TAKEAWAYS: On the Maple Leafs’ lines and another strong Woll effort

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The Dallas Stars rarely lose at home.

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That meant little to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, who have a recent history themselves of winning in the Big D.

Backed by Joseph Woll and secondary scoring, the Leafs won 5-3, sending the Stars to just their fourth loss at the American Airlines Center.

The Leafs haven’t lost in Dallas since the 2016-17 season, winning in each of their past seven visits.

Our takeaways from the Leafs’ 20th victory of the season:

THIRD LINE DOMI-NATES

For good reason, much of the talk coming out of practice on Tuesday was the decision of coach Craig Berube to keep the Leafs’ top offensive talent — captain Auston Matthews between William Nylander and Mitch Marner — on one line after uniting that trio on Sunday against Buffalo.

Nylander scored two goals against the Stars, including one into an empty net, making him the first Leafs player to score 20 this season.

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It’s the Max Domi third line, however, that earned the spotlight. Berube is on to something with Domi centring Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson and, as it stands, that line should to stay together going forward.

Domi, Robertson and McMann all scored against the Stars, continuing to allay any fears about secondary scoring. Domi and Robertson also scored against the Sabres.

“They looked good,” Woll told reporters in Dallas. “A lot of skill, played fast and played the right way. It was good to see all three of them score. Pretty awesome.”

That production was crucial, as the Leafs as a whole didn’t provide a blueprint for a strong road game.

Final shots on goal were 39-19 for Dallas. That was the second most shots the Leafs have allowed in a game this season, and their 18 shots were the second-fewest they have had in one game.

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The Matthews line was on the ice for the first two Dallas goals, and Berube wasn’t about to let them off the hook.

“I know they got a goal and some chances and stuff,” Berube said. “For me, I think they were off a little bit, like a lot of our guys were. I don’t think they had their best game.”

Where Berube goes with that line will be intriguing.

There would be no hesitation in putting Matthew Knies back with Matthews and dropping Nylander back to the Tavares line, but on the other hand, does the coach give the Matthews group another shot?

Either way, it’s a good problem to have.

NICE CUP OF JOE

If there was any hand-wringing over the loss of goalie Anthony Stolarz for the next four to six weeks, keep one factor in mind: There is little drop-off, in any, in going to Woll from Stolarz.

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Woll made saves when absolutely necessary. A stop on a Roope Hintz breakaway came not long before Nylander tied the game 2-2 in the second period and got the Leafs going on the scoreboard.

In the third, the Leafs had a two-goal lead when Woll stretched across the crease to deny Miro Heiskanen. A Dallas goal there and the outcome is thrown into a bit of doubt.

“He was our best player,” Berube said. “He was really good.”

Woll out-shone his old friend Jake Oettinger, who was gone to start the third period. The Leafs beat Oettinger on four of their first eight shots. Casey DeSmith entered the Dallas net for the third.

There’s going to be an increased workload for Woll. Dennis Hildeby is the backup for now, and he’s likely to get a start as the Leafs play back-to-back this weekend, in Buffalo on Friday and at home against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

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The Leafs also will probably give veteran Matt Murray a look. With the Toronto Marlies, Murray had a 27-save shutout against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday and is 4-1-2 in eight games with a .931 save percentage.

The Leafs are in good hands with Woll. He’s 9-4-0 and raised his save percentage to .918. The asterisk with Woll would be if he can stay healthy. But when he has been in, there have been few problems with his body of work.

Woll has earned any confidence and optimism coming his way.

FOURTH-FUL EFFORT

We wouldn’t want to overlook the contributions of the fourth line.

Berube wants that trio to bring energy, be smart defensively and try to keep play in the offensive zone as much as possible.

Well, Pontus Holmberg and Connor Dewar might not need extra tickets for friends and family for the game in Buffalo. Each was a healthy scratch on Wednesday, and no one on the Leafs’ fourth line in Dallas did anything to warrant coming out of the lineup on Friday.

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Ryan Reaves made sure the Stars knew he was engaged in his 900th NHL game and led the Leafs with six hits.

Steven Lorentz was next with five hits.

David Kampf didn’t play like he had missed the previous 12 games with a lower-body injury. Activated earlier in the day from long-term injured reserve, Kampf won eight of his 11 faceoffs.

The line also had five of the Leafs’ 19 shots on goal.

In nearly seven minutes of five-on-five play for the Kampf group, the Leafs outshot the Stars 3-2.

The fourth line must stay out of danger and contribute where it can. On Wednesday, Kampf and his linemates did their job.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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