Toronto Maple Leafs beat Dallas Stars 6-5 in OT

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Toronto Maple Leafs beat Dallas Stars 6-5 in OT. Here is the summary for the game played on Wednesday, March 14, 2018

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

Nazem Kadri put the Maple Leafs on the board at 4:28 of the first period. Seven of Kadri’s 27 goals this season have been the first goal of the game. The Maple Leafs are 17-2-1 when Kadri scores this season.

James van Riemsdyk scored the second Maple Leafs goal of the night at 4:53 of the first period, the third Toronto goal of the game at 5:13 of the third period and the fourth Maple Leafs goal of the game on the power play at 10:43 of the third period. Tonight’s game is van Riemsdyk’s second multi-goal game of the season and his third career hat trick (second with Toronto). He now leads the Maple Leafs in goals (29) this season and is tied with Nazem Kadri for the team lead in power play goals (9).

Patrick Marleau scored Toronto’s fifth goal of the night with the extra attacker on the ice at 19:44 of the third period. Marleau has goals (2) in two consecutive games and points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games. The Maple Leafs are 16-3-0 when Marleau scores a goal this season.

Mitch Marner registered the primary assist on van Riemsdyk’s second third period goal, the primary assist on Marleau’s third period goal and later recorded the game-deciding goal in the third round of the shootout. Marner has assists (3) in two consecutive games and points (2-3-5) in three consecutive games. Both of Marner’s goals in the shootout this season have been game-deciding goals. He is one of two Maple Leafs (Tyler Bozak) and 14 NHLers to have recorded multiple game-deciding shootout goals this season.

Tyler Bozak recorded the primary assist on van Riemsdyk’s first period goal and the primary assist on van Riemsdyk’s first third period goal. Tonight’s game is Bozak’s fifth multi-assist game of the season. Toronto is 16-3-1 when Bozak registers an assist this season.

Connor Carrick had the secondary assist on van Riemsdyk’s first period goal. Carrick has two assists in his last three games played.

Travis Dermott picked up the secondary assist on van Riemsdyk’s first third period goal. Six of Dermott’s nine assists have been registered on home ice this season.

Morgan Rielly notched the secondary assist on van Riemsdyk’s second third period goal. Rielly has assists (5) in three consecutive games. He leads the Maple Leafs in power play assists (18).

Jake Gardiner picked up the secondary assist on Marleau’s third period goal. Gardiner has four assists in two games against the Stars this season.

Frederik Andersen stopped 17 of the 20 shots he faced in 30:25 of ice time before leaving the game with an upper-body injury.

Curtis McElhinney stopped 13 of 15 shots in regulation and overtime in relief of Andersen. He also stopped both shootout attempts he faced in his first shootout appearance this season to earn the win for the Maple Leafs.

IN THE SHOOTOUT

Tyler Bozak – Goal (2017-18: 5/6)

James van Riemsdyk – Stopped (2017-18: 1/4)

Mitch Marner – Goal (2017-18: 2/7)

Curtis McElhinney – 2/2 (2017-18: 2/2)

SHOTS FIRED

The Stars had a 35-31 lead in shots on goal in all situations and a 26-25 edge in shots on goal at
5-on-5.

Toronto had a 67-57 lead in shot attempts in all situations and an 53-46 lead in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

James van Riemsdyk led the Maple Leafs with eight shots on goal.

Jake Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk each recorded a team-high 10 shot attempts.

SHOTS ON GOAL

SHOT ATTEMPTS

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

The Maple Leafs are 24-8-2 at home this season. Toronto’s victory is the club’s 11th consecutive win on home ice.

Toronto’s all-time record is 95-90-28-1 in 214 games against the Stars and 55-37-17-0 in games played in Toronto.

Toronto is 18-8-2 against the Western Conference this season and 7-3-2 against the Central Division.

Tonight’s attendance is 18,918.

The Maple Leafs complete a back-to-back tomorrow night when they visit the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 p.m.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

The Maple Leafs were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and 1-for-1 on the power play tonight. Toronto is 27-10-5 when not allowing a power play goal this season and 15-6-2 when scoring a power play goal.

Toronto is 32-5-3 when scoring the first goal of the game.

The Maple Leafs are 14-5-5 when tied after one period and 5-18-2 when trailing after two periods.

Toronto has a 26-12-5 record when outshot by their opponent.

Toronto is 10-2-1 in the first leg of back-to-backs.

The Maple Leafs are 10-3-1 in Wednesday games.

OF NOTE…

Tyler Bozak won 71 percent (5 won, 2 lost) of his faceoffs when matched up against Dallas centre Radek Faksa.

Connor Carrick started 20 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which was the lowest percentage among Toronto skaters.

Jake Gardiner was on the ice for a team-high 28 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. Gardiner finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 50 percent (28 for, 18 against).

