TORONTO — The Stars still haven’t been beaten — but only if you choose to believe they beat themselves on Thursday night in Toronto.
The Stars took eight penalties during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, as Dallas lost its first game under Pete DeBoer following a 3-0-0 start. Nick Robertson — Jason’s younger brother — scored the second of his two goals with 1:14 left in overtime to lift Toronto past the Stars.
Luke Glendening and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars as Scott Wedgewood made 40 saves in his first start of the season.
The Stars take on the Canadiens on Saturday night in Montreal.
On Thursday night, the Stars spent 13:40 on the penalty kill, as they killed seven of the eight Leafs power plays, including one that dipped into overtime.
“The bottom line was the penalties were the story of the game for me,” DeBoer said. “I’m sure there’s some little things we can look at. But that was the story. We found a way to get out of here with a point on a night where you shot yourself in the foot in taking too many.”
Dallas took five penalties in the second period alone, a frame that allowed the Maple Leafs back into the game after the Stars controlled the first period.
Miro Heiskanen was called for back-to-back penalties, a tripping call that Alex Kerfoot scored on and a roughing one that Dallas killed. Jason Robertson ended a Stars power play prematurely with a needles interference call behind the Stars net. Wyatt Johnston had a tough shift that included a turnover and a holding penalty. Mason Marchment ended the frame with an ill-advised roughing penalty.
In the third period, Jani Hakanpää was called for roughing Auston Matthews. Glendening was given an interference penalty when Mark Giordano crashed into the boards.
“We deserved most of them,” DeBoer said. “There was a couple I was disappointed in. The Glendening one at the end, I thought the guy tripped on his own. But we can’t put ourselves in positions to even have questionable calls go against you.
Though the Stars are only four games into the season, taking too many penalties is already an issue.
Entering Thursday, they served up 14 power plays in the first three games. Now, that number is up to 22.
“Just took ourselves out of the game with penalties,” DeBoer said. “It’s that simple. Two games in a row. It’s not a problem yet, but it’s a concern and we’ve got to get it fixed.”
Seguin: “Obviously, I think there were some that definitely didn’t agree with. Thought the PK did a great job. We’re taking so many penalties, it’s hard for anyone to really stay in a rhythm.”
The pity for the Stars is that they were probably the better team at 5 on 5.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Dallas had more shot attempts (50-35), scoring chances (28-19), high-danger chances (10-9) and expected goals (1.84-1.39) than Toronto. The Leafs outshot the Stars 20-19 at 5 on 5.
“We didn’t play 5 on 5 long enough,” DeBoer said.
Last year, the Stars were one of the least-penalized teams in the NHL, as they spent the fourth-fewest time shorthanded in the league. Typically, teams that don’t possess the puck take the most penalties because they are chasing the game and trying to force turnovers.
This year’s Stars under DeBoer have tried to possess the puck more and have trailed for just 12:14 all season, which makes the issue a bit more perplexing.
Nevertheless, the Stars squeezed a point out of Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night, a consolation prize on night when they were their own worst enemy.
“Had we been able to stay out of the box,” DeBoer said, “I liked our chances of winning the game.”
Wedgewood’s first: Wedgewood served as Jake Oettinger’s backup for the first three games of the season as Oettinger ripped out to a 3-0-0 start to go with a .966 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average.
“We need to get him in,” DeBoer said. “When we were planning out the season, we wanted to make sure we got him in every two or three games. This is already four. With the way Otter’s playing, you can make a case he could play every night. It’s a long season, and Wedgie is going to be a big part of this going forward. Hometown, he’s excited to play. It’s the right time to do it.”
Wedgewood made eight starts for Dallas last season, including a 37-save performance in an overtime loss to Toronto on April 7.
Rising up: There aren’t many people in hockey that have seen Marchment’s hockey career more than Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe previously coached the AHL Toronto Marlies when Marchment played there, prior to his breakout with the Panthers last year.
Marchment had 72 points in 130 AHL games. Last year in Florida, he had 47 points in 54 games.
“There’s probably not a lot of people in hockey that had a lot of belief in his ability to get there,” Keefe said. “Started out as a guy, coming out of junior hockey, you weren’t quite sure what he was going to be.”
Early impressions: The Stars have looked different on the ice to their fans in the early going. What about to opposing coaches?
“A lot more aggressive on offense, I would say, for sure,” Keefe said. “That’s noticeable. Still, though, have good attention to detail defensively and are not giving up a lot. They seem to have another step or two in terms of their pace of play, but it’s early in the season, so I don’t know if you draw too many conclusions from all of that.”
