After a tough start, the Leafs are climbing the standings at a rapid rate

The Leafs moved into a tie for 6th last night with the Carolina Hurricanes, despite getting off to a remarkably slow 4-4-2 start through the team's first 10 games. Since that time, the Buds have gone 4-1-1 and had a very realistic chance to go 6-0-0 were it not for collapses against Vegas and Pittsburgh - two games that the Leafs thoroughly controlled, but just couldn't seem to convert on their chances.

While the Leafs' schedule at the start of the season seemed relatively soft, with the majority of the team's they faced having missed the playoffs last year, the layout of the games was actually quite challenging. The Buds, through 16 games, have already played in FOUR back-to-backs, including in 3 consecutive weekends (two with travel), with games in LA and Anaheim on October 29th and 30th, Boston and Carolina on November 5th and 6th and Pittsburgh and Vancouver over the last two nights.

The Leafs will see one more back-to-back in November against the Wild and the Penguins on Nov 25th and 26th, but then will not play back-to-back again until the beginning of January. Hopefully the Buds can make up even more ground in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference and in the overall league standings.