(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs return home from a disappointing road trip with a new look on their bench Wednesday night as they take on the Washington Capitals. The Maple Leafs were outscored 8-2 in losing the final two contests of a seven-game swing to Minnesota and Winnipeg, with the defeats on back-to-back days wrapping up a 2-5-0 road trip. Toronto has lost seven of its past nine and owns just a one-point lead over the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conferences second wild card, but despite currently having a playoff spot head coach Randy Carlyle was fired on Tuesday. It just fell into place that this is where were at. If this would have happened and we felt we were trending this way a month from now we would have done the same thing, said Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis. Earlier in the season we had some pretty good stretches where we thought we were going to be the consistent team we wanted to be. That didnt happen and we couldnt wait longer. At this point we felt we needed to make this change. Carlyle was hired by the Maple Leafs during the 2011-12 campaign, not long after being relieved of his coaching duties by the Anaheim Ducks, and led Toronto to the postseason the following campaign. That snapped a franchise- worst seven-season span without a playoff appearance, but Toronto failed to make it back to the 2014 postseason. Assistants Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will handle coaching duties on an interim basis beginning tonight. Horachek previously served as an interim head coach for the Florida Panthers beginning in November of 2013 before joining Toronto the following summer and also spent 10 seasons in Nashville as an assistant under current Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. Spott spent a season coaching the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League prior to his promotion to an assistant coach in July. The Maple Leafs try to pick up the pieces following a 5-1 loss to the Jets on Saturday. James Reimer gave No. 1 netminder Jonathan Bernier a breather and was peppered with 40 shots, allowing all five goals. Mike Santorelli recorded Torontos only goal 2:19 into the second period when he batted in James van Riemsdyks cross-ice pass into the back of the net. Maybe we were a little tired, but I dont want to give that as an excuse, Reimer said. Were professionals, and we have to find ways to win these games. Toronto has been able to pick up some wins over Washington as of late, winning each of the previous three meetings. The Maple Leafs took the first of three meetings with the Capitals this season 6-2 at home on Nov. 29. Bernier made 35 saves and is 3-1-0 with a 2.01 goals against average and .932 save percentage versus Washington. Tyler Bozak scored twice. Justin Peters played the first and third periods in net for Washington, allowing three goals on 11 shots. Braden Holtby took over in the second and gave up three scores on 12 shots. Peters has not started since and Holtby is likely to make his 16th straight start tonight. He is 2-1-1 versus the Leafs with a 1.76 GAA and .943 save percentage in four meetings, including three starts. Holtby came up with 29 saves in Sundays 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. It marked the Capitals sixth victory in eight games and improved them to 10-1-3 in their past 14 games. We are doing a lot of the right things and playing sometimes a boring style of hockey, but its the winning style of hockey and its way more fun playing that way for us, Caps defenseman Karl Alzner told NHL.com. Alzner, Brooks Laich and Andre Burakovsky all scored and Alex Ovechkin tallied and added an assist for his third multi-point game in a row. Ovechkin has three goals and six points over that span, which includes a win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic on New Years Day. Wholesale Shoes China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Shoes From China Online . Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. http://www.shoescheap.us/ . 1. Did the Senators trade the wrong goalie? Lets make one thing clear: The Ottawa Senators acquired Ben Bishop from the St. Louis Blues for one reason and one reason alone. Cheap Shoes From China . Rajon Rondo had 18 of Bostons season-high 38 assists and the Celtics committed just seven turnovers in a 118-111 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . What they did need, the Devils got from Patrik Elias. Elias scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.NEWARK, N.J. -- Phoenix captain Shane Doan started laughing when asked if the Coyotes suddenly had a goalie controversy. "Goalie controversies are always good because that means they are both playing well," Doan said after the Coyotes defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night to improve their playoff chances in the Western Conference. The Coyotes, who currently hold the second wild-card spot, got five of six possible points on their three-game road trip and opened a five-point lead over idle Dallas. What made this trip so special was that No. 1 goalie Mike Smith went down with a lower-body injury late in the third period of the opener against the Rangers, but replacement Thomas Greiss posted wins over Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Phoenixs only loss on the road trip was in overtime to the Rangers. "We have a ton of confidence in Greisser," Doan said. "Everybody in here has been shooting on him all year and when he has gone in, he has been amazing. I dont know what his save percentage is, but its .925 or .930. He has been amazing for us." Greiss made 26 saves and stopped shootout attempts by Damien Brunner, Ryane Clowe and Patrik Elias in matching his career high with his ninth win (9-5-2) of the season. The trip did not start out well for Greiss. He gave up the tying goal late and the winner in overtime to the Rangers. But that didnt bother the 28-year-old German, who was backed up by Smith on Thursday. "Thats the goalies job, to have a short memory," Greiss said. "You just have to forget that stuff and move on." Mikkel Boedker scored on Phoenixs first shootout try against Martin Brodeur with a top-shelf backhander. "I went with a move I was comfortable with and its always good when the goaltender bites on your fake," Boedker said. Kyle Chipchura and Chris Summers scored for the Coyotes, who blew a 2-0 lead. Clowe and Adam Henrique scored for the Devils, who fell to 0-9 in shootouts this season and extended their NHL-record streak to 13 straight losses dating to last season. While the Devils picked up a point, they are currently out of the playoff picture with nine gaames to go.dddddddddddd "Its a big part of the reason the playoffs are getting tougher and tougher to reach," said Brodeur, who finished with 25 saves. "So many points weve left on the table through the year. I figured we were due. Its been a while, we havent been in one. I was feeling good about it mentally. I thought we were going to pull through this one and boost our confidence a little bit knowing were able to do it, and again it was the same old thing." New Jersey appeared to be in trouble when Summers scored with 3:03 left in the second period to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead. The Devils got back in the game with a little luck after Phoenix was called for a delay penalty in the final minute of the period. Brodeur scrambled to the bench and Clowe scored with less than a second left as he lay in the crease. The big left wing was cross-checked by Jeff Halpern, and defenceman Jon Merrills pass through the crease caromed off his chest and slid past Greiss, who had stopped the Devils first 16 shots with their sticks. Henrique tied the game midway through the third period, taking a pass from Elias and beating defenceman Michael Stone with a move behind the net for his team-leading 24th goal. Chipchura, who had a goal and an assist against the Rangers on Monday night in Madison Square Garden, scored his fourth of the season 2:21 into the first period. Lauri Korpikoski sent a pass from behind the net to Chipchura, who put a shot under Brodeurs pad. Summers, called up from the minors this month, made it 2-0 with a slap shot that beat a screened Brodeur. NOTES: Brodeur picked up his third assist of the season and the 45th of his career on Henriques goal. ... Korpikoski missed the previous two games with an upper-body injury. ... Devils captain Bryce Salvador was out with a lower-body injury. ... The Coyotes beat the Devils 3-2 in Phoenix in January. ... Coyotes D Connor Murphy, recalled from Portland (AHL) on Wednesday, was in the lineup. ... Merrill has a goal and two assists in his last two games. The rookie had a goal and six assists in his first 44 this season. ... Coyotes RW David Moss left in the second period with a lower-body injury. 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