After two disappointing performances against Carolina and Vancouver, the Maple Leafs are looking to find their way back into the win column against a surging Stars team that is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games but has lost seven straight to Toronto dating back to February 2020 (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Dallas Stars:
Very good team. Very deep team. They don’t give a whole lot up. They are solid all around. The goaltending is good. Heiskanen and Harley on the backend are very good skaters and transporters of the puck. They are a tough opponent.
Chris Tanev on the challenge presented by his former team:
They play with a lot of pace and move pucks very quickly. Five guys connected, moving pucks, and getting pucks up the ice. They obviously want to play in our end than a lot more than in their own.
We’ve only played one game against them, and they probably should’ve beat us, but our goalie was really good. It was a good game in Dallas, but in the first half of the game, they sort of controlled a lot of the play. We were definitely able to create some chances offensively, but we gave up a little more than we wanted to.
Tanev on the most under-recognized players in Dallas:
Probably Thomas Harley. Incredible player. Great skater. Moves the puck really well. Great offensive instincts, but works just as hard defensively. He is the real deal for a really young player.
He probably doesn’t get talked about enough — he and Esa (Lindell). Esa is an incredible defenseman — great stick, makes the right play all the time, big, and strong.
Those two guys are extremely good defensemen who definitely don’t get enough recognition.
Peter DeBoer on the Leafs‘ seven straight wins over the Stars:
They seem to have our number here in Dallas. Number one, our Robertson has to outplay their Robertson for the first time. That message is going to be delivered clearly here to Jason for us. We have to start there.
I am joking, but bigger than that, we have to play a really good game against them. If you are off in one area — your special teams are off, or your goaltending is off, or the detail in the five-on-five game is off — they have too good of a team. They will make you pay.
We have to put it all together tonight.
DeBoer on Steven Lorentz joining a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner:
Those two guys drive the line.
I am happy for Lorentz — good Waterloo-Kitchener boy who has had a really great journey through hockey. I like to see that. I like it when coaches reward guys like that for effort.
I don’t think it hurts the big players to get some of that directness and physicality in their game. We do that once in a while here, too. A lot of the times it sparks your big guys.
DeBoer on starting goaltender Jake Oettinger’s 0-3-0 record against the Leafs:
He is a proud guy. He knows what is at stake. He has been playing really good hockey for us.
You don’t get a bigger stage than in Toronto. I am sure you will see a good game out of him.
DeBoer on Chris Tanev:
I loved the guy. What you see is what you get every night. He never wavers. He knows what his game is and brings it to the rink every night.
He played through some really significant injuries with us in the playoffs. He was really compromised, and you’d never know it. There were some days when he could barely get his skates on, and he found a way to get out there and help us in a deep playoff run.
Just a warrior.
DeBoer on Jani Hakanpaa’s game when healthy:
He is the same. That was a really good signing by them in the summer if he is healthy. If he is healthy, he is a big guy who is physical and ends plays. Good penalty killer. Really good man. Good in the dressing room.
The only question is his health, but if he is healthy, he can be a really, really good player for them, particularly in the playoffs. He gave us some great minutes during my time there.
Berube on the expectations for his team tonight after a couple of losses in a row:
Just a more complete game. In the last game, I think we were pretty solid defensively, but we didn’t create enough offensively — power play included. We need to put it all together tonight.
At the same time, they are a stingy team. You have to take what they give you. We can’t open it up. We don’t want to play that way, either.
We just want to play a real solid hockey game for 60 minutes tonight. We need everybody. We can’t have any passengers tonight.
Berube on the expectation for Lorentz on the Matthews-Marner line:
Just bring energy to the line, more than anything — size, compete, and a pretty simple game. He is going to be at the net. He is going to forecheck for them. He is going to get in there and create loose pucks.
It’s just adding a little bit of energy to that line.
Berube on the message to Lorentz, who admitted he was nervous to play with Matthews and Marner:
Keep it simple. He doesn’t need to change his game. He just needs to do what he does. Matthews and Marner will do what they do. I don’t think he needs to force pucks or try to find them. Just keep playing your game and do your thing.
He’s a meat-and-potatoes guy who is going to go to the net, hound pucks, and create loose-puck battles for those guys. Sometimes, when you put a worker with two skilled players, they need that.
Lorentz on whether he has experienced a similar opportunity up the lineup in the league before:
There were some times in Carolina when someone would go down, and I would play with Sebastian Aho or Andrei Svechnikov. They are easy guys to play with. As good as they are — world-class talent — they are hard workers, too. As long as you are working hard and are on the same page with a similar mindset, good things will happen.
It is a good challenge. Not every day do you get to play with two of the top players in the world. It’s exciting.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (27-14-2) vs. Stars (27-14-1)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Dallas holds the advantage in four out of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#18 Steven Lorentz— #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#23 Matthew Knies — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
#24 Connor Dewar — #64 David Kampf — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson —#8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Max Pacioretty, Pontus Holmberg, Marshall Rifai
Injured (IR): Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
Dallas Stars Projected Lines
Forwards
#21 Jason Robertson — #24 Roope Hintz — #63 Evgenii Dadonov
#14 Jamie Benn — #95 Matt Duchene — #53 Wyatt Johnston
#18 Sam Steel — #22 Mavrik Bourque — #11 Logan Stankoven
#10 Oskar Back — #15 Colin Blackwell — #25 Matej Blumel
Defensemen
#4 Miro Heiskanen — #46 Ilya Lyubushkin
#23 Esa Lindell — #Nils Lundkvist
#55 Thomas Harley — #3 Matt Dumba
Goaltenders
Starter: #29 Jake Oettinger
#1 Casey DeSmith
Injured/Out: Tyler Seguin, Mason Marchment
