Leafs Stars Shine Bright in Dallas

 

Photo From ESPN

Last night history was made as the Leafs traveled to Dallas to face the Stars in their final game of this four-game road trip. Jack Campbell would get the start in goal for Toronto making his fourth straight appearance since returning from injury. For the host Dallas Stars their starting goalie would be Brampton native Scott Wedgewood. Last night Ilya Lyubushkin appeared in his 200^th career game and Auston Matthews would skate in his 400^th game as a member of the Leafs. With Auston unable to score in the overtime loss to Florida the other night everyone was focused on him breaking Rick Vaive’s franchise record and watching this game you could see that Matthews himself was determined to score his 55^th goal of the season.

 

The Dallas Stars are a team fighting for their playoff lives so you’d think when the first period started it would be the Stars who would get on the attack early, but that wasn’t the case because right from the start and literally the entire game it would be the visiting Leafs you controlled the play. Right from the start the Leafs were focused on getting Matthews his milestone goal because he was firing shots from all areas, in seven minutes of ice time Auston would register six shots on goal and all six were threatening chances. With a little over seven minutes played in period one the Leafs would open the scoring but not without a little controversy. Just prior to the Leaf goal the Dallas Stars had a rush into the Leaf end that resulted in the net being knocked off. This usually would result in play being stopped but there was never a whistle blown so Toronto gathered the puck and made their way up the ice. The breakout would be started by Justin Holl who would send a pass to Ilya Mikheyev once he entered the Dallas zone Ilya would drop a pass back to William Nylander whose wrist shot would ring off both posts and into the net for his 28^th goal of the season and the Leafs would take the lead 1-0. Their lead would be short lived because just two minutes later the game would be tied as Jamie Benn would centre a pass to Tyler Seguin who would slide the puck by Jack Campbell for his 21^st goal of the season. The remaining minutes of the opening period would expire, and the score would remain 1-1 heading into the first intermission with Toronto leading in shots 15-7.

Period number two would be exactly like the first, with Toronto playing with complete momentum leaving Wedgewood and the Stars facing wave after wave of an attack from the Leafs but thanks to some outstanding goaltending from the Stars netminder the game would remain level. As the second period was winding down it looked as if the score would remain the same, but Toronto would end up heading to the powerplay as John Klingberg would trip John Tavares. On the powerplay Toronto spent the entire time in the Dallas zone peppering their goalie with shots leaving the Stars penalty killers exhausted. With the powerplay closed to expiring Mark Giordano would have the puck at the top of the slot, Wedgewood was preparing for a shot from the Leaf defenseman but he would pass to the right faceoff circle where Auston Matthews’s slap shot would find the back of the net and fans in attendance and those watching from witnessed the historic goal as Toronto would take the lead as Auston would break a franchise record held by the legendary Rick Vaive for a total of 40 years, but Auston’s 55^th goal of the season sets a new franchise record. Vaive in interviews said that he wants to be there once the record was broken to shake Auston’s hand because that was what Frank Mahovlich did when Rick broke Franks record, so I think there is no doubt that before Toronto’s next game Saturday at home against Montreal there will be a ceremony involving the Leaf legend and the current superstar. It also needs mentioning that John Tavares picked up a secondary assist on this goal giving him 68 points on the season leaving him just two assists shy of 500 for a career, and to those who continue to criticize his production please take time to study the game and his point totals because hopefully then you will see that not only in the NHL but throughout his entire career the Leafs captain has been an elite player at every single level of hockey he has played.

 

The Leafs would lead the game 2-1 after forty minutes of play but in the final minute Dallas would have a dangerous scoring chance that left Leaf fans holding their breath but thankfully Jack Campbell would make a huge save as the horn would sound keeping the Leaf lead intact.

 

With Toronto leading the Dallas Stars would start this period trying to gain control and level the game for a second time after all their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread so any points collected are extremely valuable. A funny stat worth mentioning is that as the teams lined up for the centre ice faceoff to start the third period Auston Matthews had as many shots on goal as the Stars, 11.  So, as I said Dallas would start this period with some energy and it wouldn’t take long before they managed to tie the game for a second time because within the first five minutes Joe Pavelski would have the puck at the point would send a pass down low to John Klingberg who was left all alone at the side of the goal and he would score his 6^th goal of the season sending the home fans to their feet in celebration.

With the game tied at two usually when a team is dominating play frustration would begin to surface and sometimes teams would try to open the game up by making what I call hope plays as they search for the go-ahead goal, the Leafs however last night would just stay the course and continue to apply pressure wearing down their opponent. Halfway through the period Toronto would take the lead for a third time. Michael Bunting would enter the Dallas zone and send a cross ice pass to Mitch Marner, he would then send a quick pass down low to Morgan Rielly who would one time a shot passed the glove of Wedgewood and thanks to Rielly’s 10^th goal of the season Toronto would lead this game a third time by a score of 3-2. The period would continue with Toronto dominating play but Scott Wedgewood would keep the Leaf advantage too just one goal thanks to many great saves, as regulation was expiring the pesky Dallas Stars wouldn’t go away and with two and a half minutes left in the game Dallas defender Ryan Suter would send a shot on goal that Joe Pavelski would redirect into the net tying the game at threes as he scored his 26^th goal of the season. The final two minutes would expire and both teams would bank a single point and we would need five minutes of overtime to decide a winner.

 

As usual the three-on-three overtime session would be fast and furious with both teams heading up and down the ice searching for the winning goal. Dallas would get the first dangerous chance when a shot from the slot would be turned away by the stretched-out pad of Jack Campbell. The game winning goal would come while the Leafs were changing, TJ Brodie would send a pass to Nylander who while heading to the bench would drop the puck off for Mathews. Auston would then circle in the neutral zone waiting for his teammates before deciding it was time to end this game, he would cut in off the wing and while driving to the net he would move to his forehand and slide the puck around Wedgewood into the open cage and with 56 goals on the season the Leafs would pick up a well deserved win as they now use Friday as a travel day to prepare for a Hockey Night in Canada matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.

 

The historic night saw production from all over the ice and all through the lineup, Bunting with an assist on the Rielly goal now has 56 points this season maintaining his lead on rookie scorers, Mitch Marner only collecting one assist would move to within 11 points of 100, and of course Auston Matthews thanks to his two goals sits now just three points away from reaching the century mark. So, although we fans saw history last night it looks as if more memorable moments will be in this teams very near future. Toronto now holds a five-point advantage for second in the Atlantic on both Tampa Bay and Boston who both happen to face each other later tonight. Fans in Toronto may keep an eye on the Bruins and Lightning game, but I am sure most of their attention will be on the Toronto Blue Jays who open their 2022 campaign at home tonight against the Texas Rangers in front of what is sure to be a full Rogers Centre as they kick off what will hopefully be an exciting season.

 

Thanks as always for reading enjoy the ball game tonight and I’ll be back Sunday to talk about the game against Montreal but once again congratulations to Auston Matthews for setting a new Leaf Franchise record.