WASHINGTON D.C. – The hole was three goals deep after just eight minutes and 44 seconds. And it would ultimately prove too daunting for the Maple Leafs to overcome in the U.S. capital. Doomed by the drudge of a sleepy start they fell in regulation Sunday afternoon for just the fifth time in the past 23 games (15-5-4), their comeback attempts sullied a 4-2 loss to the feisty Washington Capitals. Coming off a successful swing through the California triangle – they won twice – Toronto mustered just two shots in a stunted opening 20 minutes back east, down 3-0 before the frame was even halfway over. Washington scored twice on its first two power-play attempts, adding another from Jason Chimera at even-strength. “It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap,” mused head coach Randy Carlyle of the period with some frustration afterward. “We werent good enough in the first 10 minutes,” added James Reimer, appearing in his third straight game. “You cant spot a team three goals. We just werent sharp, myself included, and it cost us. I thought we dominated the second and the third was anyones game, we just couldnt quite climb out of the three-goal hole.” The Leafs did dominate the middle period with the same emphasis as the Capitals did the first. They outshot the home-side 10-1 in the opening 11 minutes and 20-6 overall. But with three power-play opportunities and a slew of chances to score they could only get one by Jaroslav Halak, the eighth this season from Dion Phaneuf. David Clarkson had maybe the best opportunity to even the proceedings at three. Stuck with just one goal in the past 21 games and only four this season, the 29-year-old thought hed beaten Halak only to see the puck trickle off the goaltender and out. “Thats been the story this year,” Clarkson said. “I think even if I didnt celebrate it was still laying there for me to poke in.” Never coming closer he and the Leafs fell for the second time on a season-long road trip that wraps up Tuesday in Detroit against the hurting Red Wings. The momentum of emphatic wins in Anaheim and L.A. failed to carry over on the road back east. Knowing that first place in the Atlantic division is lost – Boston is up 15 points – Toronto has set its sights now on securing second spot and home-ice advantage in the first round. With 13 games to go they have 80 points, one up on Tampa and Montreal, who each carry games in hand. “If we wouldve won this one we wouldve been in a great spot,” said Carl Gunnarsson of the road trip at large. “Weve got a big one coming up here in Detroit to make it a good one.” Five Points 1. First Periods A nemesis on Sunday afternoon and all season for that matter, first periods have been a regular sore spot for the Leafs. Washington scored three unanswered in the opening frame on this day. Troy Bodie added a late goal to cut the deficit to two, just the second of two shots in the period for Toronto. Utterly displeased with his teams performance, Carlyle gathered the entire team for a chat during the second TV timeout. “It was more or less just get going,” Bodie said of Carlyles message. “We didnt have our feet going. We werent ready to play.” The Leafs boast a minus-15 goal differential in first periods this season, by far the worst of the three stanzas. Scoring their second of the night while out-shooting the Capitals 20-6, they improved to plus-13 in second periods. “I think finally we got our legs under us,” said Clarkson. “We started going and we kind of put them back on their heels a little bit.” 2. PK Stumbles The rising Leafs penalty kill entered the day with an 88 per cent success rate in the previous 14 games, turning the corner from an awful first half. “We knew we couldnt give up on it,” Jay McClement told the Leaf Report before the game. “We just had to keep working and wed get better because virtually its the same group of us from last year. I dont know what the reason was [for our struggles], but now it seems like weve got the confidence back.” That is until they faced the second best power-play unit in the league at the Verizon Center. Shadowing Alex Ovechkin, who leads the league with 19 power-play goals, the Leafs gave up a pair on Washingtons first two opportunities with the man advantage, once from an open Troy Brouwer in the slot, a second from Joel Ward on the back-door. “We missed assignments on our coverage,” said Carlyle. “You cant let Troy Brouwer shoot the puck from 10 feet in front of your goaltender. Theres obviously a missed assignment and missed coverage in that situation.” 3. Man Advantage Yields Little Boasting just two goals now in the past 11 games – 7 per cent in that span – the Toronto power-play meanwhile continued its dry spell. The Leafs grappled with three consecutive power-plays in the middle period, but failed to score even once. “We believe in our power-play,” said Joffrey Lupul prior to the game. “And theres going to be stretches when you dont get those goals, but as long as we keep doing things right with some of the scorers we have on the team eventually the power-play opportunities are going to turn into goals.” Punch-less on many recent nights, the Leafs did have their opportunities against the Capitals, mustering eight shots. Sneaking in from the right point Cody Franson had maybe the best opportunity to beat Halak, but was ultimately turned aside. The unit currently sits in a four-way tie for third overall at 20.7 per cent. 4. Goalies James Reimer made his third straight appearance Sunday, starting in place of the injured Jonathan Bernier. Fighting the puck early, Reimer yielded three goals on the first five shots, but settled as the night wore on. He made key stops in the final frame, including one on Jason Chimera breaking in partially alone.Citing the now 26-year-olds rebound trouble in that opening frame, Carlyle said he considered pulling Reimer in favour of Drew MacIntyre after the third Washington goal. “We did think about that,” said Carlyle. “But I didnt want to throw Drew into that type of situation without giving him a heads up …Weve got Reims here and weve got to show the confidence for him to fight through some of those situations. We know that Reims is going to start the next game in all probability.” Carlyle had little to offer as far as an update on Bernier, who remained with the team in Washington Sunday ahead of the trip to Detroit. Its clear the 25-year-old will miss his second straight game against the Red Wings Tuesday, the clarity of lower-body injury yet to be fully revealed. 