Game Preview: Islanders vs Stars

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (25-23-7) VS DALLAS STARS (38-16-2)

7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

WATCH: MSGSN | MSG+ | ESPN+

LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP

Break’s over.

After 14 days without a game, the New York Islanders are back in action to take on the Dallas Stars on Sunday night at UBS Arena.

The Islanders went into the 4 Nations Face-Off break on a 6-3 to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 8. Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson (1G, 1A) and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin made 28 of 32 saves.

The Stars are playing the second half of a back-to-back set after beating the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday night. Evgenii Dadonov, Thomas Harley, Matt Duchene (1G, 1A) and Wyatt Johnston (1G, 1A) scored for Dallas, while Casey DeSmith stopped 31-of-33 in the win.

SEASON SERIES

The Islanders trail the season series 0-1-0 after they fell 3-0 to the Stars on Oct. 12 in Dallas. The Islanders are 3-0-1 in their last four home games against Dallas.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES

- Ilya Sorokin is the expected starter for the Islanders. Sorokin is 20-16-4 this season with a 2.69 GAA, a .908 SV% and three shutouts. Sorokin started six of the Islanders last seven games heading into the break with backup Marcus Hogberg suffering an upper-body injury on Jan. 25.

- Jake Oettinger is expected to start in goal for Dallas. Oettinger is 26-12-2 this season with a 2.35 GAA, a .911 SV% and one shutout. The 26-year-old has recorded three straight 30-win seasons, one of just four netminders to do so over that span (Juuse Saros, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy.)

- Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield will play on Sunday night, per Head Coach Patrick Roy. Pulock has been out for seven games with an upper-body injury, while Mayfield missed four games with a lower-body injury. Adam Boqvist will sit as a healthy scratch.

ISLES NOTES

- In their last 11 games before the break, the Isles went 8-3-0, including a season-long seven-game winning streak, which bolstered them in the standings to be in the wild card race. With 57 points, the Islanders are five points behind the Detroit Red Wings (62 points) and Ottawa Senators (62 points) for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets (62 points), Boston Bruins (61 points) and the New York Rangers (58 points) stand between the Isles and the two wild card teams.

- Brock Nelson was the lone Islanders player who did not have a break over the past two weeks, as he participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team USA. Nelson and Team USA went to the championship game, but fell 3-2 in OT to Canada.

- Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield are expected to play on Sunday. Mayfield, who missed four games with a lower-body injury and Pulock, who missed seven games with an upper-body injury, participated in team practices this week until NHL games resumed. Dennis Cholowski was loaned to Bridgeport in a move to open a spot on the blue line.

- Noah Dobson is also getting closer to a return, as he was a regular participant in Saturday’s practice. Dobson’s Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) designation makes him ineligible to return on Sunday.

- Captain Anders Lee leads the team with 23 goals and 41 points.

STARS NOTES

- Dallas ranks second in the Central Division and third in the NHL with 74 points. In their last 10 games leading up to the break, the Stars went 7-2-1.

- The Stars own the league’s second-best penalty kill (84.8%) and they’re overall a stingy team defensively, with a 2.50 GA/GP that ranks fourth in the NHL.

- Matt Duchene leads the Stars with 23 goals and 57 points. The 34-year-old was explosive in the final two games before the break, recording two consecutive three-point games with four goals and two assists across a back-to-back set.

- Jason Robertson recorded his 20th goal of the season in an 8-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 8. The 25-year-old has 51 points through 56 games this season and is two seasons removed from a 109-point campaign in 2022-23.

- Wyatt Johnston is having a productive third season with the Stars. The 21-year-old racked up 49 points (17G, 32A) through 56 games this season after he established a career-high 65 points (32G, 33A) through all 82 games last season. Johnston was drafted 23rd overall by Dallas in the 2021 NHL Draft.

- The Stars acquired forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 1 in exchange for a first and third round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Granlund has four assists in his first five games with the team and has 49 points (15G, 34A) in 57 games this season overall. The 32-year-old represented Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Ceci tallied an assist in his first five games with the Stars and has 16 points (4G, 12A) through 59 games this season.