DALLAS _ Jason Spezza was looking forward to the first television timeout of Wednesday night's 5-3 Stars loss to Toronto.
It was when the current Maple Leafs forward on the league minimum would be recognized for his past as a high-scoring and then declining Stars forward. It was a montage of his best goals in Victory Green across a five-year span that ended this summer when he signed as a free agent in his hometown.
"It doesn't hurt to see yourself scoring a few goals when you're playing a game," Spezza said before the game. "I really enjoyed it here in Dallas. I liked it. My family liked it. The ownership was great. Jim Nill's one of the people I respect probably the most in hockey just for the way he does business and how honest he is. Just a great person. Coming back here, I'm just happy to see people."
During the game, five different Maple Leafs scored as Toronto held off a late Stars push for the win. Alexander Radulov scored twice for Dallas and Denis Gurianov scored for the second straight game. The loss was Dallas' fourth in the last six games after a six-game win streak.
Spezza signed a one-year deal with Toronto for $700,000 over the summer and was a right winger on the fourth line Wednesday night. He has seven goals and 12 assists on the season, with six of his 19 points coming on the power play.
It's a role that Spezza fits at this stage in his career, and it's one that former Stars coach Jim Montgomery slipped Spezza into last season in Dallas, when he posted a second straight eight-goal campaign.
Overall, Spezza spent five seasons of his 17-year career in Dallas, playing 379 games and posting 81 goals and 147 assists during that frame. His 33-goal season in 2015-16 helped the Stars lead the league in scoring and amass the best record in the Western Conference. Dallas won two playoff series with Spezza on the roster.
"Winning playoff rounds bonds you more than anything," Spezza said. "We had a year when we led the Western Conference in wins and we were scoring lots of goals and that was a really fun year to play. Seeing Benny win the scoring race was pretty cool. We were out of a playoff run at the end, and it gave us something to motivate us. To see him win that was something special, especially being a buddy. Lots of good memories and I enjoyed it here."
On Tuesday night, Spezza spent time with Jamie Benn, going to his house and going to dinner with the Stars captain.
"One of the best guys I've played with over my career," Benn said. "Spent some good times together and looking forward to playing him tonight."
Tyler Seguin said he would often go to movies and dinners with Spezza on the road, and use the 36-year-old as a sounding board for all things life and hockey.
"A little odd, it was strange talking to him yesterday," Seguin said. "Seems to be loving Toronto and it's been great for his family. It'll be exciting and hopefully I don't have to take too many faceoffs against him tonight."
Spezza's relative success in Toronto has underscored a handful of former Stars performing well in other places. Valeri Nichushkin has eight goals for Colorado. Mats Zuccarello has 13 goals and 15 assists in Minnesota. Brett Ritchie (since waived by Boston) and Tyler Pitlick (Philadelphia) have combined for six goals and 11 assists.
The numbers aren't gaudy, and they shouldn't be given that most of the group are depth players. But teams have paid $280,882 per goal from departed Stars, a relative discount to what the Stars have received from their free agent forwards.
Joe Pavelski ($7 million cap hit) and Corey Perry ($1.5 million) have combined for 11 goals and 21 assists, meaning Dallas has paid $772,727 per goal from Pavelski and Perry. Their production is part of a team-wide effort that had the Stars ranked 28th in the NHL in scoring entering Wednesday.
"We're not asking anyone to sacrifice offensively," interim coach Rick Bowness said. "That's not part of it. Are we asking the five-man unit to play together defensively? Absolutely. When we get the puck, we want to be creative. We want to manage the puck properly. If there's no room, there's no room. It's got to go deep. If there's room, make plays."
The clearing of Spezza, Zuccarello, Pitlick, Ritchie and Nichushkin did, however, create space for Denis Gurianov to become a regular in the Stars lineup. He scored his 13th goal of the season Wednesday night, again speeding through the defense before flipping a puck past Frederik Andersen.
