After an eventful summer of baseball diverted attention from their plight, the Maple Leafs are back in the local spotlight, with five home games the next two weeks.
But they aren’t ready for their close-up quite yet, as they head towards their worst 10-game start since 2009-10 under Ron Wilson. After an encouraging four-game road span — a win, a shootout defeat and close losses to Pittsburgh and Montreal — Monday was a step backwards for new coach Mike Babcock against the Arizona Coyotes.
Another non-playoff team with a head start on the Leafs where re-building is concerned, the Coyotes were the better team in many vital areas during their 4-3 win at the Air Canada Centre.