DALLAS -- For 32 seconds near the end of the second period of the Stars’ 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, it looked like a guarantee that the Stars would score.
They were given a lengthy 5-on-3 power play. Mitch Marner broke his stick blocking a shot, leaving the Leafs with just two players with functioning sticks. And the Stars swung the puck side-to-side to set up one-timers.
But Matt Murray had other ideas.
The Maple Leafs goaltender stopped every shot he faced during the sequence — and every other Dallas shot on Tuesday night. Murray finished with 44 saves, as the Stars were shut out for the first time since Game 1 against the Flames in the spring.
The 44 shots on goal were the most this season for Dallas.
With the shutout, Jason Robertson’s 18-game point streak ended. Marner extended his to 20 games with a first-period assist on John Tavares’ goal. Auston Matthews scored after a Jani Hakanpää turnover and failed coverage from Denis Gurianov. Rasmus Sandin pounced on a loose puck to score in the second period.
Jake Oettinger made 25 saves in the loss.
As the Stars have transformed into one of the league’s best offensive teams under new coach Pete DeBoer — after years of being one of the NHL’s worst offenses — they haven’t had many struggles scoring. They’ve erased big leads with ease, and have rode a sizzling power play some nights.
On Tuesday, they went 0 for 7 on the power play and are now 0 for 11 in the last two games. They didn’t score during a 5 on 3 that lasted 1:38. They didn’t score on a four-minute power play either.
The Stars fired 19 shots with the man-advantage, and none could beat Murray.
Murray set the tone for his performance in the first period, when he stopped three Dallas odd-man rushes within minutes of each other. First, it was Tyler Seguin’s bid on a feed from Mason Marchment. Then Radek Faksa and Ty Dellandrea’s shorthanded rush was fruitless. So was Joel Kiviranta, Miro Heiskanen and Seguin’s 3-on-1 rush on the penalty kill.
In the second period, Kiviranta’s shorthanded breakaway was also stoned by Murray.
Then came the 5 on 3. Dallas had five shots on goal, including three in the final four seconds when Marner was stickless.
Entering the game, Marner and Robertson were the story. It was the first time in NHL history that two opponents carried point streaks of at least 18 games. Marner’s was a franchise record streak. Robertson’s was the longest in Dallas Stars history, and two shy of Brian Bellow’s 20-game franchise record.
Asked before the game what it was like with Marner’s point streak coming into town, Robertson said with a laugh “Doesn’t matter to me, I have my own.”
“They’re hot right now, so it’s important to know who’s on the ice tonight,” he added.
With a goal on Tuesday, he would have become only the eighth player in NHL history with at least 22 goals during a point streak of at least 19 games. Six of them are Hall of Famers: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Bryan Trottier and Bobby Hull. The other will be one when he retires: Sidney Crosby.
Gretzky owns the all-time record with a 51-game point streak during the 1983-84 season. (When counting games from the 1982-83 season, the streak reached 60 games, but the NHL only recognizes single-season streaks.)
DeBoer said he talked to Robertson on Tuesday morning about his place in hockey history.
“I thought I might catch him with who had the longest streak in history just to put it in perspective for himself, the difference between Gretzky at 51 and where these guys are,” DeBoer said. “My point was ‘Boy, this is really impressive what both of you guys have done, and it feels like you’ve scored every night for a long time, and Gretzky’s record is still 30-someodd games down the road.’ It’s an incredible number when you think about it.”
Tuesday was just the Stars’ second regulation loss since Nov. 11.
The Stars have lost consecutive games four times this season. They have not had a three-game losing streak.
Lundkvist back in: Defenseman Nils Lundkvist returned to the lineup after a three-game hiatus as a healthy scratch, replacing Joel Hanley. Lundkvist last played at Colorado on Nov. 26.
Lundkvist also played on the second power play unit, taking some time from Denis Gurianov on the left flank, before replacing Ryan Suter at the point. He rotated with Suter at the point during practice on Monday.
“I think his skill set is probably better for being up top than on the flank, although we did play him on the flank,” DeBoer said. “I think long-term, that’s where he’s going to play. That is an option that we’ll start to at least have him as a possibility there, depending on how things are going. The power play’s been pretty good, so don’t want to screw around with it too much.”
Oettinger’s crease: Goaltender Jake Oettinger started against the Maple Leafs, one game after he allowed four goals in two periods to Minnesota before he was pulled. DeBoer said he talked with Oettinger on Monday morning before practice.
“I like allowing my goalies to battle through,” DeBoer said. “I don’t believe in pulling goalies quickly. That’s not my philosophy. Sometimes, it’s performance-related when we do it, and sometimes, it’s not. It’s to give the team a spark. I think [Sunday], it was more the latter. I told him I didn’t love the first goal, but other than that, I didn’t think he could do much on the other ones.”
Since returning from a lower-body injury on Nov. 11, Oettinger entered Tuesday with a .895 save percentage and 3.29 goals against average in 10 games played.
— Stars prospect Logan Stankoven was invited to Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp on Monday. He is expected to make the team for the second straight time.
