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TORONTO -- Out of luck and seemingly out of answers, Aron Winter may also be running out of time with Toronto FC. The Dutch manager watched his team suffer its sixth straight MLS defeat Saturday, paying the price again for yet more defensive blunders in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Fire (2-1-2). After coming within one win of reaching the CONCACAF Champions League final, Toronto (0-6-0) is now one loss from tying the 1999 Kansas City Wizards for the worst start in MLS history. Ownership is watching. "Obviously, after the strong end to last season and the strong start in Champions League this year, its a huge disappointment," Tom Anselmi, chief operating officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, said in an email Sunday to The Canadian Press. "They have to get this straightened out. Our fans deserve better." Toronto FC is in the league basement and trails 18th-place Montreal Impact by five points. It is tied with Chivas and Philadelphia with a league-worst offence at four goals scored. Only expansion Montreal (15) has given up more goals than Toronto (13). For a team that promised the playoffs this season, its been a disastrous start. Things wont get any easier next Saturday when Toronto plays at Real Salt Lake (5-3-0). Toronto did manage to register some season firsts against Chicago. It finally took a lead and scored at home. But it only held it for a minute, yielding the goal that made it 2-2 on yet another horror show of set-piece defending. Goals No. 1 and 3 also showed cracks in the defence. The opener came after just 25 seconds when the normally reliable Torsten Frings had his pocket picked in front of goal. And the game winner came as Chicago exploited the lack of pace in Torontos central defence. Winter may wonder who he offended in a past life to deserve such ill-fortune. Captain Frings missed five weeks with a hamstring strain and when he returned, striker Danny Koevermans was sidelined with a minor groin issue. Backup goalie Stefan Frei, a friend and booster of starter Milos Kocic, suffered a serious leg injury in training. Forward Nick Soolsma, arguably the teams best player this season, has missed the last two games with his own hamstring issue. Adrian Cann is finally back from his long-term knee injury, but fellow defender Dicoy Williams is still rehabbing his knee. Veteran midfielder Julian de Guzman, who has not figured in the starting 11 in half of the league games this season, finds himself in limbo. His distinction to date is he leads the team in yellow cards (3). Ryan Johnson, a hard-working striker who deserves better, has one goal from his 17 shots but could easily have six. After showing a golden touch at the end of last season, Koevermans has just one goal from his 15 shots. A distinguished player with Ajax, Lazio, Inter Milan, Sparta Rotterdam and the Dutch national team, the 45-year-old Winter acknowledges he is in uncharted territory during this dreadful run. "It is not nice. Six games, zero points," he said succinctly. Toronto now has a combined 1-7-2 record in CONCACAF Champions League and MLS play this season, outscored 23-11. It has given up three or more goals in four of those games. Whether he meant to or not, Winter threw gasoline on the fire at his post-match news conference Saturday when he talked of the need for "some better players." He also referred to a "lack of quality." It should be said that Winter inherited a weak squad when he took over prior to last season and was forced to remake the roster in his first year at the helm. Central defence remains a problem, hence the need to play the excellent Frings out of position in the backline. The bottom line is Winters league record at the helm is 6-19-15 with just one win away from home. And cracks are beginning to show between manager and team. Kocic showed exasperation at hearing Winters concern over player quality, pointing instead to problems in how the team plays in midfield. "Its not about players, its about organization," said the Serbian goalie, his frustration plain to see. Said a defiant de Guzman: "I stand behind my players in what theyre capable of doing." "We are the ones that will get us out of the situation, no matter whos in charge, or whos in charge of managing," he added. A gentleman off the pitch -- Winter routinely shakes reporters hands before practice or scrums -- it is unusual for the Dutchman to point fingers. But his post-match meetings with the media have become more painful to behold. Winters repeated expressions of confidence are wearing thin as he struggles to explain what is happening on the pitch. On Saturday, he defied belief by suggesting TFC was headed in the right direction. "I think if you compare to last season, we have made a very huge progression," Winter said. "Of course it needs some time. "And it always very important that in the time we need some points. And we are training hard and working hard to get those first points." Asked how an 0-6-0 team can represent any kind of progress, Winter replied: "We have lost six games. Im not happy about it. "But if you saw how the way how we started last year and how most of the players have made a huge progression, I think that were on the right track." But questions are mounting whether Winters 4-3-3/3-4-3 system is right for this team. Its a demanding formation that is fuelled by ball possession and requires players to adapt and react. Lose the ball -- which Toronto has done regularly -- and there is space for the opposition to exploit, at least in the way TFC seems to play the system. The midfield regularly seems missing in action and, when Toronto falls behind, the formation looks more like something from a schoolyard rather than a pro league. At one end of the field, Toronto is not converting its chances. At the other end, the defence is unable to survive the teams turnovers. "These mistakes are killing us and its killing Toronto and our fans," Johnson lamented. Wholesale Jerseys China . He made the call himself to go for it, and just barely pulled it off. Posey also produced a second straight three-hit game, Madison Bumgarner backed up his nice, new contract with a second consecutive win, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on Tuesday night. