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TORONTO -- It was nothing new to see these Toronto Maple Leafs beaten. A 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings was their eighth straight in regulation. But Saturday night in the home locker room at Air Canada Centre, the Leafs looked defeated for the first time during this losing streak or this once-hopeful season that has quickly gone off the rails. "I cant describe it right now," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "This was as close to a do-or-die as you can get. But obviously were not going to throw out hope until its mathematically set in stone. But we pretty much had to have this game." Seven losses piled up and yet the Leafs still sounded like a team that had hope. Giving up huge leads in the standings to the Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals to fall into a four-way tie at 80 points was one thing. Squandering the most important game of this stretch so far to a fellow Eastern Conference wild-card competitor felt like the breaking point. "This loss is the most disappointing out of the eight. Theres no hiding that," captain Dion Phaneuf said. "We come tonight against a team that was battling for that same spot and they win this hockey game. This is the toughest loss for sure." Detroit (34-26-14) got a hat trick from Darren Helm and another from the NHLs hottest goal-scorer, Gustav Nyquist, to reach 82 points. "It was the first hat trick I ever had, which is pretty special," Helm said. "Big game to win, too. I was happy to win the game, first off, but the hat trick is a nice thing to take home." The Red Wings werent the only ones in the race to win Saturday night, as the Blue Jackets beat the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime to take over the top wild-card spot in the East at 82 points. Columbus leads Detroit because they have more regulation and overtime wins (33 to 29). With just six games remaining -- two less than each of the three teams theyre competing with for two spots -- the Leafs are fourth among those teams and know the difficult task in front of them. "Weve got to win the rest of our games and get help now, I think," said Lupul, who scored the Leafs second goal of the night late in the second period to give some life that evaporated in the third. "All we can control right now is winning the rest of our games, and were going to have to have every one, probably." Phaneuf didnt want to consider that daunting task. The defenceman whose miscues cost the Leafs in previous defeats didnt want to think too far ahead but also called this a "very trying" time for a group that was in second place in the Atlantic Division as recently as Mar. 16. This was the first time in franchise history that Toronto (36-32-8) went eight straight games without a point since 1996 and the first time it lost eight consecutive in regulation since 1985. "Its not like were playing bad hockey, its just one of those things where every mistake that we do make ends up (in our net)," said defenceman Cody Franson, who opened the scoring 10:57 into the first period. "Its the end of the season, everybodys clamping down and your little mistakes end up costing you. Plain and simple." Mistakes like a turnover by Phil Kessel on the power play early in the second that led to Helms first, a short-handed goal. Or like the puck taking a bad hop off Franson and right to Helm for his third. "It just isnt meant to be for us right now, and this is the tough ones," coach Randy Carlyle said. Asked what he figured the difference was in the loss, his third straight since returning from a groin injury, goaltender Jonathan Bernier (24 saves on 28 shots) said: "Odd-man rushes." Lupul agreed. "We gave up odd-man situations repeatedly for whatever reason," he said. "Its tough to say from the bench, thats something you notice when you watch the game again. But the try is there, just we didnt get the job done and we have to pay for that now." The Leafs have been paying since they last won a game, Mar. 13 at the Los Angeles Kings. Most importantly they havent been picking up valuable points with the games whittling down to the end of the regular season. On the other hand, Detroit has picked up 11 points and gone on an impressive run without star forward Pavel Datsyuk and captain Henrik Zetterberg. The injuries have piled up, but the Red Wings have gotten 21 goals in 26 games from Nyquist and continued solid performances from goalie Jimmy Howard (25 saves) to remain in the playoff race. "Weve been devastated this year, no question about it, but we found all these kids and were better for it going ahead, so thats a positive thing," coach Mike Babcock said. "Weve had a lot of fun doing it. Weve been in the grinder since day one, theres no question about it, but weve had a lot of fun doing it and weve got a big game against Tampa tomorrow." Every game down the stretch is big for the Leafs now. They return to Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night to face the Calgary Flames before hosting the Atlantic Division-champion Boston Bruins on Thursday and the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. They finish the season with three on the road: at the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators. But unless they manage to string together a home winning streak, those games will be too late. The task in front of them is to prevent doing even once more what theyve done eight consecutive times. As the Leafs seemed to realize Saturday night, they can no longer afford to lose. "Weve won six in a row in the season," Bernier said. "Obviously its hard to snap the long losing streak like that, but weve got to find a way. If not, then well be home very soon." NOTE -- Winger Phil Kessel took a pass from James van Riemsdyk off his right foot in the first period and laboured to the bench in pain. Kessel was seen limping after the game, but Carlyle did not have any information on his condition. ... Bernier started on back-to-back days for the first time this season and just the second time in his NHL career. The only previous time was March 5, 2013 with the Los Angeles Kings, when Bernier was pulled after giving up three goals on eight shots. ... Defenceman Paul Ranger and enforcer Colton Orr were scratched for the Leafs, who recalled forward Jerry DAmigo earlier in the day from