The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t had a lot to cheer about this season but for their two victories on the season it was very nice to be one of only three teams that have defeated the Dallas Stars this season and they did so in convincing fashion.
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Toronto (3-8-4) entered the game tied with Columbus with a league-low 8 points, but beat the Central Division-leading Stars (12-4-0) for the second time in nine days. Jason Demers assisted on both goals. “We keep getting better and we’ve been working on the defensive side of it and for me that’s the most important side”, Ruff said. The Stars had several chances on goal, the best of which came from Mattias Janmark but denied by Reimer. “One goes off Jordie Benn’s skate, and the other one goes off our stick as we’re trying to get out”. Patrick Sharp had the tying goal for Dallas within the ultimate minute of the 2nd period, & Vernon Fiddler gave the Stars the direct at 5:37 of the 3rd.
“I didn’t think he was good in the first but I thought he got going after that”, Babcock said of Gardiner.
After Fiddler put Dallas up 2-1, Parenteau tied it with 7:22 remaining in regulation with a goal that deflected in off the left skate of Stars defenseman Jordie Benn. Sharp hustled to beat the Leafs’ Matt Hunwick in a race for the puck. “So it’s a good thing that it went in”. However, the tide turned when Johnny Oduya went off for holding and the Leafs cashed in on their power play opportunity for the fourth time in their season series against the Stars.
In what should be a high-scoring affair at American Airlines Center, the Stars will host the Maple Leafs at 8:30PM ET tonight. Tyler Seguin has 10 goals and 19 points in 21 games against Toronto, while Joffrey Lupul has 10 goals and 20 points in 25 games versus Dallas. With his stick, Holland directed the puck downward off Niemi’s left pad and between his legs.
Sharp made it 1-1 with his seventh goal of the season 33 seconds from the second intermission.
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What this has shown is that it ultimately doesn’t matter which goalie is playing because the rest of the Maple Leafs will make enough mistakes for the opposing team to win. Stars G Antti Niemi was making his first start in four games since a 4-1 loss in Toronto on November 2…. LW Antoine Roussel returned to Dallas’ lineup after missing two games because of an upper-body injury…. He hasn’t played since being injured October 31, but could be close to a return.
