Dallas skates to 8-2 win

TORONTO - Almost six minutes remained on the clock when the tenor of the jeering shifted to disgust from mere disquiet.

Toronto Maple Leafs fans had been warned their club might be a little tired but not comatose like it was in the first period Tuesday night.

The Leafs were down 4-0 - which seemed like rock bottom until the Dallas Stars found another drill with which to probe even deeper. There was a stretch in the second period when the Leafs had registered nine shots on net, but had allowed seven goals.

Toronto suffered its worst loss of the season in its last game before the Christmas break, an 8-2 defeat in front of a stunned Air Canada Centre crowd. Goaltender Vesa Toskala was, mercifully, relieved in the second period by Curtis Joseph after allowing seven goals on 27 shots.

"It's just one game on the calendar," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. "It's not any reason to overreact or second-guess anything. You could see this coming. We were playing a fresh team. Had they played (Monday) night, it might have been a little fairer for us, but it wasn't, so you just deal with it and move on."

Dallas forward James Neal recorded his first career hat trick. Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Leafs, but only after Dallas eased up on the pedal.

Toronto goaltenders had been a hot topic of discussion long before the opening faceoff. Prospect Justin Pogge had earned the first win of his National Hockey League career on Monday in a 6-2 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta, an audition that appeared to merit a second look.

Toskala missed the game with a tender groin. Joseph had been struggling, allowing 10 goals in his previous two appearances in relief. And when the Leafs held an abbreviated morning skate Tuesday - their flight from Atlanta had only arrived at about 1 a.m. - only Pogge and Toskala participated.

Wilson opted not to address the media in the morning. His pending decision was instead left open to speculation. Pogge was listed a healthy scratch, and it might have been in his best interest.

Wilson first identified the game as a concern last week. Toronto had capped its first three-game winning streak of the season, but the coach cast a wary eye into the future, knowing the Leafs would face the Stars after playing three games in five days on the road.

Dallas had not played since Saturday night. The Stars were ranked 14th in the Western Conference standings, after opening the season with a rash of injuries and one major distraction: the now-suspended Sean Avery.

But they were rested, and they were beginning to return to health. It quickly became obvious just how significant their advantage would be - skating circles around their weary hosts like they were on a permanent power play.


Dallas scored on its third shot of the game when winger Neal buried a rebound behind Toskala. The Stars continued to press, building a 2-0 lead five minutes later when the Leafs could not clear the zone, allowing forward Mike Ribeiro to fire a beautiful pass from the side boards to linemate Steve Ott, who had parked himself in an empty space next to the post.

The Leafs looked exhausted. They lost battles for the puck, staggered around in their own end, struggled mightily on the breakout and, on the third goal, failed to slow an opposing forward. Fabian Brunnstrom gave the Stars a 3-0 lead midway through the first period when he broke in, swooped behind defenceman Jeff Finger and beat Toskala on the far side.

It was only the seventh shot Toskala faced.

Brad Richards gave Dallas a 4-0 lead on the power play four minutes later. Krystopher Barch and Ribeiro also tallied for Dallas.