James van Riemsdyk scored a hat trick, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Dallas Stars 6-5 in a shootout at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
The Maple Leafs trail the Boston Bruins by seven points for second place in the Atlantic Division and are 14 points ahead of the fourth-place Florida Panthers.
“I just try to get to the good spots on the ice where you can score goals and I’m playing with some smart players that know how to get the puck to those areas,” said van Riemsdyk, who has 29 goals, one ahead of Auston Matthews for the Toronto lead. “I got some good puck luck tonight and was able to capitalize on my chances.”
The Stars took over the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference but were not satisfied with earning one point after leading 4-2 following the second period and 5-4 before Patrick Marleau’s tying goal with 16 seconds left in the third. He deflected a shot from Mitchell Marner in the slot to make it 5-5.
“That was a big point to give away,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said. “I mean we obviously needed it a lot more than them. It’s disappointing.”
Nazem Kadri scored, and Tyler Bozak and Marner scored in the shootout for the Maple Leafs (41-22-7), who won their 11th straight home game, the most in their history.
🎩🎩🎩
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🎩🎩🎩 https://t.co/C4JKyXsTv8— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
Bring. On. The. Hats. #DALvsTOR | #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/rWoS4hyJgi
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
GOAL. #DALvsTOR pic.twitter.com/yR2ZIlRvYr
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
Hey. #NHLOT pic.twitter.com/Mids3TO41I
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
The goal that got us to #NHLOT#DALvsTOR | #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/FM9WjUGmkw
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
First Star: @JVReemer21 #StandWitness pic.twitter.com/9mHxhRY2uq
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018
Morgan & Marleau. #StandWitness pic.twitter.com/4REPpOpDWB
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 15, 2018