Sunday night, Feb. 23, the New York Islanders (25-23-7) took on the Dallas Stars (36-18-2) at their home, UBS Arena. The Islanders were looking to keep the surge they had before the break, with a record of 3-0-1 in their last 4 games. The surge stopped at this game, as they fell to the Stars 4-3.
The first period would commence with immediate domination from Dallas, which would lead to Sam Steel lighting the lamp for the Stars only two minutes in. He’d be assisted by Oskar Back and Cody Ceci, and the score would become 1-0 Dallas. The Islanders would start to falter then as the Stars continued to take control of the game. The first penalty of the game would be set on Islanders Anthony Duclair; he’d take a slashing call to give the Stars the power-play. Dallas would be unsuccessful on the power-play though as Ryan Pulock would save the day, as well as Ilya Sorokin, and get the puck out of the crease before it passed the line. Time would run out for the Islanders to tie it though and the period ended with a score of 1-0 Dallas.
The Islanders would come out for the second period with more energy and hope to tie the game, and they’d do exactly that as Pierre Engvall would sneak one past Jake Oettinger to tie the game at 1-1. Fire would be lit under both teams as they’d fight for the lead, and Dallas would be the one to grab it as Jason Robertson shot one in from Roope Hintz and Mavrik Bourque to give the Stars the lead. The tables would turn in seconds though as Islanders Kyle Palmieri would respond back and tie the game at 2-2 only three seconds after Roberston’s goal. He’d be assisted by Brock Nelson and Anthony DeAngelo.
With 6 minutes left in the period Casey Cizikas was given a game misconduct for hitting Lian Bichsel on the head, Mathew Dumba would then instigate a fight against Cizikas that would end the night for him. The game resumed with two minutes of 4-on-4 play, then two minutes of a Dallas power-play. Jason Robertson would then strike again and give the Stars the lead at 3-2, and he’d do it again only two minutes later to give himself a second period hat trick from Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston. His goal would also extend the Stars lead to 4-2, and that would mark the end of the period.
The third period would start with both teams finally balancing their control over the game, as both the Islanders and Stars would have high danger chances to score. Anthony Duclair would then take a chance on net and finish it, securing his second goal of the game from Bo Horvat to put the Islanders in a deficit of only one at 4-3. Dallas would not take this lightly, though. However, New York would prevail and Jean-Gabriel Pageau would attempt to tie the game at 4-4, but his goal would be called off. The game ended with this score, and the Dallas Stars would win 4-3.
This game was undoubtedly a tough loss for the Islanders; letting the Stars dominate early in the game is a huge contributor to the loss they suffered. A positive is seeing that the Islanders had determination to continue to fight and attempt to tie the game. With that, the Islanders play their next game against the New York Rangers, Tuesday Feb. 25, at UBS arena.
