Overview
- Dallas beat Toronto 5-1 on Sunday, capping a back-to-back that followed a 5-3 loss to Nashville and extending the Leafs’ rough stretch after dropping four of their previous five.
- Head coach Craig Berube kept his top lines intact and, after the Predators game, lamented goals against that he called avoidable, pointing to decision-making and puck management.
- Toronto’s power play sits near the bottom of the league around 14 percent despite new looks with Easton Cowan and Nick Robertson, and a tense recent practice emphasized defensive drills over special-teams work.
- Visible organizational strain included a private pre-practice conversation between GM Brad Treliving and Berube, and the team scratched Max Domi in the Nashville game amid ongoing lineup tinkering.
- In a contrasting storyline, Canadiens rookie Jacob Fowler earned his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 win over the Penguins, who are winless in eight as Sidney Crosby remains one point shy of Mario Lemieux’s franchise scoring mark.