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TORONTO – Randy Carlyle felt helpless. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . He tried scores of video, tried highlight reels, tried countless meetings, tried whatever he could think up to alter the manner in which his seemingly unheard message was presented, anything to jolt a win from his team during the organizations longest losing streak (regulation) in more than 25 years. But it didnt work for more than two weeks, challenged all season for that matter. A narrow victory over Calgary Tuesday night wasnt exactly the Mona Lisa he imagined, but it did breathe the slightest gasp of life into the Maple Leafs sputtering playoff hopes. With just five games to go and ground to gain on Detroit and Columbus – both with games in hand – those hopes remain faint, but could become a little more real with a victory over Boston on Thursday night – however unlikely given both teams recent performance. The most crushing of foes for the Leafs in recent years – see: Game 7 – the Bruins have surged to the top of the NHL after a month of March that featured 15 wins in 17 games and just a single loss in regulation. „When you play teams of that caliber, you have to be on the top of your game,“ Carlyle said, sounding almost envious of the template created by GM Peter Chiarielli and head coach Claude Julien. „Theres a hockey club thats playing very well. If theres one thing that you can look to Boston is they dont really change. They do what they do and they do it as good as anybody in the league. Theyre a top team. They dont change their template.“ His team hasnt approached anything close to that level of consistency all year, an unpredictable Jekyll and Hyde bunch from October on. Four entirely different stretches have effectively defined whats been a rollercoaster season in Toronto. The Leafs started with 10 wins in their first 14 games, spiraled with 21 losses in the next 32, rebounded with victories in 15 of 22 before spinning out with eight straight losses in regulation ahead of Tuesdays 3-2 win over the Flames. Rarely did they function as imagined – major defensive deficiencies masked – winning games on the shoulders of a scorching top line and No. 1 goaltender, Jonathan Bernier, who thrived under a heavy workload. Of late, those two prime elements have cooled (or been hurt) and the club has otherwise found all kinds of ways to lose, fatalistic errors and bouts of „freeze mode“ as Carlyle described it, often defining close defeats. „Even [Tuesday] night we stopped for awhile, but we got through it,“ he said of a game that saw Calgary rally late in the proceedings. „Those are the tough things and those are the things that make you shake your head and bang your head against the wall why are we doing that?“ Carlyle has been shaking his head all season, unable to jive the current group with his imagined template. As they do now, the Leafs looked all but dead in early January, only to reel off 11 wins in 14 games before the Olympic break, propped up mostly by Phil Kessels dominance and Berniers nightly theatrics. Similar lightning in a bottle is now required – along with a dip from fellow wild card contenders – only now time is not on their side. And even five straight wins alone might not be enough to recover from another late season collapse. Yet another biggest game of the year stands front and centre, this against a Boston hockey club that lost in regulation Wednesday for the first time in more than a month, a 2-1 third period lead erased by the pesky Red Wings. Detroit pulled four points in front of Toronto (with a game still in hand) with the victory, leaving Columbus as the most likely target. „I think we all elevate our game against them,“ Jake Gardiner said of the Bruins, whom the Leafs defeated on Jan. 14. „It seems like were always prepared to play them.“ And theyll have to be. Their near-dead playoff fates are on the line. Hurricanes Jerseys China . Completely. Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favourites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark. Carolina Hurricanes Store . Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals.MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The end of the Miami Dolphins disappointing season left talkative Mike Wallace speechless.The $15 million receiver didnt want to talk about his argument with coaches at halftime, or his benching that followed, or his teams second-half collapse in a 37-24 loss to the woebegone New York Jets.Wallace had teammate Brandon Gibson speak for him, which created a bizarre scene as they stood side by side at their lockers after the game.Why was Gibson doing the talking?I just dont want my dog to say anything wrong, Gibson said. Differences in opinion led to Mike not playing in the second half, so thats what were going to say about coaches. … Things that were communicated probably were misunderstood.Idle for the entire second half, Wallace was held without a catch for the first time since his rookie year in 2009. That made things easier for the Jets, who overcame a 10-point third-quarter deficit.The Dolphins (8-8) missed a shot at their first winning season since 2008, which is the last time they made the playoffs. Owner Stephen Ross has said coach Joe Philbin will be back for a fourth season in 2015, and hell have disharmony to address after benching Wallace.Philbin said the move was a coachs decision, and he declined to elaborate. Wallace has three years remaining on a $60 million deal he signed in 2013.I plan on being a Dolphin as far as my contract allows me, Gibson said, speaking for Wallace. At the end of the interview, Wallace confirmed his feelings were accurately represented by Gibsons comments.It was a weird end to a strange day for the Dolphins, who lost despite impressive performances by Lamar Miller and Ryan Tannehill.Miller scored on a franchise-record 97-yard run and rushed for a career-high 178 yards. Tannehill became the first Miami player since Dan Marino in 1994 to throw for 4,000 yards, and with 392 completions for the season, he broke Marinos 1994 franchise record of 385.But the Jets sacked Tannehill seven times, and Miamis defence was again awful, leaving defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyles job in jeopardy. The Jets Geno Smith had his best game in a rocky season, throwing for a career-high 358 yards and three touchddowns. Carolina Hurricanes Gear. I hate losing, Tannehill said. I put in a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Everyone in this locker room does as well. Any time you dont come out and finish the way you want to, it hurts.The game was entertaining but mostly meaningless because it involved two teams out of the playoff chase. And with the Jets sitting out the post-season for the fourth consecutive year, owner Woody Johnson is widely expected to fire coach Rex Ryan, and perhaps general manager John Idzik.The Jets (4-12) finished with their worst record since 2007.This is a great team — just we havent had a great record, Ryan said. But as far as how you build a team, its there.The half-empty stadium and also-ran status of the teams created the atmosphere of an exhibition game, and with the stakes modest, Ryan threw in an occasional frill. The Jets ran a reverse out of the wildcat, with receiver Jeremy Kerley throwing incomplete to Smith.The coach ordered a fake punt when New York clung to a 27-24 lead, and punter Ryan Quigley lobbed a 38-yard pass to tight end Zach Sudfeld on fourth-and-12.Somebody had the guts to call it, Ryan said. I dont know who, but hes probably standing in front of you.On the next play, Smith hit Jeff Cumberland with a 23-yard pass for the clinching touchdown.New York came in ranked last in the NFL in passing, but Smith went 20 of 25 and had a passer rating of 158.3 — the only perfect rating this year by a quarterback throwing at least seven passes, according to STATS. The South Florida native helped the Jets achieve a season-high points total.Even so, the game might have been Smiths final start for the Jets. Theyre expected to seek quarterback help in the draft or free agency.I have complete confidence in myself, Smith said, but consistency is the thing that Im searching for and Im getting better with.NOTES: Miami LB Koa Misi left with a right knee injury in the third quarter. … The longest previous run for Miami was 77 yards by Leroy Harris in 1977 and Keith Byars in 1993.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine ‚ ‚ ‚