The Toronto Maple Leafs (20-10-2) scored three goals in the second period and had a big night from Joseph Woll, beating the Dallas Stars (19-12-0) 5-3 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. William Nylander scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season, while Domi, Robertson, and McMann had the other markers for the Maple Leafs.
The Stars ran into a brick “Woll” on Wednesday, as Leafs’ netminder Joseph Woll stopped 38 of 41 shots, keeping his team alive for the first half of the game. Jake Oettinger, celebrating his 26th birthday, had a tough night between the pipes, being pulled after the first 40 minutes, and allowing four goals on 12 shots.
Game Recap
Both teams have gotten off to slow stars as of late, but it was the Stars who got off to a quick start on Wednesday night. Sam Steel opened the scoring for the Stars, beating Woll stick-side from the top of the blue paint. Domi tied the game 1-1 a minute later after creating a turnover just seconds before.
The second frame started quicker than the first, with Dadonov giving the Stars a 2-1 lead 22 seconds into the period, as Woll again was beat on his right side. This lead lasted a little bit longer, but Nylander eventually tied the game with his 19th goal of the season, a beautiful top-shelf shot on a breakaway. Nick Robertson gave the Maple Leafs the 3-2 lead 16 seconds later, and McMann scored at 11:01 to give Toronto a 4-2 lead heading into the intermission, and ending Jake Oettinger‘s night early.
Casey DeSmith started in goal for Dallas and his team responded with a solid push in the third period. They outshot the Maple Leafs 14-7, 39-19 for the game, but the play of Woll was too much for Dallas to overcome. Colin Blackwell did cut the lead to 4-3 at 17:44 with DeSmith pulled, but John Tavares won a puck battle along the boards and sent Nylander on his way to his second of the night 33 seconds later.
Toronto is 6-0-1 in their last seven against the Stars. Both teams will have a few days off until facing a couple of New York teams on Friday. The Maple Leafs take on the Buffalo Sabres, and the Stars will host the Rangers.
Fun Storylines on Wednesday
Stars captain Jamie Benn played in his 1,143 career game on Wednesday, and Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reeves played in game 900 of his career. Stars defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev, each signed in the summer, played against their former teams who picked them up at last year’s trade deadline. Nick and Jason Robertson had the special opportunity to play against each other for the fifth time. Nick had two points in the win.
