TORONTO -- For the Toronto Maple Leafs, its time to rest, not panic. Losers of three in a row, the Leafs had a full day off Thursday after a rough run of six games in six cities in 10 days. Theyll now attempt to regroup before an already tenuous playoff picture gets more dicey. "First thing is get rest. Its been a gruelling stretch, a ton of travel, a lot of tough games where were seeing a lot of teams best efforts here," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "Get some rest and then come back refocused and get some of that confidence back that we had going to the West Coast." Confidence in the Leafs might be waning from the outside after losing to the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning. But within the locker-room Wednesday night there was plenty of belief that those games featured some positive elements to build on. "No sense in panicking," said goaltender James Reimer, who has been thrust into the starting role since Jonathan Bernier was injured last week. "I think weve played some good hockey in the last three games, at times, and we know what we can do. I obviously believe in our team, we all believe in each other. "Its a case where, I think, with some fresh legs and kind of a little break here and get back at it, well be right back on top of our game again." Finding the top of their game is paramount to the Leafs, who occupy the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after falling out of the top three in the Atlantic Division. They were as high as second, three points up on the Lightning and Montreal Canadiens, after beating the Kings in Los Angeles on March 13. In the three games since, Toronto has given up the first goal in each and struggled with defensive breakdowns in front of Reimer. Fixing the brutal starts might be the first order of business going into Saturdays game against the Montreal Canadiens and the final 10 after that. "Weve had a trend over the last three games where we seem like were starting a little sluggish or were not getting the exact start that were wanting," winger Mason Raymond said. "I thought later in (Lightning) game we showed that desperation, but we need that for 60 minutes. I think at the end of the day for me, (the key is) playing the 60 minutes in that desperation mode." Finding that "desperation mode" could have a lot do to with having more energy in reserve. At least thats coach Randy Carlyles hope after watching his team run on empty. "We just come off a 10-day road trip and we play tonight off a back-to-back," Carlyle said Wednesday night following a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay. "Thats not an excuse, but its a trying situation, and its not easy." The Leafs have also made life hard on themselves by giving stars like Steven Stamkos way too much room close to the net. Defensive breakdowns like the ones that led to Stamkoss hat trick are likely on the to-do list for Fridays practice. "It comes down to doing the basic things, every night doing the simple things," defenceman Tim Gleason said. "I think as a group of five, we really have to button down, get pucks out when we can and do the simple things in our zone and the offence will take care of itself and well get our chances." If the Leafs are getting offensive chances, theres enough firepower from Phil Kessel (35 goals) down the lineup to make things happen. But Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and defenceman Jake Gardiner (five goals in seven games) scored against Tampa Bay and it wasnt enough. Only minutes after that defeat, players wanted to move on and separate themselves from this losing streak. The best way to do so is finding a winning recipe -- before it gets too late. The Leafs have played 71 games, the most of any team in contention in the East, which also means they no longer control their playoff hopes. The Detroit Red Wings, who visit Air Canada Centre on March 29, are in the drivers seat if they keep winning. Thats not a comfortable spot to be in with just 11 games remaining in the regular season. These are almost desperate times in Toronto. "Obviously we havent played as well as we need to, and were not sitting here saying that were playing the type of hockey that is required to have success," Carlyle said. "Well, we lost three games in a row and if we show the desperation that we displayed in the last half of the game for 60 minutes, we surely could improve our chances. Thats for sure." Willians Astudillo Jersey . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games. Tony Oliva Jersey . Early in the first period, Stuart pinched in from the blue line, hit Nash and was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. Nash remained in the game for the rest of the first period, but did not return for the second. http://www.twinssale.com/twins-tony-oliva-jersey/.Best moustache: How can we not give this to Lanny McDonald? Check out the duster for yourself. Joe Mauer Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Eddie Rosario Twins Jersey . