Stars Lose To Maple Leafs
TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs finally won at home this season giving new coach Mike Babcock reason to good about his team.
Facing the Dallas Stars, a team with a 4-1 record on the road entering the game, the Leafs won 4-1 Monday night, recording only their second win of the season and first in five games at the Air Canada Centre.
It was also only the Leafs’ second win in 11 games this season. For the announced crowd of 19,087, the win was a rare moment this season to cheer the home team. The Leafs saluted their fans after the game ended.
Goalie James Reimer, in net in the only other time the Leafs won this season, provided Toronto with staunch play, something Toronto has been sorely lacking this season.
He stopped Dallas right winger Valeri Nichushkin on a penalty shot in the third period. Reimer repelled 43 of 44 shots and was indeed the star against the Stars. He gave his stick away to the fans afterward.
The Leafs had 26 shots.
Babcock was critical of the Leafs’ lack of effort and inability to bounce back from
adversity in a 4-0 loss two nights before at home against Pittsburgh.
“Our goaltender was good tonight and gave us an opportunity to have some success,” Babcock said.
“I think it’s a good feeling, maybe not eye-opening, but a really good shot of confidence,” Reimer said. “That’s a good team over there. They’ve got good forwards, good (defense) and great goaltending and we were able to play good against them. That’s a really good team, and for us to hang with them and score four goals and play well defensively, I think that speaks well for the compete and character we showed tonight.”
Right winger Joffrey Lupul paced the Leafs with two goals and three points. Right winger Brad Boyes and defenseman Morgan Rielly had the other Leaf goals.
“The most important thing is we got the win and we were able to keep their goals down,” Boyes said. “As a team we knew we had to be better at (puck battles), really heavy on the sticks and win battles and I think we were able to do that.”
Jamie Benn had the lone Dallas marker.
The Leafs, last in the Atlantic Division, improved to 2-7-2 and ended a four-game losing streak.
Dallas, which leads the Central Division and is first overall in the Western Conference, dropped to 9-3. Dallas’ three-game win streak was snapped.
“We had our chances, they had their chances, and we didn’t bear down when we had a chance to score,” Dallas center Tyler Seguin, who assisted on Benn’s goal, said. “We put up 40-plus shots, but at the end of the day we gave them a couple goals and that’s the end of the story.”
Antti Niemi was in net for Dallas and had a history of success against the Leafs, including winning twice last season with San Jose. Niemi’s five-game win streak this season also was ended Monday.
“I don’t know if we deserved to win,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “A couple missed assignments right in front of our own net. I think that can change the game. At the same time I thought Reimer was real good. He made some real key saves.”
The Leafs opened the scoring for only the second time this season thanks to Boyes’ goal at 8:24 of the first period.
Just 58 seconds later, the Stars tied the game on a goal by Benn, his 10th of the season. Benn, who entered the game leading the league in scoring with 17 points, fired a low shot from just outside the faceoff circle that found its way between Reimer’s legs.
Rather than sag, the Leafs found a way to regroup.
Boyes had a second goal called back with about five minutes to go in the first period when Ruff challenged that the play was offside. Center Byron Froese indeed entered the Stars’ zone prematurely.
It didn’t take long for the Leafs to reclaim the lead. Twenty-one seconds into the second period, Lupul scored his fourth of the season on a rebound off a shot from the point by Rielly.
Lupul scored his second of the game at 12:45 of the middle period on the power play with a wrist shot from the slot. He wasted little time after center Nazem Kadri fed him a perfect pass from behind the net.
The goal happened just seconds after Dallas center Radek Faksa was stopped on a breakaway by Reimer.
