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Maple Leafs making coach Randy Carlyle lose sleep

Randy Carlyle

Toronto Maple Leafs’ head coach Randy Carlyle gives plays from the bench during a break in play in a game against the Winnipeg Jets during third period action on March 12, 2013 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a 6-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, but in some ways Wednesday’s 6-5 shootout defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins was worse.

Blowing a three-goal lead is crushing. It brings up bad memories in Toronto.

When listing off the elite teams in the NHL, the Maple Leafs might not be counted among them, but they do have the potential to be serious competitors. When the squad is clicking, they can be dominant. They certainly started the season that way, but have slipped lately.

And it has coach Randy Carlyle very concerned.

“Well, I don’t sleep well,” he said, according to the Ottawa Citizen. “I get stress headaches. I get a lot of things that you guys probably never experience. But that’s all part of it. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. There’s an adrenalin that comes with it, but there’s also some pretty big lows.

“And nights like (Toronto’s loss to Pittsburgh) bring you to Earth in a hurry.”

The Maple Leafs couldn’t even get a shot on goal in the third period or overtime on Wednesday. The last time Toronto went a full period without recording a shot was in April 2000. That’s an example of a larger problem, which is the fact that Toronto has only outshot its opponents three times all season and allow an average of 10 shots more than they fire.

Teams will often talk about the importance of quality shots over quantity, but a differential that big still leaves much to be desired.

Toronto will face off against the only team with a worse shots for-against ratio tonight: The dead last Buffalo Sabres.

Follow @RyanDadoun