‘Who are we rooting for??’ A Leafs trade for defenceman is on the table, unless coach Keefe gets more from core.

Watching a loss such as Monday — where eight of 11 giveaways were by the back-enders, Timothy Liljegren forgot Islander Kyle MacLean was leaving the box on the tying goal and Morgan Rielly’s weak clear turned into New York’s winner — was not re-assuring in the first test of the post-all-star stretch drive.

The collective performance in the 3-2 loss underlined one of the reasons Toronto struggles to stay above .500: Too often, the reason to praise a hit from Jake McCabe, a shot block by Simon Benoit or to marvel at Mark Giordano’s 40-year-old stamina, has a counter-productive moment by them or others. And, because of that, the Leafs don’t get on a true roll to achieve separation in the standings.