The Maple Leafs most definitely did not expect to be in this situation on Wednesday: fighting to avoid finishing in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, appearing more like an average team than a Stanley Cup contender, and faltering despite having won four of their previous ten games.
Their predicament is an intriguing one. After the major stars have performed like big stars, it’s essentially crickets. Despite having forty goals from Auston Matthews, they had only won two of their previous eight games going into their match versus Dallas.
Though they are frequently disregarded, the Stars are always a strong club that Toronto doesn’t have any trouble against. They had lost 17 of the previous 21 meetings with the Maple Leafs before this one at Scotiabank Arena.Nylander’s power-play goal gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with 13:26 left in the first quarter. Nylander’s long slap shot and season-high goal were set up by Morgan Rielly.
Tyler Bertuzzi’s power-play goal, following his sentencing for high sticking, gave Dallas a 1-1 lead. With 5:08 remaining before the first intermission, Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson collected the assists, and it took Jamie Benn and the Stars just eight seconds to score.
With a win in Buffalo on Tuesday, Pavelski, 39, became only the seventh player in NHL history to reach 1,300 games. Robertson is the elder brother of player Nicholas Robertson of the Maple LeafsFive seconds after Tyler Seguin was called for a hooking violation, Tavares tied the game at 2-2 on a power play. With 7:23 remaining in the second stanza, Nylander recorded the assist for the Toronto captain, who scored his 15th goal.
During another power play, Matthews scored his goal with 7:23 remaining in the second, putting the puck past Dallas goalkeeper Scott Wedgewood. He is the backup to all-star Jake Oettinger, who stopped 47 shots against the Sabres the previous night.
A little over halfway through the third, Dadonov converted his penalty kick, but Marner and Nylander scored 20 seconds apart to make it
Then, in the final seconds, Johnston brought Dallas to within five.
Along with the good came the bad: awful giveaways.. Next, the Stars proceeded with
Keefe told reporters earlier in the day, “We need to get more from our bottom guys.” As a whole, our season has shown some inconsisten
The best clubs in the league are different from the rest of the pack because of it. It is consistency that we are looking for.
Although it didn’t happen too often on this particular night, Toronto managed to escape and improved to 26-15-8. The Senators will be their opponent on Saturday in Ottawa. The victory and Tampa Bay’s defeat by the Rangers in New York gave the Maple Leafs the opportunity to surpass the Lightning and take third position.
One final point. As predicted, Ryan Reaves had his greatest game since joining the team and caused a stir.