Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Dallas Stars — preview, lineups and telecast information

Coming off a loss to the Islanders, the Maple Leafs will look to turn around their home form when they host the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).

The Leafs have some favorable stats to celebrate entering this matchup: They've beaten the Stars in five straight — and eight of 11 in the Auston Matthews era — including a convincing 4-1 win in late October. Tonight's starter, Scott Wedgwood, has lost four of five for the Lifters in his career with an .887 save percentage against Toronto. They also noticed Dallas tired in the second half after a 2-1 win in Buffalo, although how the Stars handled the game should be the team's focus; Pete DeBoer called it a “keeper's win” and Jake Oettinger's “stolen win.”

The challenge against a strong five-for-five team at 31-13-6 is nonetheless significant, and when it comes to taking advantage of any rest, the Stars are as much a four-way rotation team as anyone. 11 of their top 12 forwards fall in the 12-17 minute range (Jason Robertson leads the way at 18:14 nightly).

DeBoer balances his top nine — Robertson-Hintz on the first line, Duchene-Seguin on the second line and Benn-Pawelski on the third line — with a much different approach to ice-time distribution than the Leafs under Sheldon Keefe. Toronto's average ice time among regular forwards ranges from Bobby McMann's 9:17 to Mitch Marner's 21:27, with three forwards over 20 minutes a night and four over Jason Robertson's team-leading 18:14 mark. The Stars also have eight forwards over .5 points per game compared to the Leafs' four (plus Max Domi at the .50 mark).

With the Leafs chasing the game for the better part of the night, and with David Kampf and Kalle Jarnkrok absent in the bottom six, ice time was even more critical Monday against the Islanders with William Nylander, Marner and Auston. Matthews is over 24 minutes, the fourth line is under eight minutes and the third line is all under 11 minutes (including Nick Roberton's 8:38). Depending on the scoring situation, DeBoer's more pushy approach may prompt Keefe to chase the first line matchup with Mathieu's group tonight and get more of his depth, but we'll see how the game plays out. The first goal of the game could be important, especially when scoring first on the road against the Stars, who are still undefeated in regulation (8-0-2).

Keefe is expected to keep the same lineup from Monday's 3-2 loss, which included Ilya Samsonov in goal for the fifth time.

---

Game Day Quotes

Despite Stars head coach Pete DeBoer's 2-1 win over Buffalo on Tuesday night:

Sure, it was a goalie win, but we didn't have as many nights as we needed to this year, and we didn't have many of them.

We as a team have lost as many nights this year as we have and our goaltending hasn't stolen us. Everyone needs it in any season and we got it.

I don't even know where to start (in terms of areas for improvement). Let's focus on how good (Jake Oettinger) has been and let me worry about that while we get ready for Toronto.

Sheldon Keefe on the challenge of facing the stars:

Quite a team with four lines and six D's. They play hard and are very structured. Very dangerous in a hurry. They don't give you much in their area.

This is an important test. This is another good team coming. We played them well when we were in Dallas, but that was a really long stretch in the seventh game of the season. This is a good opportunity to answer for our lack of points tonight.

Max Domi in action against his former team:

They have four rows. They roll them up and come at you in waves. There's depth and they play as a team, which is a big reason why they've had so much success.

Pete called them all. They are very good defensively. Regardless of who starts, both goalkeepers are (good). This evening is going to be a good test for us.

Keefe on the absence of David Kampf and Kalle Jarnkrok for his team:

I thought I felt it the whole game last night, especially when we tied the game at 2-2. It was down to the last few minutes, and when you lose him and a guy like Yarkrock, it's tougher. We didn't have Jarnkrok in Winnipeg, but we did have Kampf, which I thought was much more manageable.

In the penalty shootout, I thought the guys did a good job there, whether it was Willie stepping up and making the first tackle or the other guys filling in.

We have to get more from the guys down there. This All-Star team is more involved than the Islanders of yesteryear, using four lines. There aren't many easy turnovers against this team. We need all the guys to be good in the squad.

---

Head-to-head stats: Maple Leafs vs. Stars

In preseason stats, the Stars hold the edge over the Leafs in three of five offensive categories and three of five defensive categories.

---

The designed lines of the Toronto Maple Leafs

Forwards
#23 Matthew Knize vs. #34 Auston Matthews vs. #16 Mitch Marner
#59 Tyler Bertuzzi vs. #91 John Tavares vs. #88 William Nylander
#18 Noah Gregor vs. #11 Max Domi vs. #89 Nick Robertson
#74 Bobby McMann vs. #29 Pontus Holmberg vs. #75 Ryan Reeves

Defenders
#44 Morgan Rielly vs. #78 TJ Brodie
#2 Simon Benoit vs. #22 Jake McCabe
#55 Mark Giordano vs. #37 Timothy Liljegren

Goalkeepers
Starter: No. 35 Ilya Samsonov
#31 Martin Jones

Drawn: William Lagesson, Conor Timmins
Injured: David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, John Klingberg, Joseph Wall

---

Dallas Stars Projected Lines

Forwards
#21 Jason Robertson vs. #24 Rupe Hintz vs. #53 Wyatt Johnston
#27 Mason Marchment vs. #95 Matt Duchene vs. #91 Tyler Seguin
#14 Jamie Benn vs. #18 Sam Steele vs. #16 Joe Pavelski
#15 Craig Smith – #12 Radek Faksa – #63 Yevgeny Dadonov

Defenders
#55 Thomas Harley vs. #4 Miro Heiskanen
#20 Ryan Suter vs. #5 Nils Lundqvist
#23 Esa Lindell vs. #2 Jani Hakanpaa

Goalkeepers
Starter: #41 Scott Wedgwood
#29 Jake Ottinger