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, Appreciate all your insight into what goes on in games. Im just looking for an explanation - in Wednesdays Flyers-Capitals game, why didnt Wayne Simmonds receive a third-man in during the line brawl last night? He clearly grabbed Erskine, who was engaged with Lecavalier, allowing Vinnie a free cheap-shot right to the mush!Thanks,Chris --- Hey Kerry, Seeing the Flyers-Caps line brawl last night, whats the most interesting story from your officiating days when it came to breaking them up? Paul McLane Chris: You are correct in your assessment that Wayne Simmonds deserved a game misconduct when he grabbed John Erskine around the neck allowing Vincent Lecavalier a free shot as the players fell to the ice. Let me break the play down for you and explain how both refs were focused on other wrestling matches taking place in the moment and missed the grab by Simmonds. This quickly developed into the proverbial cluster-bang after Luke Schenn delivered a hard but legal check on Ryan Stoa against the boards just inside the Flyers blue line. Caps tough guy Tom Wilson skated directly toward Schenn for the sole purpose of instigating a fight. As the two players dropped their gloves Wilsons intention was placed on hold as Schenns leg became caught up with Stoa and the Flyer fell to his knees and promptly placed in a vulnerable position. Wilson did the honorable thing and refrained from throwing a punch at Schenn. Brayden Schenn, who Wilson leveled with a devastating illegal hit in a previous meeting, demonstrated his brotherly love in the City of Philadelphia by attempting to engage Tom Wilson on Lucs behalf. Both linesmen quickly intervened and prevented an altercation from developing. As brother Luc was untangling his leg from Ryan Stoa, things really got rolling when Wayne Simmonds fronted Stoa and cuffed the Capitals forward on the visor. This prompted big John Erskine to lead the charge at Simmonds. Linesman Scott Cherrey, a second round selection in the 1994 entry draft by the Washington Capitals, alertly intervened between Erskine and Simmonds. A war on two fronts began once Luc Schenn was able to return to his feet and he and Tom Wilson mutually agreed to engage in a toe-toe slugfest at the Flyers blue line. This fight forced linesman Cherrey to return to the original altercation to assist his partner and leave a pack of angry players that included John Erskine, Wayne Simmonds and Vincent Lecavalier to sort things out. Without any policing in effect John Erskine moved to engage Vinnie Lecavalier which prompted Simmonds to jump on Erskines back. As they fell to the ice in a heap the remaining players piled on. The secondary fight erupted when Erskine quickly broke from Simmonds grasp, jumped to his skates and began trading bombs with Lecavalier below the goal line as the remaining players wrestled one another from a position close beside them. This action caused Steve Mason to move out of his goal crease and in close proximity to jump into the fight andd assist Vinnie if necessary.dddddddddddd This a whole lot of action taking place at one time for the referees to observe! Both refs shifted their focus away from the fight and wrestling matches in the corner as they moved Mason back to his goal crease to prevent any possible recurrence of the Ray Emery-Braden Holtby incident. In the exact moment that Wayne Simmonds, in his intense wrestling match with Connor Carrick, threw a bear paw swing around Erskines neck, referee Paul Devorski had turned his head to the left to focus on Brayden Schenn and Jay Beagle. In the next frame the ref refocused to catch Erskine, Lecavalier, Simmonds and Carrick falling to the ice in a heap. The ref may or not have witnessed the free punch that Vinnie got in on the way down to the ice from his position. In any event Wayne Simmonds escaped a game misconduct as third man into the altercation. Paul: I was physically involved in many dust-ups when line brawls and bench clearings were common place from the 1970s through the 1980s. One of the most bizarre situations I encountered in breaking up an altercation was when John MacLean of the Devils smoked me right between the eyes with a left that was intended for Moe Lemay of the Boston Bruins in game two of the Eastern Conference Final on May 4, 1988. The Bruins, coached by Terry OReilly, had beaten Jim Schoenfelds Devils by a score of 5-3 in Game 1. Game 2 was a rough-and-tumble affair that the Devils eventually won 3-2 in overtime, but before we reached that point a line brawl broke out when Bruins player Moe Lemay went hard to the Devils goal, bumping Sean Burke. The cavalry came to the defence of their goalkeeper, and linesman Gerry Gauthier was tied up with Willi Plett of the Bruins and Perry Anderson of the Devils against the boards in the end zone. Linesman Ron "Huck" Finn was trying to separate Lemay and MacLean, but they had dropped their gloves and were ready to rumble. Poor Huck Finn was on his own, so I came in from behind to grab Lemay and pull him out of the altercation just as the punches started. I moved around Lemay to tie up his right hand and skate him out of the exchange when, unfortunately for me, Finn didnt realize that MacLeans left hand was free. Johnny Mac unloaded with his best shot from over the top. The closest head to punch was mine - he drove me right in the freakin head. It staggered me momentarily, but thank heavens John MacLean was a better scorer than a puncher. I was still on my skates. I aggressively tied up Lemay and moved him out of the there so that I wouldnt have to take any more shots. I assessed John MacLean 14 minutes in penalties and Lemay with 17. In Game 3 back in the Meadowlands, the dust-up didnt occur on the ice but in the hallway leading to the officials room following a 6-1 Bruins victory when coach Jim Schoenfeld confronted referee Don Koharski. The cameras were rolling and preserved for posterity, the infamous line shouted by the coach at the referee, "Good, because you fell, you fat pig. Have another doughnut!" Dust-ups were common place back then but seldom like the ones that occurred in the 1988 Eastern Conference Final between the Bruins and the Devils. ' ' '