Maple Leafs beat by Helm, Red Wings as season-altering losing streak hits eight

TORONTO – In solving their problem of slow starts, the Toronto Maple Leafs gave themselves hope in a crucial matchup with the Detroit Red Wings.

In failing to keep it up, they may have extinguished hope to make the playoffs. The Leafs fell 4-2 to the Red Wings on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre, their eighth in a row in regulation.

Darren Helm recorded a hat trick to put Detroit two points up in the Eastern Conference wild-card race and give Toronto its first such streak of eight straight regulation defeats since 1985.

The Leafs (36-32-8) have 80 points with just six games remaining and might have to run the table to give themselves a legitimate shot at a second straight playoff appearance. They have two fewer games left than the Red Wings (82 points), the Columbus Blue Jackets (82 points) and the Washington Capitals (80 points).

Cody Franson and Joffrey Lupul scored for Toronto. Gustav Nyquist also had a goal for Detroit (34-26-14).

Jonathan Bernier, playing his third game back from a groin injury, stopped 24 of the 28 shots he faced. Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard finished with 25 saves.

The Leafs got some help earlier in the day when the Capitals lost at home to the Atlantic Division-champion Boston Bruins. They got no such assistance when the Blue Jackets beat the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday night.

But at this point, the Leafs have dug themselves this hole with their own performance.

Bad starts had been a concern for the Leafs for the better part of the past two weeks. It wasn’t a problem Saturday against Detroit.

Right from the get-go, coach Randy Carlyle rolled through all four lines and got the results he desired. The Leafs outshot the Red Wings 8-4 in the game’s first 10 minutes, then finally saw tangible evidence of having the puck in the offensive zone so much.

After Jay McClement won an offensive-zone faceoff against Helm, Jake Gardiner was right there to pass it to an open Franson. The defenceman who was held without a shot in Friday night’s loss in Philadelphia blasted one by Howard at 10:57 of the first.

In making that goal stand up the rest of the first period, the Leafs took a lead into intermission for the first time since March 10 at the Anaheim Ducks.

That didn’t last long, thanks to blunders on the power play. A turnover by Phil Kessel at the blue-line sprung Helm on a breakaway, and then, even after Bernier stopped him, a giveaway by Gardiner helped the Red Wings centre score at 3:05 of the second.

Howard made a huge sliding pad save on Lupul less than a minute later to keep it a tie game. At 4:38, Detroit’s Nyquist scored to untie it with his 10th goal in the past eight games and 21st in the past 26.

In yet another sign of things coming apart for the Leafs, they fell behind 3-1 at 7:57 of the second when Helm deflected Jakub Kindl’s point shot past Bernier. The Red Wings’ third goal of the night came on just their 14th shot.

A timely and crucial four-minute penalty kill followed, then Morgan Rielly and Lupul combined to give Toronto some life at 18:57. Rielly drove hard to the net and, as soon as he drew a tripping penalty, managed to swat the puck from along the ice to Lupul to cut the deficit to one.

Despite Lupul’s 22nd of the season, the Leafs found themselves in a familiar spot: down a goal going into the third period. It was the 13th time in the past 14 intermissions they were behind.

The hole got too deep on Helm’s third goal of the night 8:38 into the third period, when he took a pass from Danny DeKeyser, burned past Franson and beat Bernier on the ensuing breakaway.

NOTES — The attendance was announced as 20,270, a season-high at Air Canada Centre. … Bernier started on back-to-back days for the first time this season and just the second time in his NHL career. The only previous time was March 5, 2013 with the Los Angeles Kings, when Bernier was pulled after giving up three goals on eight shots. … Defenceman Paul Ranger and enforcer Colton Orr were scratched for the Leafs, who recalled forward Jerry D’Amigo earlier in the day from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. … The Red Wings were playing their 14th straight game without star Pavel Datsyuk (knee) and 16th straight without captain Henrik Zetterberg (back). They’ve played 35 total without Datsyuk and 29 without Zetterberg. … The game was broadcast live on CCTV in China.