Matthews, Tavares shoot Maple Leafs to win against Stars

DALLAS -- Auston Matthews and John Tavares each scored two goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 7-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Matthews became the sixth player in Toronto history to score a goal in the first four games of a season.
"When it's going in, it's always a really good feeling," said Matthews, who has 10 points (seven goals, three assists). "You want to keep it going, keep getting those opportunities and continue to generate chances because it's going to get harder and harder as the season goes along."
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Stars highlights]
Tavares has scored six goals in his first four games with the Maple Leafs, who were coming off a 7-6 overtime win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and have scored 20 goals this season (5.00 per game).
"We've got talent and we do the right thing and we compete and play hard and develop an identity within our group," said Tavares, who had a hat trick against Chicago. "I think we believe in creating opportunities with the skill sets we have."

Mitchell Marner (one goal, three assists) and Morgan Rielly (four assists) each had four points for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 30 saves to earn his 150th NHL win.
Tyler Seguin had four points (one goal, three assists), and Alexander Radulov had three (one goal, two assists) for Dallas, which was trying to win three games to start a season for the first time since 2010-11.
"We made mistakes, all of us," Radulov said.
Marner gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 9:40 of the first period with a wrist shot from the slot over the blocker of Ben Bishop, who made 23 saves.
Radulov tied the game 1-1 when his wrist shot deflected off Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev's left ankle at 17:23.
Matthews scored at 18:58 of the first period with a one-timer from the left face-off circle to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

Seguin tied it 2-2 at 9:04 of the second period on a breakaway, outracing Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey.
Matthews scored the first of two Maple Leafs power-play goals at 11:59 on a wrist shot from the left point that deflected off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell to make it 3-2.
Hainsey beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the point to give Toronto a 4-2 lead at 16:00.
Tavares scored on the power play at 17:00 to make it 5-2, but Jamie Benn cut Toronto's lead to 5-3 when he scored from the top of the crease on the man-advantage at 18:02 after five quick passes by John Klingberg, Jason Spezza, Seguin and Radulov.
Klingberg scored on a wrist shot at 2:39 of the third period to pull the Stars within 5-4. Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock challenged for goalie interference by Benn, but the goal was upheld by video review.
Tavares scored on a wraparound at 4:55 for a 6-4 Toronto lead.
"Obviously, there was a couple of too many turnovers, but I think they scored from being more hungry in front of the net than we were, and that's on our D; myself, [Lindell], we were on the ice for too many goals, and obviously the forwards coming back as well," said Klingberg, who was minus-2 and on the ice for six of seven Maple Leafs goals. "That's where I think they scored their goals."

Dallas pulled Bishop for the extra attacker with 4:06 left in the third period, and Connor Brown scored into the empty net at 16:40 to make it 7-4.
"I thought our team competed real hard at the start especially, and I thought we had a pretty solid third period," Babcock said. "A good night for our team. Obviously, both power plays were real, real dangerous, we had to be disciplined, but a good win for our team."

They said it

"What I like about our power play (5-for-10 after going 2-for-3 on Tuesday) is we're not trying to make any highlight-reel plays. I think we're just kind of sticking with our structure and what we believe is going to work for us." -- Maple Leafs center John Tavares
"I don't think it really surprises too many people. His shot is deadly. He's always putting himself in a position to shoot the puck. He's always moving out there and getting in open space." -- Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner on Auston Matthews' strong start
"I like our bench. There's a lot of positives even if you don't like the outcome." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery

Need to know

Rielly has 10 points (two goals, eight assists), tied with Matthews for most in the NHL. ... Matthews can match his NHL career-high goal streak when Toronto plays the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. He scored six goals in a five-game streak March 25-April 3, 2017, as a rookie. ... Corb Denneny (Toronto St. Patricks, 1921-22), Babe Dye (St. Patricks, 1925-26), Sweeney Schriner (1944-45), John Anderson (1981-82) and Clarke MacArthur (2010-11) are the other Toronto players to score at least one goal in the first four games of a season. ... Forward Valeri Nichushkin, playing his first game for the Stars after spending the past two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, had two shots on goal, two giveaways and a minus-1 rating in 12:54 on the fourth line.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, TSN4, NHL.TV)
Stars: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-SW, PRIME, NHL.TV)