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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 body 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 body 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. Willson Contreras Jersey . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany. Kris Bryant Jersey . Radulov scored the lone goal in the shootout, and the Predators edged the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday night to reach 100 points for the second time in three seasons and fourth in seven. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Brandon-Morrow-Kids-Jersey/ . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies. Addison Russell Jersey . - After a back-and-forth battle throughout the season, Alex Guenette has earned the 2013 rookie of the year award for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 by just one point over Ryley Seibert. Jon Lester Cubs Jersey . James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said.MILWAUKEE - When the Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in November, C.J. Miles failed to score, missing all eight of his shots.He had a much better time in their second game of the season.Miles scored 22 points and Roy Hibbert had 18, leading Indiana to a 94-91 win at Milwaukee on Friday night.The Pacers had five players score in double figures in their fifth win in seven games. Luis Scola had 14 points, and Rodney Stuckey finished with 11.Miles was 6 for 9 from 3-point range. He was averaging 11.5 points coming into the night.Being able to step up and make shots like that, thats the fun part, Miles said. One of them was in transition and the other was nearing the end of the shot clock and I knew I was going to have to create something. I just took advantage of my height.Donald Sloan added 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Indiana, which lost 87-81 to Milwaukee on Nov. 4.We have some guys out so you have to have that next-man-up mentality and some guys have to play more, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. That makes those wins more fun. They mean more, theyre more enjoyable. This is one of them.Indiana trailed by seven at the break, but held Milwaukee to 15 points in the third and went ahead to stay in the final period.The Bucks pulled within three with 5.2 seconds remaining, but Solomon Hill made two foul shots to help the Pacers hold on.Brandon Knight had 20 points for Milwaukee, and John Henson finished with 14. Zaza Pachulia had 12 points and 14 rebounds.The Bucks hit 65 per cent of their shots while outscoring the Pacers 32-23 in the second quarter for a 53-46 halftime lead.Milwaukee led by two after three quarters, but Sloans 3-pointer put Indiana in front 73-72 early in the fourth. Lavoy AAllen made a jumper and Hibbert connected on two foul shots to make it 85-78 with 2:32 remaining.ddddddddddddIP-INSPacers: Starting point guard George Hill, who returned on Dec. 23 after being sidelined since the start of the season with knee and quadriceps injuries, sat out with a groin strain. Vogel said Hills long layoff could have contributed to the injury. The team is awaiting results of an MRI. ... Backup point guard C.J. Watson also sat out with a foot injury.Bucks: Forward Ersan Ilyasova remained sidelined with a concussion. Hes out for a while. Hes progressing. Hes riding a bike, but hes got a ways to go, coach Jason Kidd said. ... Guard Jerryd Bayless returned after missing one game with knee soreness.LARRY SANDERSBucks centre Larry Sanders missed his fifth consecutive game. The team had been insisting that Sanders was dealing with an undisclosed illness, but Kidd said Friday during his pregame availability that Sanders was out due to personal reasons.Its just personal. Theres nothing I can give you. Thats the way the question will be answered, Kidd said.Kidd said there is no timetable for Sanders return. He also said Sanders hasnt been participating in any team activities.Pachulia, whose has a locker next to Sanders, said he didnt have much information to share about his teammate.Whenever Larry comes back, his locker is still here, he said. Its up to him.BENCH BATTLEMilwaukees reserves have played well this season, but Indianas backups matched their counterparts with 42 points, due in large part to Miles performance.Usually, our bench comes in and dominates, Bucks forward Jared Dudley said.UP NEXTPacers: Visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.Bucks: Visit the New York Knicks on Sunday. ' ' '