Babcock: Rielly's absence doesn't explain Maple Leafs' poor effort in loss

The absence of Morgan Rielly didn't explain the generally poor effort put forth by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

That was Mike Babcock's assessment, at any rate.

"I don't think Rielly made us not compete hard enough tonight or not take care of the puck or not stop on defense. I don't think he had anything to do with that," the coach said after the game.

"Obviously the back end was in trouble lots tonight," he continued. "We weren't very good. We didn't skate (Wednesday) so we should have been fresh and we should have had jump. Obviously we shouldn't have done that, we weren't mentally sharp. We'll get that fixed tomorrow and get right for Ottawa (Saturday)."

The Maple Leafs were outshot 41-25 on the night, and old teammate Michael Grabner scored a pair of third-period goals - one on a short-handed breakaway and one into an empty net - to seal the win for New York.

Heading into Saturday's game against the Senators, Toronto sits two points back of both Ottawa and Boston in the race for second spot in the Atlantic Division.

Rielly, by the way, remains day to day with a lower-body injury.