Toronto Maple Leafs control Dallas Stars, Win 4-0 – Postgame
The Dallas Stars just cannot seem to get off to good starts against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Once again, the Leafs would strike early and often and just had the puck drop their way. The Stars hit numerous posts in this game but ultimately they were unable to convert on any of their chances. The postgame recap is below.
Recap
The first period went about how anyone would have expected it to. It was high-powered offenses going back and forth down the ice. Toronto benefited early as Nazem Kadri got open in the slot and slammed one past Kari Lehtonen less than a minute into the game. Soon after, Erik Cole had a chance in front of an empty Toronto net but the puck hopped over his stick and he was unable to put it home. Cody Eakin would hit a post with a wrist shot from the slot less than two minutes later. Then came the breakways. About five and a half minutes into the game, Phil Kessel got loose but was stoned by Lehtonen. Less than a minute later, Shawn Horcoff broke away and was hooked from behind which led to a Stars powerplay. The Stars were unable to convert and the game settled down a bit until towards the end of the period. Tyler Bozak caught Lehtonen out of position but rang one off the pipe and then Colton Sceviour got alone in front of Jonathan Bernier but was unable to slide the puck past him for a goal. The first period ended with the Maple Leafs up 1-0.
Things started to crumble a bit for the Stars in the second period. Tyler Seguin hit his second post of the night after a good feed from John Klingberg, but the Stars were caught in deep and James van Riemsdyk broke away and slid the puck past Kari Lehtonen to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead. Not long after that, Ryan Garbutt had a breakaway of his own but was unable to convert and immediately took a penalty. And as it seems like Garbutt’s penalties usually go, Toronto would score on the powerplay with a Tyler Bozak shot. The play was reviewed to check if he hit in his with his glove, but it was determined it was hit in with his stick so the goal stood. After that, the Stars dominated play. They had chance after chance in the Maple Leaf end but couldn’t convert a chance for a goal. Seguin would hit yet another post (the Stars 4th post of the game) and the period would end with Toronto holding a 3-0 lead.
The Stars got what they didn’t get in the first two periods, but it wasn’t a goal. Kari Lehtonen came up big on multiple Leaf chances to keep the Stars in the game but Bernier matched him save for save. The Stars pelted Bernier with 43 total shots in the game but just could not find a way to get one past him. The fans got some entertainment about half way through this period as Dion Phaneuf and Antoine Roussel finally went at it with a pretty good fight. It pumped up the building quite a bit, but the Stars were unable to take advantage. Lindy Ruff pulled Lehtonen for the extra attacker with about four and a half minutes left but it was Mike Santorelli scoring in the empty net to finish this game off, 4-0.
Observations
-For a good portion of this game you could say the Stars were the better team. Seguin was all over this game once again and if it wasn’t for Bernier (and posts) he might have had a hat trick.
-The Leafs really capitalized on their chances in this game. In the first two periods, a lot of their top-quality chances found the back of the net and ended up being the difference of the game.
-Jonathan Bernier was a man possessed tonight. Every puck either found some part of him or went off a post behind him. He seemingly had everything covered tonight.
-The powerplay really struggled in this game as they finally got a good chunk of chances. They were 0-4.
The Stars are off for a few days before heading to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Saturday at 7:00pm CT. Check back here at Blackout Dallas for the pregame on Saturday!