the AHLs Toronto Marlies. ... The Red Wings were playing their 14th straight game without Datsyuk (knee) and 16th straight without Zetterberg (back). Theyve played 35 total without Datsyuk and 29 without Zetterberg. ... The game was broadcast live on CCTV in China. Philadelphia 76ers Gear . Hall joined Bengals teammates for a voluntary workout on Monday. Hes got his mobility back and is on schedule to be ready for the season. CINCINNATI - Bengals cornerback Leon Hall is happy with his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and expects to be ready for the start of training camp in July. Custom Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys . A Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling published Friday said that FIFAs disputes panel and the Court of Arbitration for Sport correctly imposed the sanction for Nantes enticing Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai club Al Nasr in January 2012. https://www.cheap76ers.com/. Tyutin has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury which occurred while playing for Russia at the Olympics. The top-two defenceman has four goals and 20 assists, 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with Columbus this season. Philadelphia 76ers Store .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. Stitched 76ers Jerseys . Beanballs were the theme Friday night as the Red Sox and Rays had another AL East rumble, with Boston earning a 3-2 victory on A.MONTREAL -- The throng of 46,121 at Olympic Stadium were rooting more for the defunct Montreal Expos, but they stood and cheered the Toronto Blue Jays just the same. Pinch hitter Ricardo Nanita singled with two out in the ninth to lift the Blue Jays to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on a Friday night that was part exhibition baseball, part tribute to former Expos and Mets catcher Gary Carter and part appeal to the world to bring baseball back to Montreal. It was the first game at the Big O since the Expos farewell game on Sept. 24, 2004, before they moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals. The teams will play again on Saturday afternoon, when the Expos 1994 team will be feted. Carters widow Sandy and daughter Kimmy were on hand with his ex-teammates Tim Raines, Steve Rogers and Warren Cromartie for a pre-game tribute to perhaps the most popular player in Expos history. He also played for and won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets. "The city always embraced Gary, and us as a family" Sandy Carter said afterwards. "I really felt that tonight. We made it our home and felt privileged to be here for 11 years." Carter died of brain cancer at age 57 in 2012. The City of Montreal named a street after him outside the Expos original home, Jarry Park. "He was a great teammate, a great player, a great competitor," said Raines, a roving outfield instructor for the Blue Jays. "Him and Andre Dawson taught me the meaning of playing the game. "If I didnt listen to him, Andre Dawson would slap me upside the head." Many other former players and management personnel were on hand to see the Blue Jays come back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the seventh and win it in the ninth. Fans chanted Lets Go Expos throughout most of the game, but all were on their feet for the final inning trying to will the Blue Jays to victory. Munenori Kawasaki opened the ninth with a double and scored from third as Nanita singled up the middle. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the final two innings for the win. Mets third baseman David Wright, a rookie in 2004, called it a fun night. "It brought back a bunch of memories for me," said Wright. "My first road trip in the big leagues was to Montreal, my first home run was in Montreal, so it was nice today to reminisce as bit. "Its nice for us to be able to come up here and break up spring training a bit, because it gets a little boring down there (in Floridda).dddddddddddd To come up to a great city with an obviously hungry fan base -- its kind of like a dress rehearsal for us. Youve got the big crowd, you get a little more excited than at a normal spring training game. "Its good practice for Monday (the Mets season opener against the Nationals)." The Mets scored two in the fourth off Jays starter Mark Buehrle on Chris Youngs two-run double. Toronto got one back in the fourth on Jose Bautistas home run, but Ruben Tejada doubled and scored on Daniel Murphys two-bagger off Casey Janssen in the fifth. Former Blue Jays prospect Travis dArnaud led off the seventh with a home run, but Edwin Encarnacion tied it with a two-run single in the seventh off Gonzalez Germen. Encarnacion was tagged out in a rundown after the runners scored. Cromartie leads a movement called the Montreal Baseball Project that is working to get a team back in Montreal, even though estimates are that it would cost more than $1 billion for a team and a new ballpark. The Expos, who became Canadas first major league team in 1969, moved to Washington to become the Nationals in 2004 after a decade of fire sales of top players, dwindling attendance and timid ownership. Cromartie and others are trying to revive baseball interest. They called on Montreal fans to turn out in large numbers to the pre-season games to show that the city will support baseball. "If people think there are no fans here -- you see tonight, the support is here," said Raines. "I think it would be good," said Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, a native of Langley, B.C. "If the fans show up -- that would be the telling tale. You need that support. But it would be good for Canada." The Mets are old Expos rivals, but the crowd was behind the Jays from the start. There was a big ovation for a diving defensive play by Lawrie in the third and another an inning later for Bautistas homer. But in the stands, there were periodic chants of Lets Go Expos, just like in the old days. The Blue Jays open the season on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, so the trip north from Florida spring training actually took them out of their way. But no one complained of playing in front of huge, supportive crowd. "To be honest, Id rather stay in Florida, but its good for Canada," said Lawrie. "We can suck it up. Its good energy." Buehrle gave up two earned runs and four hits in four innings. ' ' '