The Maple Leafs let two separate leads slip away Monday night and fell 6-5 to the Dallas Stars in a wild, frustrating finish at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto jumped out to a three-goal first-period lead and later rebuilt a two-goal cushion in the third, but Dallas kept coming and completed the comeback late.
The Leafs opened with plenty of energy and were rewarded early. John Tavares scored on the power play at 2:14, jamming home a loose puck in front of the net for his 31st goal of the season. Jacob Quillan then scored his first NHL goal at 14:35, finishing off a scramble after Steven Lorentz’s wraparound attempt was stopped by Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith. William Nylander made it 3-0 at 15:51 when he buried a rebound to cap a strong opening period for Toronto.
Dallas answered with a surge in the second period. Mavrik Bourque scored twice to cut into the lead, first converting a steal just 51 seconds into the period and then scoring again at 5:31 on a rebound. Jason Robertson added the tying goal at 9:29, and the game went to the intermission deadlocked 3-3.
Toronto regained control early in the third. Nylander set up Max Domi on a two-on-one, and Domi beat DeSmith to make it 4-3. Moments later, Nicholas Robertson gathered up a Troy Stecher misfired shot that caromed off the backboards, and slipped the puck past DeSmith to extend the lead to 5-3 at 4:19.
But the Stars refused to go away. Wyatt Johnston scored on the power play at 8:18 to pull Dallas within one, then the game was tied again at 9:19 when Arttu Hyry was credited with a goal after Stecher’s clearing attempt went into Toronto’s own net. Bourque then completed his hat trick at 14:52, poking in the winner to finish off the comeback.
Toronto closes out its season in Ottawa on Wednesday night.