5. Kadris Evolution Nazem Kadri said recently that “I want to become a complete player that this team can trust” and among coaches and teammates that desire for evolution has been seen on the ice. “I think hes maturing as a player,” said Carlyle of the 23-year-old, who established a new career-high for points in Los Angeles this past Thursday night. “I still think theres some room for Nazzie to grow. But I still think youve got to give the kid credit. Hes under a microscope. Hes under a lot of pressure to come in as a young player and play those minutes. We have all kinds of confidence [in him]. [But] maybe not as much confidence as he has if you know what I mean.” “Hes better in his defensive zone for sure,” added Lupul. “Just positioning and using his body and his stick down low. I think everyone probably saw the offensive talents [which] have always been there, but now – Ive been playing on his line for a while now – hes pretty reliable defensively. And as a winger he gets in a spot where youre able to find him, get him the puck.” For Lupul, thats the indicator for when Kadri is at his best. “I think thats one thing for me that when hes playing really well thats what I notice about being on his line is hes putting himself in a spot where hes basically demanding the puck and that he gets it. That shows his confidence and thats how you can kind of tell when hes on the top of his game.” Kadri finished with two shots in 20 minutes against the Capitals. Stats-Pack 35-40 – Toronto penalty kill over 14 games preceding Sunday in Washington. 54 – Consecutive games missed by Dave Bolland, who is still recovering from a left ankle injury, his return status as yet unknown. 15-5-3 – Leafs record in the past 23 games. 2-28 – Toronto power-play over the past 11 games. 29 – Points this season for Dion Phaneuf, eclipsing the mark he set in 48 games last season. Fighting the flu, Phaneuf had a goal and an assist in defeat against the Capitals. 42-57 – Goal differential for the Leafs in first periods this season, favouring the opposition. 8-15-4 – Leafs record this season when trailing after the first period. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3Season: 20.7% (T-3rd) PK: 2-4Season: 78.4% (28th) Quote of the Night “It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap.” -Randy Carlyle, on his teams performance in the opening period Sunday. Up Next The Leafs conclude their five-game road trip with a division battle against the Red Wings on Tuesday. Cheap Indians Jerseys .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Cheap Cleveland Indians Jerseys . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. http://www.cheapindiansjerseys.com/?tag=...e-carter-jersey. -- Lindsey Vonn squeezed in a little freeskiing on Thanksgiving morning, a step in the right direction for a return to racing after reinjuring her right knee in a recent training crash. Cheap Kenny Lofton Jersey . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. Cheap Larry Doby Jersey .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins.GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds starter Homer Bailey said he was "really close" to getting a multiyear deal completed on Monday with several days left before a scheduled arbitration hearing. Bailey is the last Reds player left in arbitration. He has a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Florida. He and the Reds have been working on a deal during the off-season. He wouldnt confirm reports that the sides are negotiating on a six-year deal. "Theres a lot of things that we have in place," Bailey said before the teams workout on Monday morning. "I feel the majority of its fairly worked out, except for some of the details and stuff like that. But were really close." The 27-year-old pitcher made $5,350,000 last season. He asked for $11.6 million in arbitration and the Reds offered $8.7 million, their biggest gap with an arbitration-eligible player. Bailey was the seventh overall pick in the June 2004 amateur draft. He developed into a dependable starter in the past two years, and pitched a pair of no-hitters along the way, too. The hard-throwing Texan went a career-best 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA in 2012, completing his breakthrough season by throwing a no-hitter in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, a 1-0 victory. He threw the 16th no-hitter in franchise history last June 2, a 3-0 win over San Francisco at Great American Ball Park. Bailey became the third pitcher in Reds history to throw a pair of no-hitters, joining Johnny Vander Meer and Jim Maloney.dddddddddddd Overall, Bailey went 11-12 with a 3.49 ERA with two complete games last season. Bailey hasnt bought a plane ticket to Florida for his arbitration hearing and hasnt bought a suit for it. He expects to have a deal in place before then. "Hopefully we can get the small stuff worked out in the next few days," Bailey said. "If not, Im going to have to go buy a suit." With Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leake, left-hander Tony Cingrani and Bailey, the Reds have a rotation that can be kept together for several years. Bronson Arroyo left as a free agent after last season, and Cingrani moves into his spot. Cincinnatis rotation finished third in the NL last season with a 3.43 ERA, its best mark since 1974. Overall, the Reds pitching finished four in the NL with a 3.38 ERA and led the league with 1,296 strikeouts, a club record. "You look at that rotation right there, I wouldnt mind any of those guys being here long term, would you?" manager Bryan Price said. "Five guys between 24 and 28 years old. Im not scratching my head wondering about any of those guys, if theyre going to be good long term. "Thats a great group right there. If we had Homer long term, Id be really excited about that." 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