Dallas Stars Finally Lose Two Straight, Fall 6-5 To Islanders

The Dallas Stars clashed with the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon, but fell 6-5, and lost two straight games for the first time all season.

Following a 3-2 overtime defeat in New Jersey on Saturday night, the Dallas Stars faced off with the New York Islanders just 24 hours later at Barclays Center. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Stars had not lost back-to-back games all season long. That remarkable stat came to an end, however, as the New York Islanders defeated the visiting Stars.

Game Recap

Period 1

A Jamie Benn penalty just 32 seconds into the game brought some early chances for the Islanders, but the Stars penalty kill avoided letting up an early goal. Instead, it was the Stars who got on the scoreboard first.

Vernon Fiddler found the back of the net just under six minutes in, and gave Dallas the early lead. At the halfway point of the period, the Stars had their first power-play opportunity of the game. Instead, Jamie Benn was called for a double-minor high sticking just 23 seconds into the man-advantage. To make it even worse, Cody Eakin was also called for a high sticking.

The Islanders were set to have a 4-on-3 advantage for 1:18, and a 5-on-3 for 42 seconds. They only needed 18 seconds. Anders Lee slipped it past Kari Lehtonen, and tied things up at one with 9:26 left in the period.

Just 2:56 later, however, Patrick Sharp retook the lead for the Dallas Stars, tipping one in to increase his point streak to nine games.

With just 92 seconds left in the period, though, the New York Islanders matched the score once again. Kyle Okposo found the back of the net to knot things up at two. That was all the scoring in a very eventful first period. After 20 minutes, it was all square at two.

Period 2

Both goaltenders were on full display to start the period, as both offenses had plenty of chances, but the magnificent play from both net-minders kept things tied.

Jason Demers, at the 14:53 mark of the second period, was called for a five minute major and a game misconduct for boarding, leaving the Stars with five defenseman for the remainder of the game. On the power-play, a puck that tipped off the skate of Alex Goligoski made it 3-2 in favor of New York. Kyle Okposo was credited with the goal, his second of the night.

Then, with just under five minutes left in the middle period, Mikhail Grabovski snuck one past Lehtonen, and scored the Islanders third unanswered goal, making it 4-2. They weren’t done.

To make it a three-goal lead, Cal Clutterbuck whipped one in the top corner past Kari. Three goals in the second period, all three for the Islanders. After 40 minutes, the Stars trailed 5-2.

Period 3

The Dallas Stars had a lot of work to do in the third period if they were going to make a massive comeback. Well, Valeri Nichushkin found the back of the net to cut the lead down to two less than two minutes into the period.

The Stars had multiple power-play opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize on the man-advantages. Instead, Cal Clutterbuck scored short-handed for his second goal of the night, right at the halfway point of the period, putting an end to the Stars temporary momentum.

That was until Valeri Nichushkin scored a power-play goal 26 seconds later for his second goal of the game as well. With just over nine minutes left, the Stars were back within two.

As the final minutes approached, the Stars threw some shots on net, but didn’t have any true serious threat. But after the Stars pulled Kari Lehtonen for an extra attacker, Jason Spezza made it a one-goal game Unfortunately, that’s all they could find, and the Islanders came out with a 6-5 win.

Thoughts and Observations

There were plenty of penalties in this game, almost too much. Jamie Benn is really the one who has been in the box way too frequently as of late. Going back to Saturday, his penalty led to the New Jersey Devils scoring the game-winning goal. Tonight, Jamie and the entire team spent too much time in the box, and it really cost them.

For the first time all season, the Dallas Stars lost back-to-back games. It just wasn’t their night.

Jason Demers getting a game misconduct didn’t help the Stars either, and really put them in a hole due to having only five defenseman.

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Dallas fans have been spoiled for the first half of the season, which makes the Stars current play seem horrendous. In reality, the victory green are still in an ideal situation to succeed, but they do need to play better.

They have been flat out outplayed in these last two match-ups, which has been a rare sight for Dallas fans throughout the entire duration of this season.

Next: Dallas Stars Aim To Duplicate Second Half Of Last Season

The Dallas Stars finish up their three game road trip on Tuesday evening, meeting the New York Rangers at 6:00.