the year. Stats-Pack 1-8-0 – Leafs record in the past nine games. 9 – Points in the last 11 games for Jake Gardiner. 3 – Goals by Dave Bolland in Philadelphia this season. 24:31 – Ice-time for James van Riemsdyk opposite his former team Friday, tied for the team-lead. 15 – Consecutive games without a point for David Clarkson, who has just 10 this season. 8 – Number of times the Leafs have allowed the first goal in the past nine games.4 – Seconds elapsed in the second period before van Riemsdyk scored the first Leafs goal. It was the fastest goal to start a period for the team this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 20.6% (4th) PK: 2-4Season: 78.1% (28th) Quote of the Night "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." -Randy Carlyle, following a seventh straight loss in Philadelphia. Up Next The Leafs return home to host to the Red Wings on Saturday night. Vancouver Canucks Jerseys . 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Alexander Mogilny Jersey . -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book.South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - The top-10 ACC showdown at Purcell Pavilion lived up to its billing, and it was Notre Dame -- particularly Jerian Grant -- providing the big plays down the stretch to steal a signature win from Duke. Grant finished with 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds as the eighth- ranked Fighting Irish survived a 77-73 nail-biter against the fourth- ranked Blue Devils. Duke led by 10 midway through the second half before the Irish rallied for their fourth comeback victory during a five-game winning streak. Grant was the catalyst, but Notre Dame (20-2, 8-1 ACC) had plenty of contributors. Pat Connaughton chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds, Zach Auguste scored 14 points and Steve Vasturia drained a huge 3-pointer in crunch time. There was a slight letdown for Duke (17-3, 4-3) following the celebration of Mike Krzyzewskis 1,000th career victory over the weekend, as no one other than Jahlil Okafor made a field goal over the final 12-plus minutes. Okafor totaled 22 points and 17 rebounds but struggled at the foul line, making just 2-of-7 with two critical misses under three minutes remaining. Final Score: (6) Arizona 90, Oregon 56 Tucson, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Seven players scored between nine and 16 points in No. 6 Arizonas 90-56 rout of visiting Oregon on Wednesday. Gabe Yorks 16 points off the bench led a remarkably balanced scoring attack for the Wildcats (19-2, 7-1 Pac-12), winners in five straight since their lone conference loss against Oregon State on Jan. 11. Four of those five wins have come by at least 14 points. Brandon Ashley scored 13 points, Stanley Johnson had 12 and Kaleb Tarczewski and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson finished with 11 apiece. T.J. McConnell scored 10 with a game-high six assists, and Dusan Ristic gave nine off the bench. Final Score: (9) Kansas 64, TCU 61 Fort Worth, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Frank Mason III scored 16 points and No. 9 Kansas held off TCU for a 64-61 win on Wednesday. Landen Lucas finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench and Perry Ellis also netted eight for the Jayhawks (17-3, 6-1 Big 12), who have won three straight and eight of their last nine games. Kyan Anderson had 17 points to pace the Horned Frogs (14-6, 1-6), who were coming off an 86-85 overtime loss to West Virginia on Saturday. Kenrich Williams scored 13 points with nine boards and Trey Zeigler supplied 12 points and 11 rebounds. Final Score: (10) Louisville 81, Boston College 72 Chestnut Hill, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Jones poured in 28 points and Terry Rozier added 23 as No. 10 Louisville downed Boston College, 81-72, at Conte Forum. Montrezl Harrell posted 12 points and Wayne Blackshear had 10 points for the Cardinals (17-3, 5-2 ACC), who have won two in a row since losing to Duke. Aaron Brown led the way with 28 points for the Eagles (9-10, 1-6), with Patrick Heckmann and Olivier Hanlan adding 14 and 11 points, respectively, in defeat. Hanlan dished out nine assists. Final Score: (12) Wichita State 58, Loyola-Chicago 47 Wichita, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Fred VanVleet dropped 27 points and 12th- ranked Wichita State remained unbeaten in conference play with a 58-47 win over Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday. VanVleet, who leads the MVC in assists and ranks just third on the Shockers in points, was thrust into more of a scoring role with the rest of his team struggling and he delivered, shooting 10-for-16 from the floor and 4-of-7 from distance en route to the highest point total of his career. Ron Baker overcame a slow start and chipped in 16 points -- 14 in the second half -- as Wichita State (19-2, 9-0 MVC) won its ninth straight game following a non-conference loss to George Washington.dddddddddddd The win overshadowed a difficult week for the Shockers, as transfer guard Connor Frankamp was arrested over the weekend for suspicion of DUI. Frankamp, a Wichita native who began his career at Kansas, isnt eligible to play this season but had been practicing with the team. Loyola (13-8, 3-6) lost its fourth straight game. Three of those have been without point guard Milton Doyle, who has been battling an ankle injury. Devon Turk scored nine points to lead a balanced Ramblers attack. Final Score: (18) Northern Iowa 59, Southern Illinois 52 Carbondale, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Seth Tuttle and Paul Jesperson each scored 13 points in the 18th-ranked Northern Iowa Panthers 59-52 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis on Wednesday. Tuttle also had 10 rebounds and three steals for the Panthers (19-2, 8-1 MVC), who have won eight in a row. Nate Buss tallied 11 points. Northern Iowa shot 52.6 percent from the field, while holding Southern Illinois to 39.2 percent. Ibby Djimde ended with 10 points off the bench for the Salukis (9-13, 2-7), who have lost two straight. Deion Lavender and Jalen Pendleton had eight points apiece. Final Score: Purdue 83, (22) Indiana 67 West Lafayette, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Rapheal Davis scored a team-high 19 points as Purdue shut down No. 22 Indiana 83-67 in a battle of Hoosier State rivals on Wednesday. A sold out Mackey Arena watched their Boilermakers roll to a second straight win over a ranked opponent after knocking off No. 25 Iowa on Saturday. Purdue (13-8, 5-3 Big Ten) held Indiana to a season-low point total thanks to the inside presence of A.J. Hammons, who finished with eight blocks to go along with 11 points. Bryson Scott and Basil Smotherman contributed 11 and eight points, respectively, off the bench for the victors. Yogi Ferrell carried Indiana with 21 points while leading scorer James Blackmon Jr. was limited to 13 on 4-of-13 shooting. Final Score: Georgia Tech 70, (23) Miami-Florida 50 Coral Gables, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Georges-Hunt had 24 points and six rebounds and Georgia Tech recorded its first ACC win of the season in a 70-50 rout over Miami-Florida on Wednesday night. Chris Bolden netted 13 points, while DeMarco Cox added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (10-10, 1-7 ACC), who snapped a seven-game losing streak. Tonye Jekiri posted 13 points and nine boards for Miami (14-6, 4-3), which had won four of its last five games coming in. Final Score: (24) Oklahoma 81, Texas Tech 36 Norman, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Spangler scored 20 points and 24th- ranked Oklahoma snapped out of its recent funk with a vengeance, dominating Texas Tech on both ends en route to an 81-36 rout at the Noble Center. After dropping four of their last five games -- three to ranked opponents -- a matchup with the Big 12s last-place team was just what the Sooners needed. Oklahoma (13-7, 4-4 Big 12) shot 52.5 percent from the floor, held the Red Raiders to an 11-of-52 field goal rate and scored 20 straight points at one stage to get back on track. Buddy Hield chipped in 15 points with seven rebounds for the Sooners, with Isaiah Cousins adding 13 points in the easy win. Texas Tech (11-10, 1-7), coming off Saturdays upset of then-No. 9 Iowa State, didnt have a player score in double figures. Robert Turner and Stan Mays paced the Red Raiders with eight points each. ' ' '