Takeaways: Islanders Defeat Stars 3-2  

The New York Islanders resumed their winning ways on their road trip, skating to a dramatic 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.

Cal Ritchie, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri (SHG) led the way offensively for the Islanders, who won for the fifth time in six games and snapped Dallas’ five-game winning streak in the process. David Rittich was solid between the pipes in his seventh start for the Isles, turning aside 22 of 24 shots in the win. Jason Robertson scored twice for the Stars and Jake Oettinger made 19 saves in the loss.

The Islanders are 5-1-0 on the road trip and improved to 7-4-1 on the road overall this season. Only the Rangers (9-1-1) and Kings (9-2-2) have more road wins this season.

“It’s a solid road trip and it was a solid road game tonight,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “I’m very impressed with the way we’re playing. Our guys are playing solid hockey right now. Very good decisions with the puck, it was a hard-fought game. We played well enough to win.”

TAKEAWAYS:

- The mood after Tuesday’s win was muted, as concern for Alexander Romanov overshadowed the satisfaction of the Isles getting the two points. The defenseman took a dangerous boarding hit from behind from Mikko Rantanen in the final minute of the third period, needing help off the ice. Rantanen was issued a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct on the play. Romanov’s teammates banded together to close out the game, but were affected by the incident. JG Pageau was emotional postgame, saying the team’s first concern is Romanov, and that seeing a friend get hurt like that is more important than the game.

“I’m proud of the way the guys handled it afterwards,” Roy said. “No one was happy to see someone get hurt like this. To me, it’s disrespectful for our guys.”

- A two-goal third period and a strong defensive effort propelled the Islanders to their fifth win of the road trip. The Stars didn’t make it easy, as Robertson scored his second of the night – and eighth in his last four games – with a third period tally to cut the Islanders lead to 3-2. The final moments of the game were a tense sequence. The Stars thought they had a buzzer-beater goal on Wyatt Johnston’s would-be tally, but Rittich was knocked out of position by Robertson before the puck crossed the line. After the play was reviewed by the situation room it was ruled as goaltender interference.

- The Islanders knew they had to stay disciplined against this Stars, whose power play ranked second in the league converting at 33.3% coming into the contest and had scored in eight straight games. The game’s first penalty came in the middle of the third period when Horvat took a double minor for high-sticking and the Isles were put to the test while protecting a 2-1 lead.

Not only did they shut down the Stars’ lethal power play, but they found offense to pad their lead, as Palmieri led a two-on-one rush and wristed home a shot past Oettinger at the 7:38 mark of the third. Palmieri’s shorthanded goal was the third of his career and first as an Islander and accounted for the Islanders’ fifth shorthanded goal of the season which leads the NHL.

Overall, the Isles went 3-for-3 on the PK on the night and have killed off 21-of-24 penalties through six games of the road trip.

“We did a really good job in the neutral zone not letting them set up,” Ryan Pulock said. “And when they did, we did a good job defending and got some really big saves by our goalie.”

- Ritchie found his second NHL goal and first as an Islander against the Stars. The 20-year-old center sent a pass to Anthony Duclair before cutting to the net. Duclair surveyed his options before feeding the puck back to Ritchie, whose one-timer beat Oettinger at the 10:31 mark of the first period.

- Horvat buried a loose puck in front of the crease at the 3:12 mark of the third period to take a 2-1 lead. Horvat’s tally added to his team-leading 13 goals.

- Simon Holmstrom (illness) missed the contest and Max Tsyplakov drew back in after missing Sunday’s contest as a healthy scratch. Tsyplakov recorded three hits in 8:56 TOI.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders wrap their seven-game road trip in Detroit to take on the Red Wings. Puck drop is set for 7PM EST.