DALLAS _ Like a long lost friend at a family reunion, the Stars on Tuesday found their scoring touch once again.
And as it was for much of last season, that allowed them to outscore their problems in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at American Airlines Center.
Yes, Dallas was outshot 43-20. Yes, it allowed another power-play goal, its league-leading 45th. Yes, it lost the faceoff battle, 22-36 (38 percent).
But, the Stars scored early and often, and that provided the team with the kind of swagger it enjoyed while winning the Central Division in 2016. Dallas started 9-2-0 last season and rarely seemed affected by pressure. It started in a hole this year and has been dragging the weight of injuries and failed expectations ever since.
But with a chance to clear its palate during the All-Star Break, the Stars looked like a different team. Devin Shore, the rookie from Ajax, Ontario, had special jump facing a Maple Leafs team he loved as a child, and that was clear when he blasted down the right wing, cut hard to the net, and lifted a backhand past Frederik Andersen to give Dallas a 1-0 lead just 2:53 into the game.
It was the first time in the past eight games that the Stars had scored first, and it gave both Shore and his teammates an incredible boost of energy and confidence.
Shore raced down the left wing a couple of minutes later and put another shot on goal. Andersen stopped this one, but Radek Faksa was there to lift in the rebound for a 2-0 lead.
Six minutes later, Lauri Korpikoski was scoring on a backhand and Andersen was taking a seat on the bench. A Toronto team that entered the game sixth in save percentage at .917 was springing leaks all over because the Stars were doing the kind of things that many believe fits their "identity."
And while Tyler Seguin finished with two assists and Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza each tallied a goal (giving the trio 13 points in the past four games), the key to the assault was depth scoring. Radek Faksa returned and was the perfect fit on the third line with Shore and Patrick Sharp. Meanwhile, the fourth line of Korpikoski, Adam Cracknell and Ritchie were effective almost every shift they took.
Shore finished with a goal and an assist, Ritchie with a goal and an assist, and Korpikoski and Faksa added goals.
Ruff said before the game that Faksa was a big key: "The chemistry that he, Shore and Sharp have had has given us a really good look up there on the top three lines."
And he added that that fourth line also helps create positive energy for the team.
"I think that line can go out and be physical, it can hold onto pucks. I think Cracknell's done a great job down low of hanging on and creating opportunities," Ruff said. "It's a line that you know those guys are going to go through the body and a lot of times they're going to get the puck back, so it's a different look in our lineup."
Which, of course, allows the top lines to breathe a little easier. Carrying the most expectation and frustration, Seguin, Benn and Spezza have been seeking to find the stride that allowed them to combine for 107 goals last season. They maybe need to find the swagger most of all, and games like Tuesday's can only hope the team's best player start playing better.
"The difference makers have to be the guys that can get it done for us," Ruff said. "We've missed some great opportunities, we've had some great chances. Those are the situations now in this last stretch that we have to capitalize on."
If they do that, maybe they really can outscore their problems and put together a winning streak that gets them back into a playoff spot.
"This would be a good time to go on a run," Seguin said before the game. "I know we've been saying it all year, but we really haven't had a run yet this year."
