Islanders Survive Late Surge in Dallas
Tuesday night hockey found the New York Islanders in Dallas as they neared the end of their seven-game road trip. Coming off a 4–1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Islanders were looking to get back in the win column.
Early in the first period, both teams played relatively evenly, though the Stars carried the edge by generating more quality chances through the opening half. Dallas continued to dictate the pace, out-possessing and out-chancing an Islanders team that seemed to struggle to find its legs at this stage of the trip. Goaltender David Rittich was sharp, turning away several strong scoring opportunities. Despite the pressure, the period ended scoreless, but the advantage clearly belonged to the home team, who led in shots on goal and dominated in the faceoff circle, winning a commanding 73.7% of draws.
The second period lacked flow through the midway point, but a long, sustained shift in the Dallas zone — aided by the long change — allowed the Islanders to break through. Cal Ritchie buried a cross-ice feed from Anthony Duclair for his first goal of the season, and his first as an Islander. The lead, however, was short-lived. Dallas responded quickly, capitalizing on a 3-on-1 as Jason Robertson finished a slick give-and-go with Tyler Seguin. Both teams tightened up defensively from there, and the period closed with the score knotted at 1–1.
In the third, Bo Horvat put the Islanders back on top, 2–1, after a fortunate bounce off a dump-in left him alone in the slot. Horvat, red-hot of late, ripped it past Jake Oettinger. But moments later, momentum stalled when Horvat was assessed a double minor and a game misconduct for a high stick on Oskar Back, who was cut on the play. Despite the disadvantage, the Islanders struck shorthanded as Kyle Palmieri fired a wrist shot past Oettinger’s stick side to extend the lead to 3–1.
A high-sticking penalty to Stars captain Jamie Benn briefly evened play at 4-on-4 before Dallas returned to the power play. Soon after, rookie Matthew Schaefer was called for another high stick, giving the Stars yet another chance. But the top-ranked Dallas power play was again disrupted — this time by a hooking call against Jason Robertson.
Back at even strength, Dallas pulled Oettinger for the extra attacker. With two minutes remaining, Robertson struck again, netting his second of the night to pull the Stars within one. Dallas took a timeout to rest their top unit before sending them back out with the net empty.
In the final seconds, with the puck in the Islanders’ corner, Mikko Rantanen delivered a dangerous hit from behind on Alexander Romanov, prompting both medical staffs to attend to the Islanders’ defenseman. New York’s bench — including a visibly irate Patrick Roy — exchanged words with Stars assistant coach Alain Nasreddine. Rantanen was assessed a five-minute major for boarding, putting Dallas shorthanded for the final 30 seconds. The Stars again pulled Oettinger to keep play at 5-on-5.
Dallas appeared to tie the game with just 0.2 seconds remaining, but the NHL Situation Room initiated a review for goaltender interference on David Rittich. After review, the goal was overturned, as video clearly showed Jason Robertson making contact with the Islanders’ netminder.
The 3-2 win improved the Islanders road trip record to 5-1 as they now travel to Detroit for the final game of this road trip.
No update was given on Alexander Romanov immediately after the game.