Stars rally to beat Islanders 3-2

Thanks to Jamie Benn, Dallas rookie goaltender Richard Bachman is still perfect.

Benn's goal early in the third period gave the Stars their third consecutive victory, a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday night. All three have come with Bachman, a 24-year-old, in goal. He made 25 saves against the Isles and has allowed just three goals in the three wins.

"He's a calm and steady goalie back there, and we have lots of confidence in him," Benn said. "He's shown that he can play at this level. It's nice to have a backbone back there, and he's playing great hockey right now."

Benn broke a 2-2 tie when he rifled a 15-foot wrist shot from inside the right circle past the Isles' rookie goaltender, Kevin Poulin, on a 3-on-1 break at 4:33 -- just seconds after Bachman denied the Islanders on a scramble in front of his net.

"Sometimes you just want to do too much and in that case, he caught me low glove," Poulin said, "I was expecting a little pass on a 3-on-1. Usually there's a pass. He got me."

Bachman improved to 3-0-0 as a starter since being recalled from the AHL Texas Stars last week. The 24-year-old became the first goalie in the Stars' history to win his first three NHL starts -- he won 2-1 at Los Angeles on Saturday and blanked the Rangers 1-0 in New York on Tuesday.

"The ‘D' really did a great job of helping me out," Bachman said. "I didn't think I had control of all the rebounds, and I left a few out there, but they did a great job of clearing things out in front of me. It was one of those nights you had to battle through it."

A little help from his offense didn't hurt.

The Islanders took a 2-1 lead at 18:24 of the second period when Kyle Okposo crashed the crease and slid home the rebound of his own shot after the puck slithered through Bachman's pads. But Tim Wallace's needless interference penalty 37 seconds into the third period gave Dallas its fifth power play of the night, and the Stars tied the game 30 seconds later when Brenden Morrow took Steve Ott's pass from the right of the crease and put it over Poulin's glove for his fifth of the season.

After Benn put the Stars ahead, Bachman preserved the lead in the final minutes by stopping Frans Nielsen on a rebound try.

New York fell to 0-3-1 in its last four games as the Stars avenged a 5-4 loss to the Isles in Dallas 12 days ago.

"It's definitely a tough loss when you have the lead like that," forward PA Parenteau said. "You are not playing your best hockey but you still have the lead. That's something we have to get better at, playing with the lead."

Dallas controlled the first period and grabbed the lead at 8:36 when Benn's slap pass hit Loui Eriksson at the left post and deflected past Poulin, who was making his first appearance of the season after being recalled from AHL Bridgeport. He played 10 games for the Islanders in 2010-11 before being sidelined for the season in early February by a knee injury. Poulin was the fifth goaltender to start a game for the Isles this season.

The Islanders got even at 16:38 when Okposo drove down the left wing and threw a cross-crease pass that hit the skate of Michael Grabner and caromed past Bachman. A video review upheld Grabner's ninth goal of the season.

The Stars will try for a sweep of their three-game swing through the New York area when they visit New Jersey on Friday. It's the finale of a five-game trip started with games in San Jose and Los Angeles before the Stars came east.

"Coast-to-coast, it's been a long one," Morrow said of the cross-country trip.

The Islanders played the last two periods without forward Brian Rolston, who left with a concussion after just five shifts and 3:47 of ice time. The game also marked the NHL debut of defenseman Calvin de Haan, the 12th player chosen in the 2009 NHL Draft. De Haan played 13:01, had two shots on goal and was plus-1.

"It's definitely a little quicker," said de Haan, a first-year professional who was recalled from Bridgeport after Steve Staios was injured on Tuesday. "At every level, the game gets a little quicker."

Material from team media was used in this report

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