Road to nowhere for Leafs

DETROIT— Mike Babcock ran into Auston Matthews somewhere or other Friday morning.

Even such jejune details as time and place are apparently inside the vault.

“I said, how are you doing? And that’s it.”

In this kinder and gentler and no-harassing era, the Leaf coach has taken pains not to put hurry-back pressure on his young stud. But it’s the question everybody has been asking: How are you, Auston? Inquiring minds want to know. Scrutinizing eyes didn’t see hide nor lock of raven hair of the kid in this past week’s three-game road jaunt, a brain-sucking montage of really dull, really ugly hockey. We’re assured Kid Awesome has been with the team, but keeping a clandestinely low profile.

“He has been doing everything he’s supposed to, working out and doing all those things,” Babcock related, just before the Leafs dropped a 3-1 decision to the Red Wings on Friday night. “So it’s a matter of when he is ready, he will play.”

It’s a query Babcock is clearly tired of addressing. Basically, how the heck is he supposed to know? “We have a full medical staff and they will let me know.”

Some 2,000 miles the Leafs put on the charter plane odometer, Toronto to Philly to Minny to Detroit to Toronto.

After Friday night’s defeat, they had zip to show for it. And a grand total of three goals.

The fourth line opening the scoring for Toronto, less than two minutes after puck drop. Off a faceoff in the Detroit zone won by Dominic Moore, the puck went back to Andreas Borgman. His blast appeared to have been deflected by a Wings body. In any event, it ended up going between the legs of a startled Jimmy Howard.

Toronto did look to have more pop than 24 hours previously and outshot the hosts 12-7 in the first period, still hampered by a failure to finish, however.