Dallas has not won a season series against Toronto since 2009-10, and once again loses a thriller in Ontario.

The Dallas Stars lost 5-4 to Toronto on the second night of a back-to-back after playing in Buffalo the night before. The Stars were able to squeak out a win against the Sabres Tuesday even though they weren't on their "A" game, but they did not have the same fate against the Maple Leafs.

Scott Wedgewood was in goal, as Jake Oettinger played the night before and made 47 saves. Ty Dellandrea and Joel Hanley slotted in for Craig Smith and Nils Lundkvist. 

In the first period, the Leafs got a quick power play goal to open the scoring about six minutes into the game from William Nylander after a penalty by Hanley. The goal was scored just under a minute into the power play after the Stars allowed the Leafs to have possession of the puck for entirely too long. The Leafs were able to move the puck quickly and the Stars could not keep up.

However, the Stars got a power play opportunity of their own and it only took Jamie Benn eight seconds to find the back of the net thanks to a slick pass from Joe Pavelski from behind the net. 

Not even three minutes later, Evgenii Dadonov scored on a partial breakaway after a successful poke-check from Ryan Suter and a perfect pass from Dellandrea. Dadonov was able to walk right around Jake McCabe, beating Ilya Samsonov five hole.

In the second period, the Stars found themselves on the penalty kill twice, and both times allowed goals. The first one was scored by John Tavares within the first five seconds of the power play. The second one was credited to Auston Matthews, as it went off the skate of Esa Lindell while he was trying to break up a pass. That was Matthews league-leading 41st goal of the season.

The third period was uneventful until about the halfway mark when Dadonov once again found himself behind the defense, this time drawing a holding penalty by Mark Giordano, resulting in a penalty shot. This was Dadonov's fourth penalty shot of his career, and third successful attempt as he was once again able to beat Samsonov, but this time top shelf. 

Dadonov's penalty shot tied the game at three, but the Leafs immediately had something to say about that and Mitch Marner beat Wedgewood 32 seconds later. And if that was not frustrating enough for Stars fans, Nylander scored again 20 seconds after that.

Now the Stars found themselves in a two goal deficit with about half the period to go. However, they were unable to get anything to materialize until they pulled the goalie with about three minutes left. With a minute and a half left, the Stars bought themselves some hope with a Wyatt Johnston goal, but they eventually ran out of time, losing the game 5-4. 

Here are some takeaways from the game:

1. The penalty kill was abysmal.

Dallas allowed the Leafs to score on all three power plays they were awarded. The Stars spent the first half of the season in the top five of the league in penalty kill percentage, but as of late, have dropped to 13th in the league.

In the last five games, the Stars have allowed eight goals in 13 penalty kill opportunities. That gives the Stars a kill percentage of roughly 38%. 

The biggest kryptonite for the Stars penalty kill is not being able to clear the puck. This allows the other team to continue to have possession in the offensive zone and regroup quickly. 

2. Evgenii Dadonov's stand out speed

Dadonov is not generally a player that comes to mind when you think about foot speed. However, he had the ability to have bursts of speed that make it look like he was shot out of a cannon. And twice against the Leafs, was he not only able to use that speed but also capitalize on it.

Last season, he was accquired at the trade deadline after being traded for Denis Gurianov. He found himself on a line with Benn and Johnston. That line was not clicking quite the same this year and Dadanov moved on the fourth line with Smith and Radek Faksa.

However, during the game against Toronto, head coach Pete DeBoer put him back with Pavelski and Benn to add more speed to the duo. 

3. The Stars did not capitalize on shooting chances.

The Stars are at the top of league in goals scored per game, which means they know how to create scoring chances in many fashions. But against the Leafs, it was apparent that they weren't making good on those chances.

Each shape in gray scale is a shot that was taken that did not make it to the net. The Stars had many Grade-A chances right at the door step that they failed to turn into an actual scoring chance. It's hard to score goals when the puck isn't making it to the net and is a credit to their effort that they still put up four goals.

The Stars have a couple days to regroup and move on from this loss before they take on the Montreal Canadiens. The first priority should be the special teams. Not only did they allow the Leafs to score on all three power plays, the Stars also only went 1/4 on their chances.

With the Central Division being so tight in the standings, every point matters, so the Stars don't have much time to work out the kinks in the special teams department.

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