Maple Leafs set franchise-record with 11th straight loss

The only positive thing to happen to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night was the trade of Carter Ashton and David Broll to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2016. The move gives them roster flexibility by decreasing the number of contracts on the books from the maximum of 50 to 48.

On the ice, well, things continued to get ugly as they lost to the New Jersey Devils 4-1. The loss was Toronto’s 11th in a row, breaking a franchise record they set back in 1967, the last time they won the Stanley Cup. Even worse, it was their 19th loss in their last 22 games.

The scene was pretty much set on Tuomo Ruutu’s opening goal as his shot deflected off the post, off James Reimer and into the net:

The misery was bookended by Jaromir Jagr's 716th career goal, which he scored late in the game while Reimer was heading toward the Leafs bench for an extra skater.

While you and I — smart individuals — see this Leafs’ slide as an 11-game losing streak, the NHL technically doesn't. As the Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran pointed out on Thursday, because of the stupid charity point, it’s actually a “winless” streak, since they earned a point during a shootout loss to the Devils late last month.

Whatever you want to call these last 11 games for the Leafs, it's not good, unless you're aboard the tanking bandwagon.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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