Bad time for Leafs to slump

EDMONTON -- This is the kind of losing streak, highlighted by a protracted stretch of loose defensive play, that can stick with a team all the way through to next September.

As in, "Man, that streak in February really killed us."

Outscored 10-1 in their past two games, losers of four straight for the first time this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have watched the last eight points fly out the window without catching a single one. Their goaltending is average at best, and that high-octane, offensive game has made the jump from exhilarating to excruciating.

The Leafs do, however, have three things going for them:

The Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.

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Yes, as ugly as the Maple Leafs' game has been of late, Toronto is still sitting pretty in the eight spot in the Eastern Conference. That's right. Lose four, and as long as the Jets, Caps and Habs are on your heels, Toronto will roll up to Rexall Place in Edmonton Wednesday evening with a chance to pull within two points of seventh in the East, and forge a three-point bulge on ninth.

And here's some good news: it's a late start in Edmonton -- 8 p.m. local. If you saw how Toronto started in a 5-1 loss at Calgary Tuesday night, that can only be a positive.

"Our defensive coverage was horrific on (the first two Calgary) two goals -- our guys made very poor decisions," said head coach Ron Wilson, whose team barely showed up for the game's opening 15 minutes. "You can't be doing that as a professional at this time of the season. Otherwise, I thought we carried a lot of the game and (Flames goalie Miikka) Kiprusoff was the difference."

Washington has lost four of its last five and hasn't won two games in a row in a month. Winnipeg wins two, then loses two, then wins two… The Jets are a pathetic 7-12-1 in the New Year.

And Montreal? The Canadiens are so average, the New York Islanders passed them in the standings on Tuesday night.

So you don't have to be very good to be the eighth-place team out East, and right now, that suits Toronto just fine. They're backing into games, so if they back into the playoffs, who cares? But with fleet-footed Edmonton up Wednesday -- then a much stronger opponent in Vancouver Saturday -- they'll need to tighten up their game considerably to stop this skid.

At times like this, the leaders have to lead, and that starts with captain Dion Phaneuf. He was on the ice and culpable in the first two Calgary goals, then sunk the hook into Paul Byron that earned Byron the penalty shot that produced Calgary's third goal.

Meanwhile Calgary's No. 1 line of Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay scored three goals on a plus-7 night combined. Phil Kessel's No. 1 unit countered with the lone Leafs goal, but was minus-4 on a night when Tyler Bozak was the best among them.

"Yeah, it was fun, a lot of fun," Tanguay said. "I felt we had a lot of scoring chances. We could have easily scored a couple more. Olli and Jarome are playing great. Obviously with the guys that we're missing, our line is going to be counted on to produce offensively."

And it must be said, although injury-riddled Calgary was deserving of the victory, with the shots favouring Toronto 42-34, had Calgary not received superior goaltending from Kiprusoff this one could have ended differently. Toronto has now lost seven straight games at the Saddledome.

On Wednesday, the Leafs play flighty Edmonton, a team that is 13 points their junior in the standings -- a lottery team buried in 29th place. These are the teams the Leafs must step over en route to the playoffs, as they did in a loosely played 6-3 win over Edmonton last week at the ACC.

James Reimer is expected to start, Keith Aulie may draw in on defence, and possibly Colby Armstrong up front.

None of it will matter, however, if the players that brought Toronto to the precipice of making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons don't grab this slide by the horns and turn things around.

The Edmonton Oilers are an ultimately beatable opponent. The kind that good teams, who are embroiled in a playoff race, should beat.

Toronto…?

Mark Spector is the senior columnist on sportsnet.ca