Tomas Plekanec won 80 percent (4 won, 1 lost) of his faceoffs in the defensive zone tonight.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Thursday, March 15 at Buffalo Sabres, 7:00 p.m. (TSN4, FAN 590)

Saturday, March 17 vs. Montreal Canadiens, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, FAN 590)

Tuesday, March 20 at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. (TSN4, TSN 1050)

Thursday, March 22 at Nashville Predators, 8:00 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

Saturday, March 24 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, TSN 1050)

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On the comeback victory:

Obviously, we got the break on the [Kadri] goal. We scored a good goal when James [van Riemsdyk] got the second one to go up 2-0. Then they dominated the next 35 minutes, not even close. They played right and we didn’t and they were better than us. I thought [Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock] had his team prepared, they played hard and we didn’t handle their forecheck, we didn’t execute, we didn’t make any plays, we didn’t play heavy. But, I thought we came out in the third period and we dug in. We just talked about let’s just get one and they’ll tighten up a little bit and we’ll crawl our way back into the game. In the end that’s what happened. Obviously, when we turned the puck over to give them one more, you start to wonder, can you find another one? Good play by Mitch [Marner] and Patty Marleau with James at the net – a good play. We had good pressure on that 6-on-5 and obviously a huge kill on the 4-on-3 in overtime.

On Andersen:

I haven’t asked yet but it sure didn’t seem like much. He played after he got hurt so I don’t know exactly. It’s an upper body injury and I’ll out more here in a bit.

On when he knew Andersen might come out of the game:

I saw [McElhinney] getting his stuff on so I knew he was coming out.

On if the injury occurred on the collision with Radulov:

Yeah, I think so.

On McElhinney playing well in relief:

He wanted to get warmed up for tomorrow. He’s going tomorrow anyways. Mac has been great all year, obviously. He was good in the shootout, gave us a chance and got us a big win. We’re trying to crawl our way into the playoffs, you need points and we don’t have enough so we’ve got to find ways to win.

On van Riemsdyk’s hat trick:

Real good night for him, obviously. I thought Bozak was real competitive. When we weren’t competitive early, I thought he was competitive right from the start, right through. Any time you get three goals and you’re at the net for the fourth too, you’ve done something pretty special. Good for him and he hadn’t scored in a bit so it’s great for him to get us the win.

On Johnsson’s debut:

He didn’t get as much opportunity because we got chasing the game. I don’t have a good evaluation just because of the way the game went. When you’re behind – when I’m ahead and managing the game, I play everybody and everyone plays lots. When you’re chasing the game I’m just playing who I’ve got to.

On if Andersen will travel to Buffalo:

That’s a great question, don’t know the answer. I’ll learn and when I know I’ll tell you guys. I have no idea.

On if Matthews will travel to Buffalo:

Yeah, he’s coming to Buffalo. He needs a good skate in the morning.

MITCH MARNER (2 ASSISTS; SHOOTOUT WINNER)

On tonight’s game:

I think the first two periods we didn’t get much going and then in the third we turned it around. Big goals from James [van Riemsdyk] and [McElhinney] coming in there was, I think, a turning point. He played great for us in net and obviously coming in cold against that team is hard to do. He did a great job.

On what happened after the 2-0 lead:

I think they started outworking us and that’s something we’ve got to fix. We can’t let that happen. Obviously, it’s a good comeback win and a big two points for us.

On if he’s trying to find van Riemsdyk at the net front on the power play:

Definitely. You’re just trying to read what the D-man is trying to do, but he’s very good at sliding back-door silently. Lucky enough it got to him. He did a great job putting it in.

CURTIS McELHINNEY (13 SAVES)

On if he knew he’d be coming into the game:

No heads up, really. It’s one of those things. I’m sitting there doing my faceoffs and next thing you know they’re handing my gloves to me. It was a strange game, a little bit back and forth, some good opportunities. Just a nice way to come back and pull it out at the end.

On what it feels like to come in to a game cold:

The heart rate spikes. I think it would be interesting to see what that looks like on a heart rate monitor, but it certainly goes up and the adrenaline starts pumping. I think once the first shot is taken there you kind of settle in.

On the penalty kill in overtime:

I think the biggest thing is we took away the back-door option. They tried it a few times with that guy going off my far pad and we intercepted a few passes and took away the shot. Great job for those guys to come in. Big kill.

JAMES van RIEMSDYK (3 GOALS)

On the mindset going into the third period:

I think coming into the third period we just wanted to make sure we gave ourselves a chance and played the way we know how to play. I think we got back to doing that more and gave ourselves a chance to get back into the game.

On the team having more poise in comeback situations than years past:

I think some of that comes with experience and confidence and all that good stuff. Those two things can be funny sometimes, but it seems like we have that right now. We have to keep playing that way.

On the team finding a way to win without Matthews and Andersen:

That’s indicative of any team. Obviously, it’s tough to lose key guys, but it gives other people opportunities to play a little bit more of a role and that sort of stuff. That’s part of any good team is having guys that can pick up the slack when you miss players on your team.