Enough already.
Regarding the Maple Leafs’ owning of the Dallas Stars, Peter DeBoer would like to see it come to an end.
Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena would be nice, DeBoer figured.
You have to go back to pre-pandemic days to find the most recent Stars win against the Leafs. It came nearly five years ago, on Feb. 13, 2020, in Toronto in a 3-2 final.
Since then, the Leafs have beaten the Stars in seven consecutive meetings, including a 5-3 decision in Dallas on Dec. 18. It’s the Leafs’ longest active winning streak against an opponent.
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“They seem to have our number,” DeBoer said after the Stars morning skate. “You have to play a really good game against them. If you’re off in one area, if your special teams are off or your goaltending is off, or the detail in your five-on-five game is off, they have too good a team, they will make you pay.
“We have to put it all together here tonight.”
Leafs coach Craig Berube was hitting the same note on Tuesday morning, though for different reasons.
After losing to Carolina on Thursday and Vancouver on Saturday while being outscored by a total of 9-3, the Leafs have little choice but to rebound.
A loss to Dallas would mark the first time in 2024-25 season that Toronto has been defeated in three consecutive games in regulation.
“Just a more complete game,” Berube said of his expectations from his team. “Last game, 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, so you have to take what they give you and we can’t open it up. We don’t want to play that way either. We just need a really good, solid hockey game for 60 minutes tonight. We need everybody. We can’t have any passengers.”
The Stars have allowed an average of 2.48 goals a game, third-best in the National Hockey League behind Los Angeles (2.41) and Winnipeg (2.45). The Leafs are 11th at 2.82.
Joseph Woll will start in the Leafs net against one of his best friends in the game, the Stars’ Jake Oettinger.
In moving energetic and physical fourth-line winger Steven Lorentz to the Leafs’ top line, Berube is seeking to light a fire under captain Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
What is Berube’s message to Lorentz in promoting him in the lineup?
“Keep it simple, that’s what I say to him,” Berube said. “He doesn’t need to change his game. He just needs to do what he does.
“Matthews and Marner, they’ll do what they do. I don’t think he needs to try to force pucks and try to find them and things like that. Sometimes when you put a worker with two skilled guys like that, meat-and-potatoes guy — go to the net, hound pucks, create loose pucks, battles for these guys — sometimes they need that.”
It’s another tilt, too, between brothers Nick and Jason Robertson. Not only does Nick have a big edge in team victories, he has been more productive than his older brother in games between the teams.
Nick Robertson has three goals and one assist in five career games against Dallas; Jason Robertson has no goals and four assists in eight career games against Toronto. The Leafs are one of three teams, as well as New Jersey and Utah, that Jason Robertson has not scored against in his NHL career.
DeBoer’s next win will be his 640th in the NHL as a head coach. It will move him into 19th on the career list, one ahead of Jacques Martin.
“Our Robertson has to outplay their Robertson for the first time,” DeBoer deadpanned. “That message is going to be delivered clearly here to Jason for us. We’re got to start there. Obviously, I’m joking.”
Berube provided an update, meanwhile, on Calle Jarnkrok. The winger hasn’t played in a game this season after undergoing sports hernia surgery in November.
“He’s a ways away, but he is progressing in the right direction, skating a little bit now, which is a good sign,” Berube said. “We’ll see how it goes here in the next two weeks and then we’d have more of a definitive timeline.”
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