Nylander extends goal streak to five in Maple Leafs win against Stars
via NHL.com
William Nylander extended his goal streak to five games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-3 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.
Nylander gave Toronto a 4-2 lead at 3:28 of the third period when he scored off the rebound of a Jake Muzzin shot.
“Maybe I’ve just been having the mentality to shoot a little more, I think,” said Nylander, who has scored five times during the streak and has five goals and three assists during a six-game point streak. “Once you’re scoring, you feel confident in your shot, so I think that’s when I keep shooting the puck.”
After Alexander Radulov got Dallas within 4-3 at 6:26 with his second of the night, Andreas Johnsson scored into an empty net with three seconds left for the 5-3 final.
Johnsson, Auston Matthews and Tyson Barrie each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (27-17-7), who have won two straight and are 3-3-2 in their past eight games. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves.
“It was good,” Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman said. “We knew that we needed to start getting on the right side of games, especially coming off the break.”
They said it
“It was a hard game. They are a really good team. We had a big kill at the end, I think it was five minutes left or whatever it was. The last two minutes were a grind, and they pushed, but [Frederik Andersen] made a couple of huge saves. It was big to hold on there.” — Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman
“We need to keep doing that. We’re chasing in the standings. This is a [Stanley Cup] Playoff push right now, so we have to be sharp every game.” — Maple Leafs forward William Nylander
“We had enough chances tonight, got three goals, and they made some good saves. But [the offensive] end will take care of itself if we take care of our end, and we didn’t do that tonight. We just weren’t as committed to that tonight as we have been.” — Stars coach Rick Bowness
Need to know
The Maple Leafs have scored at least four goals in eight straight road games, the longest such streak in their history. … Marner has 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in the past 12 games. … It was Radulov’s third multigoal game of the season. His 15 goals are tied for the Stars lead with forward Roope Hintz, who did not play because of an upper-body injury. … Spezza played 8:42 in his first game against the Stars since signing with the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2019, after five seasons with Dallas.
What’s next
Maple Leafs: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NHL.TV)
Stars: At the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)
The @MapleLeafs have scored 4+ goals in each of their last eight road games – the longest such run in franchise history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/fb6a58dhzv
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 30, 2020
Shone big & bright.
Tonight's @OntarioLottery Game Winning Numbers from Dallas.#LeafsForever #BellLetsTalk pic.twitter.com/lu8taoLmrP
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) January 30, 2020