This will be the first of two matchups between Dallas and Toronto this season, with Dallas making the return trip to Toronto on January 14th, 2025.
The teams enter Wednesday night with similar season records but find themselves in different situations in their respective divisions. Toronto (19-10-2) is tied with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division standings. Dallas (19-11-0) trails the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets and the Minnesota Wild in the Central Division.
Toronto has won its last six meetings with the Stars, winning four games in regulation and two in overtime. The Maple Leafs have scored at least three goals in each meeting, and the regulation wins have not even been close. Can Dallas stop the drought this time around?
That left the Stars with just four defencemen, forcing them all to play extended minutes. Esa Lindell drew the brunt of the work, amassing 22:31 of ice time. Head coach Pete DeBoer believes Lindell and Miro Heiskanen have played well enough to handle that workload but would obviously prefer to have a full allotment of six defencemen available.
Much like Dallas, Toronto has an impressive home record but has played poorly on the road. The Maple Leafs are 5-6-2 in away games this season and last won on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 30th. However, they have plenty of offensive firepower to compete with any team on any given night. Forward Auston Matthews gets most of the attention from fans across the league. Yet, Mitch Marner ranks ninth in the NHL with 41 points, and William Nylander ranked fifth in goals.
Then, when you think you’ve stopped those guys, Toronto hits you with another scoring wave. It put up five goals in a win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, including a hat trick from John Tavares. Overall, four players have scored at least 10 goals for Toronto this season.
Dallas’ Jason Robertson (+275) has scored twice in the last four games. Forward Mason Marchment (+275 anytime goal), who began his career with Toronto, has a point in his last two games against his former team. A Marner (+250) anytime goal is also intriguing.
