Toronto Maple Leafs (45-19-6, second in the Atlantic) vs. Dallas Stars (40-26-3, fifth in the Central)
Dallas; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Auston Matthews and Toronto square off against Dallas. He currently ranks fourth in the in the NHL with 95 points, scoring 54 goals and recording 41 assists.
The Stars are 22-9-1 at home. Dallas serves 7.0 penalty minutes per game, the least in the league. Jamie Benn leads the team averaging 1.1.
The Maple Leafs have gone 20-12-4 away from home. Toronto ranks second in the league recording 10.4 points per game, averaging 3.8 goals and 6.6 assists.
In their last meeting on March 15, Toronto won 4-0. John Tavares recorded a team-high 2 points for the Maple Leafs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Joe Pavelski has 68 total points for the Stars, 25 goals and 43 assists. Roope Hintz has seven goals and two assists over the last 10 games for Dallas.
Michael Bunting leads the Maple Leafs with a plus-24 in 70 games this season. Matthews has nine goals over the last 10 games for Toronto.
LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 7-3-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.9 assists, 2.5 penalties and 5.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .908 save percentage.
Maple Leafs: 7-2-1, averaging 4.7 goals, 7.3 assists, 4.1 penalties and 10.6 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game with an .894 save percentage.
INJURIES: Stars: Esa Lindell: day to day (upper-body).
Maple Leafs: Jake Muzzin: day to day (concussion), Petr Mrazek: out (groin), William Nylander: day to day (illness).
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