Stars Get Rolled By Maple Leafs 4-1

The Dallas Stars were walloped at home by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday evening 4-1. Playing in their second game of a back-to-back, the Leafs had two goals from Nazem Kadri, who has had his struggles of late. The Stars were also stymied by another backup goaltender–Curtis McElhinny (39 saves on 40 shots). Ben Bishop struggled with rebound control in the game and finished with a paltry 25 saves on 29 shots.

The game was relatively quiet in the first period, until the Stars put together a couple of great shifts from the Seguin and Faksa lines. Unfortunately, they missed the net on several great looks. The Leafs had the lead going into the first intermission with a goal from Nazem Kadri, his first of the game, off a turnover from Mattias Janmark. Veteran Patrick Marleau stole the puck from Janmark and helped finish off the rush with a couple of close chances on Bishop.

Though the Stars had a power play carry over into the second period, they made a mess of it and allowed an odd-man rush just as it expired. William Nylander was liberated from the penalty box and immediately picked up the puck when he stepped onto the ice. His shot created a prime rebound for Zach Hyman to clean up and put the Leafs up by two.

It was completely confirmed that it would not be the Stars night when Kadri netted his second goal. Remi Elie committed a terrible tripping penalty to give the Leafs their second power play. It appeared that the Stars were about the clear the zone, but Kadri’s pass went off both Janmark and Dan Hamhuis’ sticks to deflect in past Bishop. The Stars countered with a goal late in the period with Seguin’s tally. Alexander Radulov stole the puck behind the net from Jake Gardiner and centered to Seguin in the slot.

In the third period, the Stars tried to make an initial push, but were foiled by a neutral zone turnover that led to another odd-man rush. Auston Matthews did what he does with point blank chances, and the Stars were down by three again. From there, they had plenty of chances but were resisted at every turn by McElhinny.

Play of the Game

Zach Hyman’s net crashing goal right after the Maple Leafs penalty kill gave Toronto a decent buffer and likely had the Stars thinking about All Star break, if they weren’t already. The goal was an omen for a long night for Ben Bishop.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Curtis McElhinny (39 saves on 40 shots) – Backup goaltenders have a strange hex on the Stars, and McElhinny was the latest perpetrator. This game could’ve easily had the Stars score a couple more times, but he was having none of it.

2. Nazem Kadri (2 G) – He may have benefitted from some major puck luck on his second goal, but they count just the same. His first goal had the Stars chasing the game.

3. William Nylander (2 A) – Nylander set up the play of the game to Zach Hyman, which essentially put the game away in the second period.

The Goals

First Period

15:50 Mattias Janmark had the puck stolen at the blue line, setting up a rush for the Maple Leafs. Not enough Stars were able to get back as Nazem Kadri came in to finish off the play with a goal from in tight. Stars 0, Maple Leafs 1

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/956710616693125120

Second Period

1:55 William Nylander stepped out of the penalty box to set up an odd-man rush with Zach Hyman. Hyman crashed the net to put the puck in on the rebound. Stars 0, Maple Leafs 2

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/956718187348922369

9:29 Nazem Kadri scored on the power play with help from the Dallas penalty kill. When Kadri centered a pass, the puck deflected off of both Mattias Janmark and Dan Hamhuis’ sticks. Stars 0, Maple Leafs 3

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/956721908254478339

Tyler Seguin got the Stars on the board with a goal from the slot that beat Curtis McElhinny high glove side. Alexander Radulov did the dirty work, stealing the puck behind the net, and centering to Seguin. Stars 1, Maple Leafs 3

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/956726332934717440

Third Period

2:38 A poor pass in the neutral zone by Greg Pateryn led to an odd-man rush the other way. Auston Matthews buried one from in close. Stars 1, Maple Leafs 4

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/956733577617641472

Maple Leafs lineup
Zach Hyman — Auston Matthews — William Nylander
Patrick Marleau — Nazem Kadri — Mitch Marner
James Van Reimsdyk — Tyler Bozak — Connor Brown
Leo Komarov — Dominic Moore — Kasperi Kapanen

Jake Gardiner — Ron Hainsey
Travis Dermott — Connor Carrick
Andreas Borgman — Roman Polak

Curtis McElhinny
Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, Rinat Valiev

Injured: Nikita Zaitsev (foot), Morgan Reilly (upper body), Nikita Soshnikov (lower body)

Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Devin Shore — Jason Spezza — Mattias Janmark
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie — Jason Dickinson — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Dillon Heatherington — Stephen Johns

Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen

Scratched: Gemel Smith, Julius Honka

Injured: Marc Methot (knee), Martin Hanzal (lower body)