Takeaways: Islanders’ Five-Game Point Streak Ends in 6-3 Loss to Stars

The New York Islanders’ five-game point streak (3-0-2) ended Sunday night with a 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

The Islanders erased three one-goal deficits through two periods, but Dallas scored three unanswered goals in the third to pull away.

Matthew Schaefer, Kyle Palmieri and Brayden Schenn scored for the Islanders. Jason Robertson scored twice for Dallas and  Wyatt Johnston scored the eventual winner, while Tyler Seguin, Justin Hryckowian and Mikko Rantanen rounded out the scoring.

“That's a winnable game going into the third period, and we had some self-inflicted stuff tonight,” Islanders Head Coach Pete DeBoer said. “That's probably the most rush chances we've given up the entire year in one game.”

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves on 38 shots, while Jake Oettinger stopped 17 of 20 in the win.

Islanders Forced to Rally Early

Naturally, a meeting between two of the NHL’s top three defensive teams yielded nine total goals and several offensive flurries.

Dallas took the lead three times through the first 40 minutes, and the Islanders answered each time to send the game into the third period tied 3-3. That was a double-edged sword for DeBoer, who credited his team with finding a way to stay in the game, while also acknowledging the dangers of constantly chasing games. The teams combined for three goals in a 3:01 span in the first period, beginning with Seguin’s opening tally at 11:31.

After a quality look for the Islanders in the offensive zone, the Stars broke out on a two-on-one rush. Jamie Benn found Seguin, who beat Sorokin high to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.

The Islanders answered during four-on-four play. Bo Horvat carried the puck through the neutral zone before feeding Schaefer on his left. Schaefer accelerated into the offensive zone and beat Oettinger with a short side snipe to tie the score 1-1.

Robertson restored Dallas’ lead 49 seconds later, collecting an Islanders turnover behind the net and skating out front to beat Sorokin at 14:32.

Palmieri tied the score 2-2 four minutes into the second period. Ryan Pulock’s slap shot caromed off the lively end boards to Palmieri, who put a backhander past an out-of-position Oettinger for his third goal of the season.

Hryckowian put Dallas ahead 3-2 on the power play at 10:52 of the second. Thomas Harley’s shot bounced off the end boards and back toward the net, where Hryckowian got a piece of the puck to send it past Sorokin.

Schenn supplied the Islanders’ third equalizer late in the period when Emil Heineman’s forecheck freed the puck for Anthony Duclair behind the net, and Duclair found Schenn alone in the slot for his third goal of the season.

The goal extended Schenn’s point streak to three games and moved him within one goal of 300 for his career.

Third Period Costs Isles

The Islanders’ ability to answer ended in the third period, when Dallas scored three times to turn a tie game into a 6-3 win.

“We battled hard for two periods, but didn’t play a smart third period,” Schenn said. “We turned over too many pucks and let them come at us.”

Johnston gave the Stars their fourth lead of the night at 4:10. Nils Lundkvist found Johnston alone in the slot on an odd-man rush, and Johnston fired a shot past Sorokin to make it 4-3. It was an uncharacteristic high danger chance against given up by the usually stingy Islanders. Eight of Dallas’ 14 high-danger chances at five-on-five (per Natural Stat Trick) came in the final frame.

The 4-3 deficit caused the Isles to open up and Robertson delivered a dagger with his second goal of the night with 10:15 remaining. The Dallas forward got behind the Islanders’ defense, took a pass from Seguin and beat Sorokin on a breakaway to extend the lead to 5-3.

“They turned those loose pucks and those clean breakouts into odd-man rushes,” Palmieri said.

Rantanen capped the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, taking a pass from Lian Bichsel and beating Sorokin with a wrist shot from the slot. While it was a setback for the Islanders, Sunday was ultimately a learning experience, even if it was learned the hard way.

“Some stuff you have to clean up, and the lesson in that is we can't play that game against good teams,” DeBoer said.

 Schaefer Climbs the Record Books

Schaefer’s first-period goal was the 25th of his career, moving him past Bobby Orr (24) for the second-most goals by a teenage defenseman in NHL history. Only Phil Housley (46) has more.

Schaefer also passed Tim Connolly and John Tavares (24 each) for the third-most goals by a teenager in Islanders history.

The goal extended Schaefer’s point streak to four games. It marked his fourth career point streak of at least four games, moving him past Tavares (three) for the second-most by an Islanders teenager, behind Bryan Trottier (eight).

Next Game

The Islanders continue their three-game road trip against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Faceoff is set for 8 p.m. EDT, with coverage on MSGSN2.