Doubled up in Dallas: Morning Update 2/1/2017

Doubled up in Dallas.

The Toronto Maple Leafs making their return to action following the All Star break, but this one didn't go as planned for Leaf fans. Dallas jumped out to an early 3 goal lead in the first ten minutes chasing Frederik Anderson from the net. Curtis Mcelhinney came in for relief but was not much better, allowing two more goals in the first. Toronto would not be able to rebound, losing this one 6-3 on the road. Mike Babcock said some of the loss is on the coaching staff, but his players must be accountable as well.

The Leafs visit St. Louis to play the Blues on Thursday.

St. Louis will be without veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock for that one. The organization announcing that Hitch will be replaced by former Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. The announcement was made this morning following the Blue's 5-3 loss to Winnipeg.

Max Pacioretty scored the hat trick, and Alex Radulov had a pair of assists in the Montreal's 5-2 win over Buffalo.

Panthers backup goalie James Reimer was scheduled to start, but his wife, April, gave birth to their daughter. So it was Roberto Luongo who gets the start and Jonathon Marchessault gets the game winner in Florida's contest against the Sens 6-5.

Minnesota continues to play stifling defense holding the Oilers to just two goals in a 5-2 win. The Wild extend a franchise best, 14 points road point streak.

DeMar DeRozan missed another game for Toronto, this time as the Raps hosted the Pelicans. Kyle Lowry came up huge for the Raps, with 33 points, none of them bigger then a long contested two pointer in overtime. The jumper gave the Raptors the win 108-106. Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 12 boards in the victory.