Leafs score twice in 30 seconds to down Stars 5-4
TORONTO — Evgenii Dadonov had just scored on a silky smooth penalty shot to pull the Dallas Stars even with under nine minutes remaining in regulation.
The night was going one of two ways from there for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto could become tentative having surrendered a lead despite dominating the third period. Or continue to push – not press -- for the winner.
Three of the team’s all-stars and its captain rediscovering his offensive touch made sure the latter played out.
Mitch Marner and William Nylander scored 20 seconds apart on the heels of Dadonov’s equalizer as Toronto defeated Dallas 5-4 on Wednesday.
Marner buried his 22nd goal of the season off an Auston Matthews setup to snap a 3-3 tie just 32 seconds after the penalty shot with 8:55 left in regulation.
“We just wanted to get back to work,” Marner said. “Our bench does a good job of staying in the moment, realizing there’s another opportunity to go out there and do something.
“But, same time, not forcing it. That was one of those moments.”
With Scotiabank Arena still buzzing, Nylander then took a pass from John Tavares and fired home his second of the evening and 25th of the campaign 20 seconds later.
“Huge response from Matty and Mitchy,” Nylander said. “We were able to follow that up.”
Matthews, with his NHL-leading 41st, and Tavares also scored and added two assists each for
Toronto (26-15-8). Nylander had an assist for another three-point night.
“Each game is gonna present its own challenges,” Matthews said. “There’s gonna be different momentum swings out there. We try to stay focused and present.”
Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves for the Leafs, who connected three times on the power play after falling 3-2 to the New York Islanders on Monday coming out of the all-star break.
Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston had the other goals for Dallas (31-14-6). Scott Wedgewood made 26 stops with the Stars resting Jake Oettinger following Tuesday’s 2-1 victory in Buffalo.
Dadonov scored his 12th, and second of the night, on that penalty shot after getting bearhugged by Leafs defenceman Mark Giordano on a breakaway.
“We made a mistake,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We were playing a great period to that point. Just continue with it. Stay with it.”
Johnston scored his 15th with 1:25 remaining in regulation to make it 5-4 after Nylander missed the empty net looking for his second NHL hat trick – and first since February 2017 – but Toronto held on.
Matthews, Marner, Nylander and defenceman Morgan Rielly were front and centre last week as the city hosted the league’s allstar festivities.
The Leafs-led team won the four-team, 3-on-3 mini tournament, with Matthews picking up MVP honours.
“It’s not too hard,” the sniper said when asked about the challenge of returning to a regular-season routine. “You’re pretty thankful that it’s back to what you’re accustomed to.”
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 after Radek Faska hit the post at the other end just over two minutes in.
Dallas, which fell to 7-2-1 over its last 10, connected on its second power-play opportunity when Benn scored his ninth at 14:52.
Dadonov pushed the visitors ahead 2:35 later when he cut into the middle off the rush.
Johnston then nearly made it 3-1 in the dying seconds, but Samsonov was bailed out by his left post for a second time in the period.
Tavares got the Leafs back even at 3:40 of the second on a power play when he snapped his 15th, and third in as many games after going a career-worst nine straight contests without scoring.
Matthews nearly scored short-handed later in the period, but eventually gave the home side a 3-2 lead at 12:37 on another power play when his attempted saucer pass went in off Stars defenceman Esa Lindell before that third-period drama.
“What a response,” Keefe said of a wild three-goal, 52-second stretch. “Auston takes charge of things out there and Mitch, a bigtime goal.
“And then (Tavares) and line follow it up.” that
BLOODIED McCABE Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe was left bloodied by a Mason Marchment hit in the second period that went unpunished, but didn’t miss any action.
“I see a vulnerable player that’s targeted,” Keefe said. “I gotta think that’s the type of hit they do not want to see in the game. Guy’s bleeding everywhere, needs stitches. I’m sure they’re going to look at it.”
Toronto visits Saturday, while Montreal.
Ottawa Dallas is on at
DEAR DR. ROACH: My spouse is still suffering from chest congestion, coughing and some laryngitis. She has never completely recovered from the cold she got in early November. She also had a bad case of COVID-19 last April. Her symptoms have waxed and waned, but now she is wheezing in bed. (Interestingly and maybe relatedly, she got much worse the other morning after I sprayed some spa eucalyptus spray in the shower. Maybe she’s allergic?)
She has had two negative COVID tests this week. I was planning to take her to urgent care to at least get an inhaler or something.
Any other thoughts?
– K.L.R. ANSWER: It is common to get reactive airway disease after respiratory infections from viruses like colds, the flu and especially COVID. Reactive airway disease is essentially asthma. It’s called “reactive” because the airways react to things that they don’t like, including cold or dry air, dust, or other airway irritants (maybe the eucalyptus?). This causes a cough and wheezing.
Asthma is a spectrum. Some few people have severe asthma all the time, but most people with asthma experience mild to moderate lung stress. Some people never have symptoms except for when they’re under severe stress, whether it’s from a recent infection or exercising in the cold.
I think reactive airway disease is the most likely possibility behind this, although it’s certainly possible that she has another virus, whether it’s COVID, flu, respiratory syncytial virus or one of the other circulating respiratory viruses. She should at least be tested for flu. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID might be worthwhile, since there is so much COVID circulating right now.
Standard immediate treatment is an albuterol inhaler. Steroid inhalers are also used, but they take a week or two before becoming maximally effective. The combination of the two is highly effective, and most people get good relief.
There are other options, such as montelukast, which starts working quickly and can be stopped once symptoms go away.
DEAR DR. ROACH: My daughter was diagnosed with either a fractured rib or costochondritis.
She is in pain, and her doctor won’t prescribe anything. (Apparently, her boyfriend gave her a big hug after vacation that was a little too strong.) Any thoughts about pain management options?
– A.M. ANSWER: It’s unlikely (but possible) to be a rib fracture, as ribs can bend to a surprising degree. But after chest trauma like that, a person can develop inflammation where the rib meets the chest cartilage. “Costochondritis” often refers to viral inflammation of this area, but it can happen with trauma as well.
This inflammation can get triggered with every breath, but especially with a big breath, cough or sneeze; it can be exquisitely painful. I disagree with her doctor’s refusal to prescribe medication, as pain relief helps prevent the person from “splinting” – moving their chest in such a way to prevent the chest from expanding on the affected side.
This can lead to partial lung collapse, which can then lead to pneumonia.
I recommend anti-inflammatory medicines, like ibuprofen or naproxen, taken around-the-clock to minimize this possibility. I have also used lidocaine patches in combination with medication. This takes weeks to heal.
Readers may email questions to: toyourgoodhealth@med.cornell.edu