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TORONTO - No single loss, no matter how embarrassing, tipped the scales. Some of the worst hockey actually came in victories, and the ugly trend was impossible to ignore.Midway through a season of inconsistent play, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Randy Carlyle, the old-school coach whose attempts to change his own style, and his teams, came to an abrupt end. Losers of seven of nine, the Leafs still found themselves in a playoff spot, something that underscores just how uneven theyve been through 40 games.Its been too much of a roller coaster, general manager Dave Nonis said Tuesday. Its not about one game or one stretch. We felt that we had to make that change today because of the direction this team is trending, that we need to move forward and try to get our team back to where it was when we were winning those games and do it on a consistent basis.Ultimately, inconsistency doomed Carlyle, a Stanley Cup-winning coach for the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 who led the Leafs to the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, their only trip to the post-season in the past 10 years.This year, Toronto endured back-to-back blowout losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators and flipped the switch to go 9-1-1 in its next 11 games.Even in some of the wins, Carlyle knew the way his team was performing wouldnt hold up. The Leafs are 21-16-3 with 45 points but havent looked like anything more than borderline playoff contenders.Because of that, Nonis said management, which includes president Brendan Shanahan and assistant GM Kyle Dubas, had been discussing the possibility of firing Carlyle for a while. A 2-5-0 road trip was the final straw.I think wed all agree weve had some good periods, good stretches, but I dont think I can stand here front of you and say that weve been consistent, Nonis said. We just felt at this point this was the right time to make the change and move ahead and try to get this team back playing like we have played for periods this season.That responsibility now falls to Peter Horachek and Steve Spott, Torontos first-year assistant coaches who will be behind the bench for Wednesday nights game against the Washington Capitals. Horachek ran the first practice of the post-Carlyle era, but the team has not given him or Spott an official title.Theres also no clarity on how long Horachek and Spott will be in charge or if the Leafs intend to hire a full-time coach at some point this season. Several experienced ones are available, including Pete DeBoer, who was recently fired by the New Jersey Devils and has connections to Spott and winger David Clarkson.Nonis said his focus was telling Carlyle of the decision Monday night, not on his long-term replacement.Theres a right way and a wrong way of doing it, Nonis said. We havent gotten that far yet. Well spend the next couple of days looking at our options.The Leafs returned home from their road trip over the weekend and practised outdoors Monday. Players came to the rink Tuesday morning and found out Carlyle was gone.Understandably, players were surprised by at least the timing of the move. Winger Phil Kessel said he did not see this coming.Ive been here a while now and we go through these ups and downs, Kessel said. We havent been playing well; its not his fault. Hes a great coach, hes won a Cup and we didnt get it done for him.Captain Dion Phaneuf said players are always surprised at a big shake-up like this. But he also gets why it happened.In our business when you have the swings that weve had — we havent been able to find consistency as a team — and when you have a stretch of games that we just went through, when you have lost seven of nine, theres lots of questions being asked, Phaneuf said. As a team not being able to play well enough ... Randy has lost his job because of that.It seemed that little had changed over the past 18 months. Cracks formed in the Leafs even during their run to the playoffs in 2013, and they contributed to a disastrous run last spring.When the Leafs lost eight in a row in regulation and then 12 of the final 14 games to fall out of playoff contention, Carlyles job was in jeopardy. But Shanahan and Nonis opted to fire assistants Scott Gordon, Dave Farrish and Greg Cronin and even give Carlyle a contract extension.Even with the benefit of hindsight, Nonis said keeping Carlyle was the correct decision.Randy deserved to come back, Nonis said. He had done enough to come back. Weve seen him do good things. We saw him do some good things this season. Its not that hes not capable.The question now becomes what this group is capable of. The Leafs are in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and its late enough in the season to say theyre squarely in the playoff race even with their inconsistencies and flaws.We all have respect for Randy, but at the same time its time for us to turn things around, goaltender Jonathan Bernier said. Its all about us right now.Bernier has proven capable covering up a lot of those flaws. And the ones he cant are masked by the offensive firepower led by Kessel, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson.Because of that talent, Nonis believes the Leafs are still in a decent position.This isnt throwing in the towel, Nonis said. We feel that this team has a chance to do some good things, and today was the first step in trying to push our team back in that direction.Carlyle, a native of Sudbury, Ont., went 91-78-19 in 188 games as Leafs coach over parts of four seasons. Hes the fourth coach to be fired this season, following Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators, Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers and DeBoer.Even in announcing Carlyles firing, Nonis called him an excellent coach whos capable of winning.Good coaches get let go, Nonis said. Hes a good man, a good coach and hell be back in this game quickly.Notes — The Leafs on Tuesday put forward Carter Ashton on waivers. Ashton was suspended earlier in the season for violating the league and NHLPAs performance-enhancing drug policy that he said came about after he used someone elses inhaler. Ashton has zero points in seven games this season ... Toronto Marlies forward Connor Brown was named to the AHL all-star roster. Brown has nine goals and nine assists in 35 games in his first professional season.