Overview
- Dallas beat Toronto 5-1 behind Jake Oettinger’s 27 saves, holding the Maple Leafs 0-for-4 on the power play and outscoring them 4-1 in the third-period push and empty-net sequence.
- Toronto’s record fell to 15-15-5, leaving the club near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and six points back of a playoff spot after consecutive defeats on the weekend.
- Coach Craig Berube has largely kept his top lines intact and labeled multiple goals in Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Nashville as “avoidable,” while Auston Matthews urged the group to stick with the process.
- The power play has sagged near 14% as execution and decision-making draw criticism, and a reporter observed GM Brad Treliving in a private pre-practice conversation with Berube during a tense stretch.
- Elsewhere in the East, Canadiens rookie Jacob Fowler posted his first NHL shutout against Pittsburgh on Saturday, then Sidney Crosby set the Penguins’ franchise points record in a shootout win Sunday to halt their eight-game winless run.