ST. LOUIS – On the heels of their best game all year came one of the worst. The Maple Leafs were blasted 6-3 by the Blues at Scottrade Center on Thursday night. It was Torontos eighth loss in the past 10 games (2-6-2), 13th in the past 19, and a drastic reversal in course from an inspired home loss to the Kings one night earlier. "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas," said Randy Carlyle, following the defeat. All the persistence, feistiness and energy of their effort against Los Angeles deteriorated in a hurry against the Blues. St. Louis buried three goals on its first 15 shots in a dominant opening frame – chasing James Reimer from the crease – before adding a goal in the second and a pair in the third. "It just looked like we werent there mentally at the start," said Carlyle. It was a stinging return to the inconsistent, chaotic hockey which has plagued the group for the better part of the season. Most baffling, however, was the dramatic shift in performance from the night previous. Though they ultimately fell 3-1 to Los Angeles at the ACC on Wednesday night, the Leafs were the superior team and played their most complete game of the season. The starting point they hoped to gain from the effort – a largely stingy defensive effort – never materialized against the Blues, dominant with 21 wins in 30 games this season. "Even though we lost that game [against the Kings] it was something to build on," said Carl Gunnarsson, "and tonight its like it was all gone." Concern has to be inching ever upward with the mounting losses and little to no sustained improvement. The Leafs have just two regulation victories since the start of November and face the defending Stanley Cup champs at home on Saturday. "Our concern has been very high for a while here," said Carlyle. "We thought with our performance [Wednesday] night it would be something we could build on, but we just didnt have any kind of an energy to be able to put forth an effort that was needed." Five Points 1. Defensive Issues In describing his team as "totally brain-dead", Carlyle was referring mostly to the areas in which St. Louis managed to score. David Backes opened the scoring untouched from just outside the slot. Jaden Schwartz had two whacks just outside the blue paint for the second St. Louis goal. Derek Roy pranced in untouched through the slot on the third. Chances and opportunities of that kind continued throughout the night. "I dont know any other way to describe it from a standpoint of where the goals were being scored from again," said Carlyle. "We have systems that our coverage has to be in place and if you vacate those critical areas youre going to give up quality scoring chances." Revealingly, the Leafs have allowed three goals or more in 13 of the past 19 games, losing all but one. "They had a lot of freedom in our zone," said Carlyle of the Blues. "Look where they scored the goals from." 2. In Need of Urgency Carlyle has been beating the drum of urgency from the opening days of the season when his team won games on the shoulders of terrific goaltending and special teams. But at this point in the year, more than a third of way through but with plenty of time still remaining, the urgency level appears mixed in the Toronto dressing room. A clear understanding of just how long this skid has lingered seems lost. "Theres lots of time," said Nazem Kadri. "Fifty games left, theres no reason to panic. Its just something weve got to figure out in the dressing room." "We started off playing terrific," he said later of the teams start to the season. "Obviously some things made us take a couple steps backward with injuries and things like that. Its tough to be mentally and physically prepared when things like that just keep happening. But its up to us. Were professionals. We do have a good team inside this dressing room. We believe we can win and were confident still, weve just got to figure out ways around these games." 3. Urgency v. Intensity James Reimer had interesting insight on the need for urgency amid a skid thats lingered for more than a month and longer than that if you include October. "Sometimes its hard to differ between urgency and intensity," he said. "If you get tense thats the worst-case scenario. If you can get some urgency in your game without squeezing your stick then thats important. But in the market we play in the biggest key is keeping the pressure off and trying to stay as loose as possible. Thats the main thing. Its really easy to get too intense. Do we need some more urgency? Probably. But you have to be careful when you start going down that path." 4. Reimers Quick Night Reimer got the hook after third Blues goal. He allowed three goals on 15 shots and was replaced by Jonathan Bernier. "Too many goals," Reimer said of the performance, coming on the heels of a 47-save effort in Ottawa. "I felt good out there, felt good in warm-up, felt like I was seeing the puck. But just a couple got by, obviously a couple too many. "I felt like I was on my game, pucks just found a way in." "Im not blaming the goaltending specifically," said Carlyle. "I just think it was part in parcel with our hockey club." 5. Western Exposure The Blues were the fourth Western Conference team on the Leafs docket in the first two weeks of December with Chicago and Phoenix lying ahead in the days to come. "Guys say its more defensive in that conference," Jake Gardiner said prior to the loss to St. Louis. "I was talking to [former Leaf] Matt Frattin and he said the same thing. He said its a lot harder to score and get points and get production. Yeah, definitely noticed a difference." (Frattin had seven goals and 13 points in 25 games with the Leafs last season, but has just two goals and six points with similar ice-time through the same number of games with the Kings). "Theres definitely a different style," said Jay McClement, who spent all but his last two seasons in the West. "Theres obviously a lot of big, strong teams out here." The Leafs are now 7-7-1 versus the West this season. Stats-Pack 13 – Losses for the Leafs in the past 19 games. 