The Maple Leafs, who have a recent record of winning at the Big D, didn’t care much about it on Wednesday night.
The Stars suffered just their fourth defeat at the American Airlines Centre as the Leafs triumphed 5-3, led by secondary scoring and Joseph Woll.
The Leafs have won all seven of their previous trips to Dallas and haven’t lost there since the 2016–17 campaign. Our conclusions following the Leafs’ 20th win of the year:
The third line of domiciles The choice by coach Craig Berube to put the Leafs’ best offensive player, captain Auston Matthews, between William Nylander and Mitch Marner, on one line after bringing the three together against Buffalo on Sunday was the topic of practice Tuesday, and with good cause.
Nylander scored two goals against the Stars, including one into an empty net, making him the first Leafs player to score 20 this season.
It’s the Max Domi third line, however, that earned the spotlight. Berube is on to something with Domi centring Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson and, as it stands, that line should to stay together going forward.
The Matthews line was on the ice for the first two Dallas goals, and Berube wasn’t about to let them off the hook.
“I know they got a goal and some chances and stuff,” Berube said. “For me, I think they were off a little bit, like a lot of our guys were. I don’t think they had their best game.”
Where Berube goes with that line will be intriguing.
There would be no hesitation in putting Matthew Knies back with Matthews and dropping Nylander back to the Tavares line, but on the other hand, does the coach give the Matthews group another shot?
Either way, it’s a good problem to have.
Domi, Robertson and McMann all scored against the Stars, continuing to allay any fears about secondary scoring. Domi and Robertson also scored against the Sabres.
“They looked good,” Woll told reporters in Dallas. “A lot of skill, played fast and played the right way. It was good to see all three of them score. Pretty awesome.”
That production was crucial, as the Leafs as a whole didn’t provide a blueprint for a strong road game.
Final shots on goal were 39-19 for Dallas. That was the second most shots the Leafs have allowed in a game this season, and their 18 shots were the second-fewest they have had in one game.
