DALLAS (AP) Jake Gardiner scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.
P.A. Parenteau tied it with just under 7 1/2 minutes left in the third, and Peter Holland scored late in the first period for Toronto. James Reimer finished with 36 saves.
Patrick Sharp had the tying goal for Dallas in the final minute of the second period, and Vernon Fiddler gave the Stars the lead at 5:37 of the third. Antti Niemi had 27 saves and Jason Demers had two assists.
On the winning goal, Gardiner sent a slap shot from the right point over Niemi with 3:28 to go.
Gardiner also assisted on the game’s first goal, by Holland on the power play with 1:22 left in the first.
Toronto improved to 3-8-4 with its second win in nine days against Central Division-leading Dallas (12-4-0).
The Maple Leafs scored on the game’s first power play. Dallas’ Johnny Oduya was off for holding when Holland tipped in Gardiner’s shot from the blue line late in the first. With his stick, Holland directed the puck downward off Niemi’s left pad and between his legs.
Reimer’s toughest saves came early in the period, when he stopped Antoine Roussel and Mattias Janmark. Ales Hemsky shot high on another chance from in front of the net.
Dallas tied the game with 34 seconds left in the second period ended. Sharp hustled to beat the Leafs’ Matt Hunwick in a race for the puck. It went to Demers behind the net and the Stars’ defenseman passed to Sharp at the left goalpost, and he wristed the puck into the net.
Sharp’s goal was his seventh, all in the last eight games. He did not score in his first eight games.
Fiddler skated to a loose puck in the right corner and sent a backhand shot from a severe angle over Reimer’s left shoulder and into the short side of the net to put Dallas up 2-1 .
NOTES: The Maple Leafs have won four in a row against Dallas, by a combined margin of 16-6. ... LW Antoine Roussel returned to Dallas’ lineup after missing two games because of an upper-body injury. ... Toronto’s No. 1 goalie, Jonathan Bernier (lower body), made the trip to Dallas and Nashville. He hasn’t played since being injured Oct. 31, but could be close to a return.