The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to overcome their recent struggles and the Dallas Stars Friday night in the Lone Star State.
Winger Antti Miettinen scored the game-winning goal in the second period to hand the Stars a 3-1 win against the Leafs.
Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala, right, reaches for a shot by Stars forward Brenden Morrow Friday night in Dallas.
(Matt Slocum/Associated Press)
Miettinen stole the puck form Leaf defencemen Tomas Kaberle, who wasn't expecting a pass from partner Andrew Wozniewski, and deked goaltender Vesa Toskala at 15:31.
"It was just a misunderstanding from both of us," Kaberle said. "We've just got to make sure it's not going to happen again. Right now we can't do anything about it but talk it over on the plane."
Centre Jeff Halpern then bounced in an empty-net goal with 40 seconds left in the game to end any hope of a Leaf comeback.
Veteran Mike Modano assisted on Halpern's goal, stretching his record for points by a U.S.-born player to 1,240.
The frustrating season continues for the Leafs, who are 1-3-2 in their last six games, including a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
Toronto is also a paltry 7-17-0 against Western Conference teams in the last three years.
The Leafs, who took in the Dallas Cowboys-New York Jets NFL game on Thursday, play 10 of the next 15 games on the road, where Toronto's record sits at 4-5-1.
Since firing general manager Doug Armstrong and replacing him with former Star Brett Hull and assistant GM Les Jackson, Dallas has won four straight, outscoring its opponents 13-3 during that stretch.
The Stars are coming off a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
"With new general managers, I think everybody is trying to prove he can play," said Mike Ribeiro.
While he wasn't tested often, goalie Marty Turco made 18 saves. Turco was back in goal after backup Mike Smith started and won the previous three games.
"We've been playing sound hockey," Turco said. "We're doing little things that add up to the big picture."
Toskala stopped 22 shots in his third straight start for the Leafs.
Toronto opened with a 1-0 lead just 3:05 into the first period after Alexei Ponikarovsky's wrist shot beat Turco.
The Stars tied the game more than three minutes into the second as Ribeiro turned and fired a puck that trickled through the pads of Toskala and across the goal-line.
"When I was growing up, Montreal-Toronto was a big rivalry," said Ribeiro, who had eight goals and eight assists in 22 games against Toronto over six seasons with Montreal. "I've always liked playing against Toronto."
The Stars played without right winger Jere Lehtinen, who is sidelined indefinitely by an abdominal strain. But coach Dave Tippett said after the game that Lehtinen might not need surgery as the club originally thought.
"We'll continue to look at it," Tippett said. "We'll do some tests and see how it reacts over the next few days."
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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