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BUFFALO – November has proven a gloomy month from start to (near) finish for the Leafs. What began with a disastrous 4-0 defeat in Vancouver continued Friday with another loss to the leagues worst team, a 3-2 overtime edging by the Sabres at First Niagara Center, their fourth in the past five games. It was the eighth loss in 12 games in November for the Leafs (4-5-3) and sixth straight defeat on the road. Buffalo has just three wins outside of regulation all season, two of them coming against Toronto in the past two weeks. "Weve just got to stick with it," said James van Riemsdyk, following the latest loss. "You can never be too high or too low. Its a long season. Were in a decent position right now still." With just two regulation wins all month, the Leafs are now tied for fourth in the Atlantic Division – the Canadiens have an identical 14-9-3 record with the two clubs meeting in Montreal on Saturday – their 6-1-0 start to the season far in the rear-view mirror. Only an elite power play unit and sturdy goaltending have remained intact (though that too is regressing somewhat in recent days) through the opening two months. Mustering fewer than two goals of offence per game in November (1.92 to be precise) while yielding more than three against (3.08), the Leafs are struggling right now on both sides of the puck. A once confident penalty kill too has fallen into turmoil. The unit allowed its 14th power play goal of the month to the Sabres, dipping to 71 per cent in that span. On this night, the Leafs jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the 14th goal of the year from Phil Kessel, grabbing the edge once more on the second this season from Nik Kulemin. Both leads were erased, however, the Sabres coming from behind to win on a goal from Christian Ehrhoff 38 seconds into overtime. The goal came just minutes after van Riemsdyk was hauled down by Matt DAgostini on a shorthanded rush in the closing moments of regulation. No call was made on the play. "The breaks arent going our way," said head coach Randy Carlyle, his frustration obvious. The Leafs will close the month of November with their second road date of the season in Montreal. December looms with a particularly difficult schedule, the Sharks, Bruins, Kings, Blues, Blackhawks and Penguins all on the calendar. "We still have a lot of games left so weve just got to keep trying to find ways to figure out the things that are going wrong and then keep doing some of the things that were doing well," said van Riemsdyk. Five Points 1. Road Woes The defeat marked the sixth straight away from the Air Canada Centre for the Leafs, now 5-5-3 on the road this season. Outscored 19-10 during the six-game stretch, their last win outside of Toronto came on Oct. 30 in Calgary. 2. Late Call in Question Streaking down the right side of the ice with the Leafs killing off a late penalty to Paul Ranger, van Riemdsyk had his legs swept out beneath him by DAgostini, his ....... crashing into the vacated net. "They said that he played the puck and he made contact with the puck," Carlyle said DAgostini, "thus hes allowed to cross-block and take our player out. In my mind, I didnt think it deemed a penalty shot, but I thought it shouldve been a penalty for taking the players knees out. But they didnt make the call." "I dont want to get into too much," said van Riemsdyk, "but I tried to slide [the puck] over to my forehand and then my legs went out from under me so thats all I remember." The Leafs would eventually kill off the penalty to Ranger, but the Sabres would score in overtime before he could rejoin the play. "You cant take your hand off the stick and grab the player," Carlyle said of Rangers penalty, a holding call which saw him grab Ville Leino. "Thats new rules hockey." 3. Shorthanded Draws Moments before Ehrhoff scored the winner did the Leafs lose a shorthanded draw, a rare loss by Jerred Smithson in this instance. A subtle point in their struggles on the penalty kill this season (now 20th overall) has been diminished effectiveness on the draw shorthanded. Tyler Bozak and Jay McClement, who absorb the majority of faceoffs in such situations, have not been quite as successful this season as they were a year ago. The pair combined to win a healthy 52 per cent in 2013, but have so far dipped to just 42 per cent. Bozak in particular, has struggled considerably. The 27-year-old has won just 35 per cent of his shorthanded draws in 14 games this winter. Added to the roster last month, Smithson has actually been the teams most efficient faceoff man on the penalty kill and at even strength. The 34-year-old is now 18-33 on the penalty kill in 11 games. Player 2013-14 2013 Tyler Bozak 35% 53% Jay McClement 46% 50% Jerred Smithson 55% 54% * * With Edmonton and Florida *With Edmonton and Florida 4. November Leaders Though hes played in just seven games this month, Trevor Smith has vaulted to the top of the Leafs scoring chart in November. Indicative of their offensive troubles this month, Smith, with six points, is now tied with van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond for the monthly scoring lead. Slightly behind in that race is the teams overall scoring leader. While he did pot his 14th this season, the 26-year-old Kessel has gone 13 straight games without an assist, boasting five goals and five points in 12 games this month. 5. Mix on Defence Paired together for all but five games of the 2013 regular season, Mark Fraser and Cody Franson were reunited this week in Carlyles search for some stability beyond his top pair of Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson. "Its great how comfortable we are with one another," said Fraser before Fridays game, "whether its just the talking to each other – the vocabulary – [or] our ....... language. We played long enough with one another that we can really read off of each other. Were definitely excited to be back." Jake Gardiner returned to the lineup after sitting for the first time all season in Pittsburgh. The 23-year-old replaced Morgan Rielly alongside Paul Ranger against the Sabres, notching an assist in 21 minutes. "I thought we all played a decent game tonight, played hard, competed and they capitalized at the end," said Gardiner. Stat Pack 6-2-2 – Career record for James Reimer versus Buffalo. 