13 – Number of times in those 19 games that the Leafs allowed three goals or more, losing all but one. 7-7-1 – Leafs record versus the Western Conference this season. 14 – Goals for James van Riemsdyk this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3Season: 23.3 per cent (4th) PK: 3-3Season: 77.2 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas." -Randy Carlyle, following the loss to St. Louis Up Next The Leafs host the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks at the ACC on Saturday evening. Derrius Guice College Jersey . Signs of a turnaround have emerged in this series at Minnesota. Brian Roberts had three doubles and a triple for the first four-extra-base-hit game of his 14-year career, and the Yankees used their bullpen to preserve a 6-5 win over the Twins on Friday. Authentic LSU Jerseys . -- Jim Furyk was 10 shots worse and right where he wanted to be Saturday in the BMW Championship. -- Brandon Hope stopped 46 shots and Kurtis MacDermid scored with 27 seconds remaining in overtime as the Owen Sound Attack edged the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 5-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Spencer Ware College Jersey . Napoli hit two home runs, Jonny Gomes and prized rookie Xander Bogaerts also connected, and the Red Sox kept up their dizzying scoring spree at Yankee Stadium by bashing New York 13-9 Saturday for a fifth straight win. Leonard Fournette College Jersey .com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town.Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - PNC Arena hasnt been kind to Duke since 2010. The Blue Devils were 1-3 in their past four games at North Carolina States home court entering Sundays ACC clash, including two losses to the Wolfpack and an untimely defeat in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament against Mercer. Trevor Lacey scored 21 points and NC State upset No. 2 Duke 87-75, continuing its streak of strong play at home against the Blue Devils. Ralston Turner added 16 points on nine shots and BeeJay Anya gave 14 with four blocks off the bench for the Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1 ACC), who picked up a crucial win in their most grueling stretch of the season. They either play on the road or against a ranked team, or both, for six straight games. Duke won its first true road game of the season by 10 points against Wisconsin on Dec. 3, but couldnt duplicate that success in its second more than a month later. The Blue Devils (14-1, 2-1) got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Jahlil Okafor and 18 points from Quinn Cook in their first loss of the season. Final Score: Rutgers 67, (4) Wisconsin 62 Piscataway, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Myles Mack had 21 points, Kadeem Jack scored 20 and Rutgers shocked No. 4 Wisconsin 67-62 on Sunday. It was the first win over a top-five team in Rutgers history. The Scarlet Knights (10-7, 2-2 Big Ten) outscored the short-handed Badgers (15-2, 3-1) by a 44-27 margin in the second half for the programs first win over a ranked team in more than two years. Wisconsin played without leading scorer Frank Kaminsky becausse of a concussion and finished the game without point guard Traevon Jackson, who appeared to suffer an injury when he landed on Macks foot while trying to block a 3-point shot in the second half.dddddddddddd In their absence, Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker scored 15 points each to lead the Badgers and Bronson Keonig had 12. Final Score: Oregon State 58, (7) Arizona 56 Corvallis, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Langston Morris-Walker drove in for a layup with 26 seconds remaining to lift Oregon State to a 58-56 upset win over No. 7 Arizona on Sunday night. The Wildcats looked to force overtime, but T.J. McConnell missed a runner. Morris-Walker finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Beavers (11-4, 2-1 Pac-12), who posted their first win over a top-10 team since beating these same Wildcats -- then ranked No. 3 -- in overtime on March 2, 2000. Gary Payton II scored 10 points with nine rebounds, helping Oregon State end a seven-game slide to Arizona and improve to 10-0 at home this season. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 14 points and McConnell added 13 with six assists for Arizona (14-2, 2-1). Final Score: (15) Wichita State 67, Loyola-Chicago 53 Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Fred VanVleet had 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as No. 15 Wichita State defeated Loyola-Chicago 67-53 on Sunday. Tekele Cotton netted 16 points and Ron Baker added 15 for the Shockers (14-2, 4-0 MVC), who have won four straight games. Earl Peterson posted 13 points to lead Loyola-Chicago (12-4, 2-2), which has dropped two of its last three contests. 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