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . Nathan Riva looks like the latest casualty at running back. The 22-year-old native of LaSalle, Ont. http://elevatedcolor.com/hot.html . Carlos Marmol got a little wild, lost a three-run lead and, perhaps, his job as well. The Cincinnati Reds scored three runs in the ninth off Marmol to tie it, and Scott Rolen hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning for a 4-3 victory and a split of their two-game series. NEW YORK -- If Rangers coach John Tortorella was miffed in any way after New Yorks season-ending home loss to the Washington Capitals, he didnt show it. Washington scored three first-period goals and third-string goaltender Braden Holtby made 35 saves Saturday night to help the Capitals beat the Rangers 4-1, spoiling New Yorks chance to clinch the Presidents Trophy. The hard-driving Tortorella chose instead to focus on myriad positives for the Rangers (51-24-7), who reached 109 points for the third time in franchise history but finished two behind Vancouver for the leagues top spot. The Canucks beat Edmonton 3-0 later Saturday night. "Im glad the 82 games are done because now is when the real stuff starts," said Tortorella, who coached Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004 but has yet to guide the Rangers past the first round of the playoffs. "I am really excited and I know our guys are too. Our team will be ready to play." New York will host the Ottawa Senators in the opening round of the playoffs, the first time since 1996 New York will have home ice in a post-season series. The Rangers have never met the current Senators -- an expansion franchise in 1992-93 -- in the post-season. The Capitals quieted the Madison Square Garden crowd quickly as Alex Ovechkin and Mathieu Perreault scored on Washingtons first two shots against Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Washington (42-32-8) finished with 92 points and will be the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals will face the defending champion Boston Bruins in the opening round. The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 to win the Southeast Division and will host New Jersey in the opening round. The Capitals, who would have won the division if the Panthers had lost, clinched a playoff spot for the fifth straight year with their 4-2 win over Florida on Tuesday. Ovechkin got his 38th goal of the season just 32 seconds into the game after Brooks Laich won a faceoff and backhanded the puck back to Ovechkin, who fired a wrist shot past Lundqvist. "We didnt want to finish in eighth place so we wanted to play a strong game, and we did," Ovechkin said. Perreault made it 2-0 at 2:18 of the first, tipping a Roman Hamrlik slapshot past Lundqvist. Defenceman John Carlson extended the lead to 3-0 with 1:47 to go in the period before Nicklas Backstrom scored his 14th at 5:58 of the second to complete Washingtons scoring. The goal was Backstroms first since Dec. 30. The centre had missed 40 games with concussion symptoms, returninng to the Capitals lineup March 31.dddddddddddd "It feels great to contribute tonight and were eager for the playoffs to start," Backstrom said. "Our goaltender played a great game for us and were feeling good about ourselves." The Capitals are 11-5-2 in their last 18 regular-season games against the Rangers and 5-2-1 in their last six at MSG. The teams met in the first round of the playoffs last year and in 2009 with the Capitals winning both series. Brian Boyle scored for New York with 7:16 left in the second on a wraparound past Holtby. It was Boyles 11th of the season. The 22-year-old Holtby, who has played most of the season for Hershey of the AHL, started because of injuries to Michal Neuvirth (lower-body) and Tomas Vokoun (groin). Holtby, who improved to 4-2-1, was a fourth-round choice by the Capitals in the 2008 draft. He made acrobatic breakaway saves on Carl Hagelin and Brandon Prust midway through the third period. "It was a challenge to play here but I felt confident all game," said Holtby. "Its exciting to be thinking about the playoffs now. This is what you dream about as a kid." New York is trying to clinch the Presidents Trophy for the first time since 1993-94, when the Rangers recorded a franchise-best 112 points and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years. Lundqvist, who had a career-high 39 wins this season, also chose to look toward the post-season and a chance to advance past the first round for the first time in four years. "Its been a fun year, but I hope, and everyone else hopes, the best is yet to come," said the 30-year-old goaltender, whose only two post-season series wins came in 2007 and 2008. "It will be exciting." The Presidents Trophy was first awarded in 1985-86 to the NHLs top regular season team. The Rangers also captured it in 1991-92, when they were 50-25-5 and went on to lose in the second round of the playoffs to Pittsburgh. New York also finished with 109 points in 1970-71 and 1971-72. NOTES: Ovechkin has the most points in the NHL (678) since 2005-06. ... Washington was 26-11-4 at home this season but 16-21-4 on the road. ... Since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, only four Presidents Trophy winners went on to win the Stanley Cup: Dallas in 1999, Colorado in 2001 and Detroit in 2002 and 2008. The two other dual winners since 1986 are Edmonton (1987) and Calgary (1989). ... Dany Sabourin, who last played in the NHL in 2008-09 for Pittsburgh, was recalled from AHL Hershey to back up Holtby. ' ' '