Stars Lose In Toronto
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TORONTO — Tyler Bozak had been scoring goals but Phil Kessel had not, an unusual twist for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They both got into the act on Tuesday night and with right winger Joffrey Lupul leading the way with two goals, the Maple Leafs defeated the Dallas Stars 5-3.
Bozak scored 27 seconds into the game to set the tone for the Maple Leafs. The center scored in four straight games and has six goals in that span for a total of 12 on the season.
“I’m just happy we’re winning, we’re playing well at home as of late and that’s the important thing,” Bozak said.
The Maple Leafs (13-8-3) won the first two of a five-game home stand.
Kessel, the Maple Leafs top right winger, had not scored in his previous five games. He notched his 12th of the season on a power play at 56 seconds of the second period.
“He’s going to get his goals,” Bozak said. “I’m sure he’s not happy with the way it’s been going for him lately but I’m sure he’s going to start streaking here pretty soon.”
Center Nazem Kadri also scored a goal and added two assists for the
Maple Leafs (13-8-3) while center Mike Santorelli had three assists for his second career three-point game.
“I try not to think about the results, it’s about the process,” Santorelli said. “I just keep improving every day.”
Center Jason Spezza, left winger Ryan Garbutt and right winger Ales Hemsky scored for the Stars (9-11-5), who have lost three in a row after winning three straight.
Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, starting for the sixth game in a row, stopped 35 shots in the Toronto goal while his Dallas counterpart Kari Lehtonen also made 35 stops.
Bernier has enjoyed his run of starts, knowing that he is going to play.
“It makes it a lot easier,” he said.
The Leafs restored the three-goal margin at 9:31 when Lupul knocked in the rebound on defenseman Cody Franson’s slap shot.
“We’ve got to get into our heads it’s better to go straight up the ice, it’s got to be direct and that’s how you win hockey games,” Stars left winger Jamie Benn said. “They skate pretty well. They’re playing good hockey here and they took advantage of the things were did wrong,”
The Maple Leafs took a 4-1 lead into the third period, but Garbutt cut the lead to two at 2:11 with his fourth goal of the season, knocking in a rebound on a backhand.
Lupul restored the three-goal margin at 5:20 of the third with his second goal of the game and fifth of the season from the edge of the crease.
Hemsky scored his second of the season at 15:25 to make it 5-3.
The Maple Leafs struck early on Bozak’s wrist shot from the right faceoff circle after defenseman Dion Phaneuf’s takeaway inside the blue line to make it 1-0.
“That’s not the way you want to start the game,” Lehtonen said. “The same things happened in the second period, too. That takes the life out of us for a little while. We battled back but it was a rough night for everybody.”
Kadri gave the Leafs a 2-0 lead at 15:16 with his sixth goal of the season, a wrist shot from the dot of the left faceoff circle from a pass from Santorelli.
Kessel made it 3-0 on a power play with Hemsky serving a slashing penalty to start the scoring in the second period.
Spezza put Dallas on the board at 5:06 of the second with his fifth goal of the season on a rising slap shot.
“I thought we were okay,” Bozak said, “I think we gave up too many odd-man rushes, breakaways, and stuff like that. We also created a lot of chances for ourselves, too, and that’s a positive. But I think we could’ve been a little tighter defensively.”
