Nick Robertson provides much-needed spark, scoring twice to lift Leafs over Stars in overtime

A Maple Leafs team that was — shockingly — having trouble scoring inserted a hungry rookie into its lineup and the move paid off.

Nick Robertson, called up from the Marlies, scored twice in his first NHL game this year – including the winner – as the Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime.

“I was just excited,” said Robertson. “You dream of this stuff to score in overtime, and win in the NHL. But now for me, it’s just to keep going and to keep fighting and earning (a lineup spot) every day.”

Both goals were simplistically beautiful, the first a wristshot from in close to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead early in the third, and then a one-timer in the 3-on-3 overtime. Auston Matthews drew the attention on the overtime winner, feeding Robertson.

“I’m going out there with the best player in the league, so it’s kind of easy to put that one in,” said Robertson.

Coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t hesitate in putting Robertson on the ice in overtime.

“He was feeling it,” said Keefe. “In fact I had to talk myself out of putting him out there earlier. He had a good game. I thought that there’s a chance he could make a play, and he did. A great finish by him, but I loved how the play developed. He had the Rocket Richard Trophy winner going down the ice and he (Matthews) gets all the attention of the goalie and moves it over for Nick to finish it. A terrific moment.”

Scoring position

Getting in a scoring position this season has been remarkably difficult for the team’s elite stars — like Matthews and Mitch Marner. The big guns have been playing on the periphery in the early part of the season, making nice passes but struggling to create actual scoring chances.

It was the 21-year-old Robertson’s third and fourth career goals. The youngest player on the Leafs, he’s played parts of three seasons with the team, and replaced Denis Malgin in the lineup. He also made a number of defensive plays to regain the puck, or to block a Dallas scoring chance.

Robertson’s first goal came just seconds after a Dallas penalty expired, so it wasn’t officially a power-play goal, but the result of the hard work of the second power-play unit. Alex Kerfoot scored a second-unit power-play goal in the second period while the Matthews-Marner-John Tavares-William Nylander first unit struggled with the man advantage. The Leafs had eight power plays, and scored just once.

“A week ago, if someone said I’d get the OT winner, I’d say he was crazy,” said Robertson. “A lot can happen in this industry and I’m just happy.”

Bright side

That they are 3-2-0 now to start the season is a bit like a glass half full. Given the quality of opponents, they should probably have a better record. Still, they’ve managed to win on nights when Matthews and Marner have struggled. If those two get it together — there’s no suggesting they won’t — the team will only get stronger.

The other emerging bright side is the goaltending of Ilya Samsonov, now off to a 3-0-0 start to the season. Samsonov has yet to allow more than two goals a game.

Video review

The Leafs lost their second video review in two games. On Monday they had one of their own goals called back on a hand pass.

And on Thursday, the Stars successfully challenged a goal initially disallowed on goalie interference. Upon review, the officials determined that Tyler Seguin did not interfere with Samsonov, and his game-tying goal was put on the board with overtime looming.

Stars shine

So far this season the Maple Leafs have head-scratchingly played to the level of their opponents, losing to Montreal and Arizona, neither of whom have designs on a playoff spot, while beating Ottawa and Washington, both of whom have post-season aspirations.

So the Stars should have been a welcome sight, off to the best start in the NHL.

“They’re firing on all cylinders right now,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of the Stars. “Their special teams have been good, goaltending is good. They haven’t given up much defensively. They’re a deep team. They’re a team that’s coming in feeling really good about what they’re doing.”

The Leafs might have thought they dodged a bullet when Dallas coach Pete DeBoer decided to start Scott Wedgewood for the first time this season. Jake Oettinger has gone 3-0 with an intimidating .966 save percentage, but DeBoer wanted to give the Brampton native the start near his hometown.

Bad start

There was very little to like about the Leafs’ effort in the first period, down 1-0 and outshot 11-6 by the time it was over. On the bright side, Victor Mete got the game’s first shot on net, on a short-handed rush. That was about it. The Leafs had plenty of time in the Dallas end — they just didn’t seem to know what to do when they got there. Getting pucks through to the net seemed an impossible task. Completing passes seemed fairly difficult as well.

Dallas, to be fair, didn’t seem like a juggernaut, either. But the one goal they scored came when Luke Glendening — unopposed in front of Ilya Samsonov — batted in a rebound.

The Leafs started skating in the second period, and got rewarded with a stream of power plays.

But the first unit seemed to bumble every opportunity, whether it was losing the opening faceoff, failing to gain the zone easily, or simply overpassing. The Leafs outshot Dallas 13-6 in the period — thanks to all those power plays — and seemed more in control, though the game remained tied at 1-1 through 40 minutes.

Injury update

The Leafs were without Jake Muzzin for the first time this season.

“Muzzin is obviously a big part of our team and our D-core,” said Mark Giordano. “He plays in a lot of different situation, but primarily, he’s a shut down guy who plays big penalty kill. So we all have to step up. I’ve been around for a long time, so I know how these things work. When injuries happen, everyone has to chip in.”

Jordie Benn worked out with the team again on Thursday at the morning skate, but there is no timeline for his return.

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