Stars at Maple Leafs
The Dallas Stars, who own the best record in the Western Conference, attempt to pad their impressive 9-2-0 mark when they visit the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. The Stars, who are third in the league in scoring after a 5-3 victory over San Jose on Saturday, have won three straight and eight of their last nine as they begin a four-game road trip.
Captain Jamie Benn (17 points) and Tyler Seguin (16) are the top two scorers in the NHL and Antti Niemi is 6-1-0 in his first season with Dallas. “I knew we had all the talent in the world, but this has been as amazing start,” Niemi told the Dallas Morning News. “And I think we can play even better than this with more hard work.” The Stars will try to take advantage of a Toronto team that is winless in six games (0-5-1) and tied for the fewest amount of points in the league (four). The Maple Leafs have totaled nine goals during their victory drought and stand 0-3-1 at home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), RSN, TVA (Toronto)
ABOUT THE STARS (9-2-0): John Klingberg has been a major part of the team’s rise as he rides a seven-game point streak, the longest by a Stars defenseman since Sergei Zubov registered a nine-game run in 2006-07. “Offensively, he might be one of the best in the league, and he’s getting much better defensively,” fellow blue-liner Alex Goligoski told the Dallas Morning News of Klingberg. “He works hard and he’s learning.” Klingberg has 11 points while center Jason Spezza (10) gives Dallas four players in double figures.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (1-7-2): Toronto recorded a season-low 21 shots in the 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday and first-year coach Mike Babcock told reporters, “The buck stops here. I’m responsible - period.” The Maple Leafs are developing on defense and only three forwards have more than four points in the first 10 contests. Captain Dion Phaneuf tops the team with seven points, Leo Komarov and James van Riemsdyk share the lead with four goals apiece and Toronto’s power play is last in the league at 7.4 percent.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto has won five of the last six meetings – outscoring the Stars 9-3 in the last two encounters.
2. Dallas LW Antoine Roussel has registered four points in the previous three games and owns a team-best plus-6 rating.
3. The Maple Leafs have scored the first goal in a league-low one of their 10 games and earned a point in that contest.