The Toronto Maple Leafs absolutely own the Dallas Stars.
The Maple Leafs won their seventh consecutive game against the Stars, using a huge second period to propel them to a 5-3 victory. Whatever Craig Berube said in the first intermission seemed to work as Toronto scored three goals in fewer than six minutes in the second frame, absolutely dismantling the save percentage of Stars&#8217; goaltender Jake Oettinger, who was pulled after two periods. The Leafs have no troubles scoring against Dallas, collecting 27 goals throughout their seven-game domination.
After a couple of really tough stretches for both Max Domi and Nick Robertson, it&#8217;s important to give the duo a ton of credit for their play as of late. Along with Bobby McMann, it was another huge night from the third line as the chatter about Toronto&#8217;s non-existent secondary scoring has certainly settled down for the time being. The trio combined for three goals and four points, and it seems like Berube has found a top-nine he likes.
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and especially William Nylander had a rough start to Wednesday&#8217;s contest, however, were able to strike on a pretty play in the second period when Nylander kick-started the comeback. Nylander added an empty netter for his 20th of the season, the first Maple Leafs to hit the mark, fittingly during the team&#8217;s 20th win.
If the top line can figure out how to balance the high-risk plays, and holding onto the puck when they should either be shooting or moving it, they&#8217;re going to have a ton of success. Having Marner, Matthews and Nylander firing together on all cylinders is bad news for the rest of the NHL.
Kudos to Berube as not only has he changed the identity of the hockey club, he&#8217;s been able to push the right buttons after tough first periods, and he&#8217;s been able to get the team to buy in to shutting down teams in the third period. Toronto continues to pile on the second-period goals this season and also have no troubles holding third period leads. It&#8217;s an encouraging site as being able to smother teams in the third period is going to pay serious dividends in a few months.
While this wasn&#8217;t a statement game per se, even though the Stars have owned home ice this season, it was another display that the Maple Leafs are a very dangerous team for their capabilities of winning hockey games in many different ways. They showed a ton of character being able to come back twice and they showed off how they still know how to put the puck in the back of the net in a hurry, even with Berube preaching a more defensively-sound structure.
Joseph Woll won his eighth game of the season, stopping 38 of 41 shots. He&#8217;ll be a huge Maple Leafs&#8217; x-factor while Anthony Stolarz is on the shelve. With a back-to-back coming up this weekend, it will be interesting to watch how Berube handles his crease.
The Maple Leafs are 20-10-2, and for now, lead the Atlantic Division. Soak it up Leafs Nation, the team is on a roll and their forward group is starting to click.

Max Domi and Bobby McMann of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs absolutely own the Dallas Stars.

The Maple Leafs won their seventh consecutive game against the Stars, using a huge second period to propel them to a 5-3 victory. Whatever Craig Berube said in the first intermission seemed to work as Toronto scored three goals in fewer than six minutes in the second frame, absolutely dismantling the save percentage of Stars' goaltender Jake Oettinger, who was pulled after two periods. The Leafs have no troubles scoring against Dallas, collecting 27 goals throughout their seven-game domination.

After a couple of really tough stretches for both Max Domi and Nick Robertson, it's important to give the duo a ton of credit for their play as of late. Along with Bobby McMann, it was another huge night from the third line as the chatter about Toronto's non-existent secondary scoring has certainly settled down for the time being. The trio combined for three goals and four points, and it seems like Berube has found a top-nine he likes.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and especially William Nylander had a rough start to Wednesday's contest, however, were able to strike on a pretty play in the second period when Nylander kick-started the comeback. Nylander added an empty netter for his 20th of the season, the first Maple Leafs to hit the mark, fittingly during the team's 20th win.

If the top line can figure out how to balance the high-risk plays, and holding onto the puck when they should either be shooting or moving it, they're going to have a ton of success. Having Marner, Matthews and Nylander firing together on all cylinders is bad news for the rest of the NHL.

Kudos to Berube as not only has he changed the identity of the hockey club, he's been able to push the right buttons after tough first periods, and he's been able to get the team to buy in to shutting down teams in the third period. Toronto continues to pile on the second-period goals this season and also have no troubles holding third period leads. It's an encouraging site as being able to smother teams in the third period is going to pay serious dividends in a few months.

While this wasn't a statement game per se, even though the Stars have owned home ice this season, it was another display that the Maple Leafs are a very dangerous team for their capabilities of winning hockey games in many different ways. They showed a ton of character being able to come back twice and they showed off how they still know how to put the puck in the back of the net in a hurry, even with Berube preaching a more defensively-sound structure.

Joseph Woll won his eighth game of the season, stopping 38 of 41 shots. He'll be a huge Maple Leafs' x-factor while Anthony Stolarz is on the shelve. With a back-to-back coming up this weekend, it will be interesting to watch how Berube handles his crease.

The Maple Leafs are 20-10-2, and for now, lead the Atlantic Division. Soak it up Leafs Nation, the team is on a roll and their forward group is starting to click.

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