DALLAS _ Jim Montgomery deadpanned his response on Tuesday morning, hours before he would absorb his first loss as the Stars coach. Dallas was hosting the high-powered Maple Leafs that evening, a club driven by Auston Matthews and John Tavares two days removed from scoring seven goals.
So before Toronto victimized the Stars in a 7-4 loss at the American Airlines Center, Montgomery was asked how Dallas would handle the forthcoming offensive attack.
"Hope and pray," Montgomery said before continuing that the Stars needed to eliminate time and space for the Maple Leafs in the offensive zone.
But sometimes, the hottest player in the world right now plays for the opponent, and Tavares is also his teammate. Matthews continued his opening week tear by scoring two more goals on Tuesday night, running his season total to a league-leading seven goals in just four games. Tavares added two more.
On a night where some of the league's best players and best lines took center stage, Toronto just packed more firepower.
The Maple Leafs made Stars goaltender Ben Bishop look penetrable by turning him into a spinning and swiveling, turning and tucking goalie instead of the dynamite backstop who allowed just one goal on the first 63 shots of the season. Bishop was often caught swimming on his stomach or flipping from his back as the bevy of Maple Leafs threats passed their way through the offensive zone.
While Bishop struggled to contain Toronto, Dallas' big four was magnificent again. Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg all scored goals. The top line of Benn, Seguin and Radulov followed an 11-point night with an eight-point night on Tuesday night. But the rest of the Stars roster contributed little.
It's a concern that will shadow the Stars until their secondary scoring shows up consistently in the box score. The Stars' top four scorers have 11 of Dallas' 12 goals this season. Devin Shore is the only other player to score for the Stars.
Valeri Nichushkin made his season debut on Tuesday night, but played mostly on the fourth line save for some time in the third period on the top line with Seguin and Radulov. Radek Faksa spent most of the night trying to control Matthews and his line. Blake Comeau and Tyler Pitlick couldn't finish their chances. Jason Spezza did not have a shot on goal.
The Stars' top performers delivered on Tuesday night, dragging Dallas back into the game, and preventing Toronto from running away completely.
Then the Maple Leafs vaunted power play introduced themselves to Dallas. Toronto scored twice with the man-advantage and showcased one of the game's most potent units.
The loss comes after an encouraging performance from the Stars on Saturday night against Winnipeg, a 5-1 win. Dallas manhandled the Jets, who like the Maple Leafs, are a popular pick to lift the Stanley Cup at year's end. The Stars jumped out to an early lead, and breezed past a big early-season test.
That version of the Stars _ who could stand toe-to-toe with one of the league's top teams _ wasn't present on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. Instead, the Stars were sloppy in the defensive zone, slow retrieving pucks (they lost two icing battles that turned into Toronto goals), and punch-less beyond the top line.
And sometimes, the hottest player in the world just happens to be on the other side of the ice.
