The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Stars 5-4

Mitch Marner and William Nylander scored 20 seconds apart with less than nine minutes left in the third period as Dallas tied the game as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Stars 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Nylander had two goals with an assist for Toronto (26-15-8), while Auston Matthews had his NHL-leading 41st of the season and John Tavares scored and added two assists apiece.

Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves for the Leafs, who scored three power-play goals in Monday's 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders coming out of the NHL All-Star break.

Evgeny Dadonov and two, including a third-period penalty, Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston answered for Dallas (31-14-6).

Scott Wedgwood made 26 saves alongside Stars No. 1 goalie Jake Ottinger in Tuesday's 2-1 win in Buffalo.

Dadonov scored his 12th and second penalty of the night, tying the game at 3-3 after a penalty hug by Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano 8:55 into the third.

But Marner answered for the 22nd just 32 seconds later with a nice flow from Matthews.

Nylander then scored his second goal of the night, and 25th overall, for a 5-3 lead 20 seconds later.

Johnston scored his 15th goal with 1:25 left to make it 5-4 with 1:25 left, but Toronto rallied after Neylander missed an empty net goal in search of his second NHL hat trick.

After the Leafs tied things up with a man advantage early in the second minute, Matthews gave the home team the lead on another power play at 12:37, his pass attempt to Nylander crossing the crease and sending Stars guard Esa Lindell to the 3rd. 2 leaders.

With the goal still being announced at Scotiabank Arena, Samsonov had to make a big stop on Tyler Seguin to keep Toronto ahead before the teams scored three times in a 52-second span.

The Leafs, who beat the Stars 4-1 in Dallas on Oct. 26, opened the scoring at 6:34 of the first when Nylander blasted a one-timer for the 24th time after Radek Faska hit the post at the other end. within minutes.

Dallas, 7-1-1 in its last nine games entering Wednesday, gave Matthew Nice a short break, negating his first lead before Wedgewood added a second chance when he finished off a sliding play by Benn. his ninth went under Samsonov's glove at 14:52.

Dadonov gave the visitors the lead with 2:35 left when he cut through the middle of the attack and scored his 11th shot through the five holes of the Toronto goalkeeper.

Johnston then went close to making it 3-1, but Samsonov saved with a left post for the second time of the period.

Tavares even got the Leafs back on the power play with 3:40 to go, his 15th of the game, third in as many games after going a career-worst nine scoreless contests.

Matthews, who was named MVP of the All-Star Game in Toronto on Saturday after leading his team to victory in the four-team mini-tournament, nearly scored on a short-handed 2-on-1 with Marner. his eighth goal in as many games.

BLOODY MCABI

Toronto quarterback Jake McCabe was bloodied in the second game by Mason Marchment, who went unpunished but missed no action.

NO LEAVES

Toronto is without injuries to forwards Kalle Jarnkrok (broken hamstring) and David Kampf (undisclosed).

AFTER 48 YEARS

Wednesday marks 48 years since Toronto legend Darryl Sittler became the only player in NHL history to score 10 points in a game.

The Hall of Fame center had six goals and four assists against Boston on February 7, 1976 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

NEXT UP

Toronto visits Ottawa on Saturday and Dallas is at Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 7, 2024.