8 – Blocked shots for Mark Fraser against the Sabres, a game-high. 1.92 – Goals per game for the Leafs this month. 6 - Points for Trevor Smith in November, tied for the team lead. 13 – Consecutive games without an assist for Phil Kessel. 4-5-3 – Leafs record in November. 34-48 – Toronto penalty kill over the past 12 games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-1Season: 24.4% PK: 3-4Season: 79.2% Quote of the Night "I dont think [you] need rocket science to figure out that if you continue to give up five and six goals, youre not going to get many points. We have to buckle down definitely in that area. Weve got to get our defensive game going to a higher level. And maybe part of that is to create a little bit more in the offensive zone as far as time in there." - Randy Carlyle, on his teams struggles defensively. Up Next The Leafs conclude a three-game road trip in Montreal on Saturday evening. Greg Maddux Cubs Jersey . 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The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip.PHOENIX - That dry desert air brought out the best of the Los Angeles Dodgers offence, especially Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez homered for the fourth consecutive game and the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 8-6 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. Gonzalezs three-run shot off Trevor Cahill (0-4) in the third inning gave him 10 RBIs in the series. He has 27 career home runs and 87 RBIs against the Diamondbacks, most among active players. "Man, hes smoking the ball," teammate Matt Kemp said. "Hes probably the best hitter in the league right now." Kemp and Juan Uribe also homered for the Dodgers, who scored 22 runs in the series. "This is a good place to hit," Gonzalez said. "You go out here and take BP (batting practice) and the ball carries out of the ballpark. You take some of those swings and it kind of makes you feel better as a hitter." Dan Haren (2-0) allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings to get the victory. Mark Trumbo hit a three-run home run and Eric Chavez had a solo shot for the Diamondbacks, who are off to a 4-11 start. Dee Gordon stole a career-best four bases, the most by a Dodger in a game since Rafael Furcal did it against Arizona in 2007. "Hes always been able to do that," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, "but now hes getting on base a lot. Hes walking and hes getting his hits. Thats what really changes the dynamic." Cahill failed to make it through the fifth inning for the third time in his four starts. He went four innings plus two batters, allowing seven runs — six earned — on seven hits. Cahill struck out eight but walked five. Asked why Cahill can be good for a stretch then fall apart, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said, "I think youd have to ask Trevor that. I dont have an answer for you." Cahill said the walks were a big problem, and that one pitch to Gonzalez. "I made a mistake and Adrians been swinging it good this series," Cahill said. "I kind of got away from the game plan with him and left a pitch down and in, right in his sweet spot." Haren scattered nine hits, striking out five and walking onne.dddddddddddd Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save and second in as many games. The Dodgers led 8-3 before Trumbos sixth home run of the season, off Jamey Wright with two outs in the seventh, cut it to 8-6. Gonzalez, who also doubled, had an extra-base hit for the eighth consecutive game, one shy of the franchise record. Ten of Gonzalezs 14 hits this season have gone for extra bases. Kemps line shot into the Arizona bullpen down the left field line put the Dodgers up 1-0 in the second. Gordon walked to start the fourth, then stole second and third. Yasiel Puig walked and Hanley Ramirez bounced one high off the plate to Cahill, beating the throw to first for an infield RBI single. Gonzalez hit a 1-1 pitch into the right field seats to bring in three runs and Los Angeles led 5-0. Arizona got three in its half of the third. Parra led off with a double and scored on Aaron Hills triple to the left-centre gap. Goldschmidts groundout scored Hill, then Chavez skied one to the right field seats on the first pitch to cut the lead to 5-3. In the fifth, Cahill walked Ramirez, then Gonzalez lashed a double to right and the Arizona right-handers day was over. Randall Delgado, who just lost his spot in the rotation, came on in relief. Gonzalez scored on Andre Ethiers groundout, then first baseman Paul Goldschmidt couldnt snag a high bouncer for an error that brought in the Dodgers seventh run. Parra recorded the first right field-to-first putout in Diamondbacks history when he threw out Haren after the pitcher appeared to have singled. It was the first throw-out at first from the right fielder in the majors in two seasons. NOTES: The Dodgers struck out 15 times and were outhit 13-7. ... Gordon, who has nine steals, stole second in the sixth while Delgado was kicking the rubber and not paying attention. ... The Dodgers have Monday off, then open a three-game series in San Francisco on Tuesday. ... The New York Mets begin a three-game series at Arizona on Monday night. Josh Collmenter (0-0, 2.25 ERA) comes out of the bullpen to start for the Diamondbacks, Zack Wheeler (0-2, 2.25) goes for the Mets. Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '