Leafs becoming offensive juggernaut in second straight win Four games into the new NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the league’s highest scoring team. But on Tuesday night in Dallas it was also a solid forecheck and improved defensive game that helped them earn a 7-4 win over the Stars, TSN Maple Leafs Reporter Kristen Shilton writes.

Kristen Shilton TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter Follow|Archive

Auston Matthews and John Tavares led the way again for the Maple Leafs in a pair of two-goal nights as Toronto downed the Dallas Stars 7-4 on Tuesday night. Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly were also big contributors with four points each in the win (Rielly's four assists were a career-high), as Toronto earned back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

TAKEAWAYS

Matthews keeps motoring

Auston Matthews said during the summer he was hoping to register more assists than goals this season. And maybe he will, by the end of the campaign. But four games into this season, Matthews has more than double the number of goals (seven) as helpers (three) to lead not only the Leafs in goals, but the entire NHL field. He scored his sixth and seventh of the season against Dallas, marking his fourth straight game with a goal and his fourth straight multi-point game. On the first, Matthews once again took advantage of new linemate Kasperi Kapanen’s skill, as he did in Sunday’s two-goal performance in Chicago.

With the Leafs and Stars tied in the first period, Kapanen spied Matthews in the right circle and teed him up with a back-hand pass assist. With the score, Matthews became the sixth Leafs’ player to score at least one goal in each of the franchise’s first four games (the last player to do it was Clarke MacArthur in 2010-11). The 21-year-old didn’t stop there. He took advantage of a bad roughing penalty against Jamie Benn to send home another goal from his new office in the left circle on the Leafs’ top power play. With that, Matthews joined Harry Cameron (1917-18) and Sweeney Schriner (1944-45) as the only Leafs to tally multiple points in each of the team’s first four games of the season.

Being able to anticipate what’s coming and get his shot off so quickly has always been a staple of Matthews’ game, but he’s evolved that even further to require seemingly no time at all to pick his spot on net and surprise goaltenders with an even faster release than before. Matthews was never a player that lacked in confidence. But with his skating also further improved from last season he moves around the ice with such ease and determination that he’s difficult to stop. And with Tavares acting as the perfect one-two offensive punch with Matthews, the Leafs are slowly starting to look like the juggernaut they were expected to be. Matthews finished the night minus-1 with four shots on goal, while Tavares had an even rating with three shots.

Hustle and hard work

In the first week of this regular season, Toronto has made a bad habit out of chasing the puck in their end, especially early in games. That happened again in the first against Dallas, where the Leafs went from solid to lacklustre defensively in a matter of minutes. But unlike in previous games, that stretch was only an aberration for Toronto, a blip they smoothly recovered from to take control of the period from there. The Leafs established a forecheck and were winning battles they’d been prone to losing in the first three games.

Dallas entered Tuesday’s game boasting a 2-0-0 record and with goaltender Ben Bishop having given up only one goal against in two starts, fewest in the NHL. Bishop ended up ceding two goals to the Leafs before the first period was over, thanks to strong play by the Leafs offence and special teams. Coach Mike Babcock had chided his team last week for putting their talent ahead of their work, and Tuesday’s game was the first time those two elements felt more balanced. As the game wore on, the Leafs got key contributions from Kapanen and Zach Hyman winning races to the puck to negate icings, both of which resulted in goals (for Ron Hainsey and Tavares respectively). Hyman had his best game of the season by far, doing the lion’s share of the work in front of the net to not only screen Bishop but feed the pass Marner would score on. The overall physicality was lacking on both sides, but the Leafs forwards weren’t jumping out of their zone too quickly looking for stretch passes and overall supported their back end better, which led to more positive plays through the neutral zone and winning the possession battle at 52 per cent.

Andersen wins big in Big D

Frederik Andersen played career game No. 260 on Tuesday, and on that night recorded the 150th victory of his NHL tenure. To get there, Andersen had to survive an early push by the Stars in the first period, particularly on a terrific chance for Tyler Seguin, to keep Toronto from getting behind early. What also helped was a little luck on Andersen’s part after his miscue overskating a puck behind the net very nearly turned into a goal, but Mattias Janmark sent the puck through Andersen’s legs across the crease to keep the Leafs ahead 1-0.

It wasn’t until the Leafs committed a bad line change and confusion ensued at Toronto’s blueline that Dallas solved Andersen, courtesy of an Alex Radulov wrister. Then Seguin out-raced Hainsey to a loose puck in the neutral zone and took off on a breakaway to beat Andersen five-hole and tie the game again midway through the second period. On John Klingberg’s goal, Dallas’ fourth, Andersen looked to have his stick tied up by Benn in front of the net, but the Leafs’ challenge on the play was unsuccessful and briefly made it a one-goal game in the third before Toronto took over.

Solid, if not spectacular, Andersen made the saves Toronto needed and was helped by the outpouring of offence generated in front of him, as well as a more cohesive defensive showing. Andersen finished with 30 saves and an .882 save percentage.

All-powerful power plays

The Leafs entered Tuesday’s second period clinging to a one-goal lead. By late in the frame, they were leading 5-2 after scoring three goals in 5:01, two of which came on the power play. First it was Matthews beating Bishop, then Tavares finished off a superb individual play by Marner to pot his sixth goal of the year. That top power play unit for Toronto has scored five goals in Toronto’s first four games, with at least a goal in each. Going into the night, Dallas and Toronto were tied with the second-best power plays in the NHL (42.9 per cent), and both sides proved potent with the extra attacker. When Patrick Marleau went to the box for hooking, Benn needed little time to light the lamp against Toronto’s penalty kill in the Stars’ only power play opportunity. The Leafs finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage. But not relying on special teams will continue to be a focus for the Leafs, who saw an example on Tuesday of how much they can help, and hurt, in a hurry.

Cause for concern?

While the Leafs have scored 20 goals to start this season, they’ve also given up 17 goals against. It leaves a tiny margin of error Toronto, and as the NHL continues tightening up in the coming weeks, the Leafs have to be cautious defensively before those close games start slipping through their fingers.

Blue & White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Tavares and Matthews have scored 13 goals between them to start the season, while the rest of the Leafs combined have scored seven. Tavares has multiple goals in each of his last two games.

Match game

How the Leafs matched up against the Stars

Benn-Seguin-Radulov vs. Hyman-Tavares-Marner

Shore-Faksa-Pitlick vs. Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen

Janmark-Spezza-Comeau vs. Lindholm-Kadri-Brown

Nichushkin-Hintz-Ritchie vs. Leivo-Gauthier-Ennis

Next game

Toronto continues its four-game road trip on Thursday in Detroit. ​