The Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars 4–0 at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night in a game that saw Jason Robertson’s scoring streak for Dallas bottom out at 18 straight games.
Matt Murray made 44 saves for Toronto, a season-high, and Mitch Marner’s record-setting point streak reached 20 games thanks to an early assist for the Leafs.
Even though Dallas had 17 shots on goal, a four-minute double minor, and a five-on-three for 1:38, they didn’t score on any of their seven power plays.
The Maple Leafs have won their last 12 games, going 9–0–3. Alexander Kerfoot, Rasmus Sandin, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews scored goals for Toronto. The Leafs also got within three points of first-place Boston (20–3–1) in the Atlantic Division.
Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots and watched his season record fall to 9–3–3 on the season with the Dallas loss.
Dallas (14–7–5) was shut out for the first time this season. With 33 points, the Stars tie Winnipeg (16–7–1) for first place in the Western Central.
WHAT TO KNOW
Rookie Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, a Maple Leafs forward, played 7:16 in his first NHL game.
It was the second and last time Robertson and his younger brother, Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson, played against each other this season. Toronto won both games. (Nick scored the game-winning goal against Dallas earlier in the season.)
BY THE NUMBERS
Dallas is 0-for-11 on the power play in its last two games. Before Sunday’s game, a 6–5 shootout loss to Minnesota, Dallas was second in the NHL at 30% on the power play.
It was the first time in the history of the NHL that two players (Marner and Jason Robertson) each had point streaks of at least 18 games.
Marner is the fourth player in the NHL to score in at least 20 straight games. He joins Patrick Kane (26, 2015–16; 20, 2018–19), Sidney Crosby (25, 2010–11), and Paul Stastny (20, 2006–07). Marner has racked up 27 points (nine goals and 18 assists) during the streak.
WHAT THEY SAID
“Some huge saves in big moments,” Sheldon Keefe, Toronto coach, told NHL.com of the shutout. “Obviously, with the number of penalties we took today, it could have been a real problem for us. Murray was real solid.”
“We had, of course, a lot of chances and a lot of power-play time,” Miro Heiskanen, Dallas defender, told NHL.com of the shutout.
“We had chances but didn’t score,” he explained. “It’s a little frustrating, but [we must] move on and be better next game. That’s part of the game. Sometimes it’s not going in.”
NEXT UP
The Stars host Ottawa (10-14-1) on Thursday, December 8, starting at 7:30 p.m. The Senators are 5–5–0 in the last 10, and Dallas is 5–2–3. Both teams come into the Thursday night contest as losers of their previous games.
