A dialled-in Jake Oettinger was the last thing the struggling Maple Leafs needed to face. The Dallas goaltender stopped 27 of 28 shots, leading the Stars to a 5-1 victory over Toronto on Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena.
The much-maligned Maple Leafs squad battled throughout most of the game and at times dictated play, but an unproductive power play, a couple of misplays by the defence, and an outstanding performance by Oettinger were too much to overcome. The Leafs continue to spiral, dropping their third straight.
Dallas opened the scoring on what initially looked like a harmless clearing play. Oskar Back flipped the puck down the boards. Oliver Ekman-Larsson fanned on his swing to knock it down, allowing Jason Robertson, who had snuck behind Jake McCabe to gather the puck, move in, and snipe one past Dennis Hildeby to make it 1-0. The goal at the 18:30 mark was the only one of the first period.
The Leafs had a strong middle twenty but still couldn’t solve Oettinger. The score remained 1-0 all the way until the 5:03 mark of the third. That’s when Sam Steele tipped in an Ilya Lyubushkin shot past Hildeby to make it 2-0.
The Leafs managed to stay in the game temporarily. After killing off a penalty, Scott Laughton skated the length of the ice and snapped one by Oettinger to make it 2-1 at 8:39. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off after that. Dallas responded with three unanswered goals.
Jamie Benn scored his 6th of the season, redirecting a Miro Heiskanen blast from the blue line to make it 3-1 at 12:10 of the period. Mavrik Borque added an empty-netter at the 17:55 mark. Then, with time winding down, Justin Hryckowian popped in a rebound to make the final 5-1.
Up next: the Leafs are back home Tuesday night to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
