Bourque scores 1st hat trick, Stars rally past Maple Leafs with 3 goals in 3rd

TORONTO -- Mavrik Bourque scored his first NHL hat trick and had an assist, and the Dallas Stars rallied for a 6-5 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

Bourque completed the hat trick to put the Stars ahead 6-5 at 14:52 of the third period. Alexander Petrovic sent a shot from the right point that was tipped in front by Matt Duchene, and Bourque shoveled the loose puck over the goal line at the top of the crease.

“I feel like I don’t really realize it right now,” Bourque said. “I haven’t been getting many hat tricks in junior or the AHL (American Hockey League), so I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel real to get a hat trick in the NHL.”

The goal was the third in 6:34 span to overcome a 5-3 deficit in the third.

Wyatt Johnston scored his 45th of the season to cut it to 5-4 at 8:18 on the power play when he took a pass in the slot from Mikko Rantanen and shot over Artur Akhtyamov’s blocker.

Dallas tied it 5-5 at 9:38 on an own goal by Troy Stecher. Arttu Hyry was credited with the goal after Stecher stole the puck from him during a battle but then backhanded the puck past Akhtyamov from in front.

Jason Robertson extended his goal streak to four games and had an assist, and Duchene had three assists for the Stars (49-20-12), who have won four in a row and five of six. Casey DeSmith made 22 saves. 

Dallas will face the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“We weren’t great but they came out firing and then we were able to get a couple quick ones and we stuck with it,” Duchene said. “I think that’s the good part but that doesn’t surprise me. At the end of the day, you don’t want to give up five goals against anyone in this League… You never know what kind of game we will have to win in the playoffs and I like the stick-to-itiveness we had.”

William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Jacob Quillan scored his first NHL goal for the Maple Leafs (32-35-14), who have lost six straight (0-5-1). Matthew Knies had two assists, and Akhtyamov made 27 saves. 

Toronto has already been eliminated from playoff contention.

“I was disappointed, we get a 3-0 lead and we give it back to them that quickly on the second period just on mistakes, coverage. We’re right there but not close enough,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “It’s disappointing on my end for sure.”

John Tavares gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:14 of the first period. Dallas defenseman Tyler Myers played the puck out in front and Tavares chipped it past DeSmith's blocker after a scrum.

Quillan made it 2-0 at 14:35. Steven Lorentz attempted a wrap-around at the right post, and the puck slid underneath a diving DeSmith before deflecting in off Quillan's right skate as he crashed the net.

“That was pretty cool,” Quillan said. “I kind of blacked out a bit. I got a little nervous it was going to get called kicking but I just put my hands in the air and it felt good.”

Nylander pushed the lead to 3-0 at 15:51. Jake McCabe's one-timer from above the right face-off circle bounced off DeSmith and then Nylander in front, where he batted the puck out of midair through the five-hole. McCabe's assist was his 200th NHL point (40 goals, 160 assists).

The Stars scored three unanswered goals in the second period to even the game.

Bourque cut the deficit to 3-1 just 52 seconds into the second when he snuck a wrist shot through Akhtyamov's pads from low in the left circle after intercepting a pass from Nylander.

Bourque brought Dallas to within 3-2 with his second goal of the period at 5:31. Robertson put a backhander on net from the right circle and Bourque tapped the rebound into an open net from in front.

“Going into the playoffs, we have to be more direct and go to harder places,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It’s kind of what we talked about and I thought we did a good job getting into those ugly areas. Everything gets so tight come playoff time, you need to get into those areas or it’s tough to score.”

Robertson tied it 3-3 at 9:29. Bourque won a battle on the left boards and fed the puck to Duchene at the left post. Duchene then sent a cross-crease pass to Robertson, who scored from the bottom of the right circle.

The Stars outshot the Maple Leafs 17-8 in the second.

Max Domi put Toronto up 4-3 at 1:40 of the third period, burying a feed from Nylander with a wrist shot from the left circle past a diving DeSmith.

Nicholas Robertson pushed it to 5-3 at 4:19. Stecher's wrist shot from the point bounced off the end boards out in front and Robertson slipped a wrist shot to the short side.

The game was Toronto’s last at home this season.

“It’s tough because when you know it’s the last home game, it’s not a good sign,” Tavares said. “In some ways it was tough coming in today knowing it was the last routine you are going through and opportunity to play in front of your fans.”

DeSmith preserved the tie when he stopped Nicholas Robertson on a breakaway at 12:55 of the third.

“Big stop,” Bourque said. “I was sitting right by his brother, he was pretty happy about that one. It was pretty funny. He was just like, ‘Wooo!’”

NOTES: The Stars became the sixth team to overcome a three-goal and two-goal deficit in the same game en route to a regulation win. The last team to do so was the Hartford Whalers (6-5 vs the Calgary Flames on October 11, 1986). ... Bourque became the fifth player in Stars history to score at least three goals and four points on the road, and the first since Johnston had five points (three goals, two assists) in a 7-6 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks on March 5, 2024. ... Robertson extended his point streak to four games (five goals, two assists). ... Dallas forward Radek Faksa returned after missing 23 games with a lower-body injury. He had two shots on goal in 12:51 of ice time. ... Stars forward Michael Bunting was minus-1 in 14:20 of ice time in his return after missing six games with a lower-body injury. ... Maple Leafs forward Ryan Tverberg was plus-1 and played 9:04 in his NHL debut. ... Nicholas Robertson set a new career high for goals in a season with 16, besting his previous high of 15 he set during the 2024-25 season.