Stars make Leafs pay for mistakes
Poor decisions, penalty trouble ruin strong effort in Dallas
Last Updated: Thursday, October 29, 2009 | 1:31 AM ET
By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports
Bad habits that contributed to the worst start in franchise history remain part of the Toronto Maple Leafs' game.
A failed clearing attempt by Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek led to a juicy rebound that found the stick of James Neal, who poked the puck into an open net at 2:57 of overtime to seal a 4-3 Dallas Stars win.
Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson stopped Stephane Robidas's shot from long range, but Neal skated hard to the net to knock in the rebound for his seventh goal of the season — and the first of his career in overtime.
"It's a huge goal for him," Stars head coach Marc Crawford said. "We had talked all game long about playing a young goaltender that … there are rebounds that will spray out.
"It took us all that time to get one and James was the benefactor by having a good habit and being in the right spot. When you do that, good things happen."
Toronto blue-liner Francois Beauchemin, who like Komisarek was signed as a free agent in the off-season, allowed the opposition to score the first goal — for the 10th consecutive Leafs game to start the NHL season — when he didn't get a puck out of his team's end in the second period.
Stars capitalize
Penalty trouble, which has also cost the Maple Leafs dearly on the young season, helped the home side to an early lead in the third. Brad Richards, with his second goal of the night on a one-timer, put the Stars up 2-1 as Toronto's Alex Ponikarovsky and Komisarek sat in the box.
The Leafs appeared on their way to consecutive victories following a 0-7-1 start, but Mike Ribeiro forced OT after tipping a Jamie Benn point shot over the glove of Gustavsson, who earned his first NHL win in Monday's 6-3 doubling of Anaheim.
"With five minutes left in [regulation] and up a goal, you have to find ways to close those games out," said Toronto forward Jason Blake, who tied a career high with three assists. "It's a tough one to take, giving up a late goal, but you learn from that and move forward."
The Stars ended a four-game stretch of overtime futility this season. Dallas lost three shootouts and once in overtime before earning the extra point against Toronto.
"Any tight game, obviously it's still early in the season, but that's the type of hockey you want to play in the playoffs," Robidas said.
Turco wins goalie battle
Gustavsson, who made 32 saves, was solid early in the extra period but the big rebound proved costly and spoiled a hard-fought effort by Toronto, which saw its record slip to 1-1-1 on a five-game road trip that continues against Buffalo on Friday.
Gustavsson's Stars counterpart Marty Turco turned aside 33 of 36 shots to help Dallas to back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
He kept the visitors off the score sheet with a 10-save effort in the opening 20 minutes, while his teammates managed two shots and none in the final 14 minutes and eight seconds of the period.
Strong rebound control was the key to Turco's performance but it eluded him at 13:11 of the third period when a routine shot by Jason Blake bounced off Turco's blocker.
Nikolai Kulemin, who was driving the net, banged the puck home for his second goal of the game to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 edge. The Russian left-winger hadn't scored in his previous eight contests.
The Stars broke up a scoreless game at 15:13 of the second period, capitalizing on a fortunate bounce when Richards banked in a sharp-angled shot off the skate of Maple Leafs defenceman Ian White. Toronto tied it 1-1 at 17:00 of the second when Kulemin stuffed the rebound of his own shot past Turco.
Lee Stempniak, who collected a career-best four points in Monday's win over the Ducks, also scored for Toronto.
Matt Niskanen set up a pair of goals for the Stars, who improved to 6-2-4 on the season and have eight wins in the past 11 meetings with Toronto.
Dallas centre Steve Ott served the first game of a two-game suspension for a low hit on St. Louis's Carlo Colaiacovo on Saturday night.
The Leafs' road trip wraps up with back-to-back games against Buffalo and Montreal on Friday and Saturday.
With files from The Associated Press