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Wholesale Senators Jerseys . Called on from the college ranks to replace Andy Reid, Kelly implemented a whole new atmosphere in the City of Brotherly Love and now has the Eagles in the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Cheap Senators Jerseys Authentic .C. -- Carter Ashton had a pair of goals and added an assist as the Toronto Marlies downed the Charlotte Checkers 5-2 on Saturday in the American Hockey League. http://www.cheapsenatorsjerseys.com/. The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Cheap Adidas Senators Jerseys . -- Deshorn Brown scored twice, the first coming 13 seconds into the game, and the Colorado Rapids beat the undermanned Seattle Sounders 5-1 Saturday night. Cheap Senators Jerseys China .J. -- After getting permission from his 7-year-old daughter, New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl has retired after an 11-year career that included two Super Bowl championships.OTTAWA -- Milan Michalek hasnt scored much for the Ottawa Senators this season, but his first game-winning goal of the year couldnt have come at a better time. Michalek scored his second goal of the game and 10th of the season with 23 second left as Ottawa defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Thursday. "We believe theres still lots of goals left in Milan, but its taken a long time to get them out this year," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "With his work ethic and his play without the puck and his abilities on the penalty kill, theres never been a question about his contributions to the team. "We knew if he would just stay with it good things would happen for him." The Sabres had fought back to tie the game with two third-period goals, but Senators captain Jason Spezza found Michalek, who beat Jhonas Enroth over the shoulder for the winner. "Its all about winning and were not doing that right now," said Sabres defenceman Henrik Tallinder, who said the puck hit the referee and went right to Spezza on the winning goal. "Nothing you can do about it. We didnt go the right way that maybe we should have, but it hit the ref and bounces are going to happen but they just werent in our favour." Erik Karlsson also scored for the Senators (26-21-11) while Craig Anderson made 30 saves. Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford scored for the Sabres (15-34-8), who lost for the fourth straight time. Enroth made 33 saves. Following two periods that saw the Senators build a 1-0 lead, things opened up in the third period with four goals off several good scoring opportunities. It started with Michalek doubling the Senators lead to 2-0 just 10 seconds into the period on a perfect pass from Spezza which allowed Michalek to redirect the puck in. The goal was the fastest in team history from the start of a period breaking the old record of 12 seconds set by Spezza back in 2009. "At least Im still involved in (the record) I guess. I would have shot it if I knew that," Spezza joked after the game, quickly getting serious when the Sabres comeback was brought up. "A two goal lead is a tricky lead. We give up the one goal to make it 2-1 and then really anything can happen with a bounce here or a bounce there. Hopefully we learn from it." Ottawa got into penalty trouble but was fortunate when Ennis hit the post on one power-play opportunity. The Sabres also had a five-on three advantage for 17 secoonds but were unable to get a shot on goal during that brief stretch.dddddddddddd Ennis broke Andersons shutout bid at 10:25 of the third when the puck came to him in front off a failed wrap-around attempt by Stafford. The puck rolled off Staffords stick right to Ennis who had an empty net to shoot at. Stafford then tied the game at 15:46 when he grabbed a rebound and went around Anderson who was down and out on the play. "There were no excuses not to battle as hard as we could going into that third period and we did a really good job," Ennis said. "Its super disappointing to lose that one." Only seven goals, including one in a shootout, have been scored in the previous three matchups between the Sabres and Senators. Karlsson put the Senators on the board first with his shot from along the boards eluded Enroth just 3:12 into the second period. Neither team had many quality scoring chances despite seven power plays between them through the first two periods. But one scoring chance the Sabres did have though came late in the second when Stafford drove the Senators net from just above the goal line but he was unable to tip the puck through Anderson. The Senators stymied the Sabres on all seven of their power-play opportunities. "Weve been winning faceoffs and doing a much better job up the ice and on the initial entry into our zone weve contested it and been hard to play against," MacLean said. The Senators were 0-3 with the man advantage. NOTES: Forwards Linus Omark and Marcus Foligno along with defenceman Tyler Myers were scratches for the Sabres Thursday. Scratches for the Senators were defencemen Chris Phillips and Joe Corvo plus forward Matt Kassian. ... Senators forward Bobby Ryan has gone four consecutive games without a point, his longest such streak this season. ... The Senators are 10-0-3 in games this season when captain Jason Spezza has at least two points. ... Matt DAgostini played his 300th NHL game Thursday night and his 25th with the Sabres. ... While the Senators have a game in Boston Saturday, the game Thursday was the last for the Sabres until after the Olympic break. The team will be off until Feb. 25 except for Ryan Miller (USA), Jonas Enroth (Sweden), Henrik Tallinder (Sweden) and Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia) who will all represent their countries at the Sochi Olympics. ... Sabres coach Ted Nolan will also be the head coach of Team Latvia. 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