Islanders Shutout; Fall 3-0 to the Dallas Stars

The New York Islanders fell to the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Saturday night in the American Airlines Center. Tyler Seguin scored two goals, with a Jamie Benn goal sandwiched between them.

Overall, the Stars frustrated the Islanders, leading to an inconsistent game for the blue and orange. Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, and Maxim Tsyplakov were unquestionably the Islanders’ best line. Yet, they were responsible for the 2-0 goal.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 of 26 while Jake Oettinger blanked the Islanders, stopping all 33 shots that came his way.

The Goals:

Dallas’ first goal came directly after the Islanders’ top line of Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Anthony Duclair failed to finish a 3-on-2 before the Stars raced back the other way. There, the Stars worked it around the tired Islanders, and a Mason Marchment pass slid to a wide-open Tyler Seguin, who rifled it home.

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It’s a defensive breakdown for the Islanders. Horvat lost Seguin, and Seguin put it in the back of the net.

From there, the Islanders suppressed Dallas well in the first frame. Neither team generated a whole lot of looks in either direction, but it wasn’t a terrible period for the Islanders.

Then came the second period. Just like Thursday against Utah, the Islanders came out flat in period two. Dallas ran roughshod over New York. Multiple failed breakouts led to chances upon chances, but Varlamov stood tall.

Eventually, the Islanders second line had a chance to escape. Palmieri swept the puck to Tsyplakov, who could not absorb the puck. Dallas retrieved it, and Jamie Benn beat Varlamov.

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Down 2-0, Oliver Wahlstrom took a tripping penalty in the offensive zone. It was

The Third Period & Special Teams:

Entering the third frame down by a pair against one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup is never a recipe for success. Despite that, the Islanders showed a ton of life and rattled off multiple opportunities early in the third. It was their best stretch tonight and perhaps in this early season. Horvat hit the post on a rebound. Oettinger made some timely saves.

As the third wore on, Dallas hemmed the Islanders in at times, without truly threatening Varlamov. The best chance came past the midway point when Jason Robertson had a rush opportunity, but Varlamov denied him.

As the clock trickled away, Roy tried to be aggressive and pulled Varlamov with over four minutes left to play. His six best skaters lost the face-off, then got hemmed in their own zone by the Stars’ fourth line.

Later on, Seguin scored into the abandoned cage from center ice, putting the Islanders to bed.

The Islanders only had one power play in the game. It came a little over seven minutes into the second period because Dallas had too many men on the ice. After weathering an early storm, it was a chance to turn the tide in the middle of the game.

Instead, it failed to generate any momentum or get sustained pressure. Less than two minutes after it ended, Dallas went up 2-0.

The penalty kill looked significantly better, which is one of the few positives from tonight for the Islanders. They killed both penalties very efficiently, with Palmieri’s shorthanded rush in the second period giving them the best chance on either.

What Comes Next:

The Islanders’ road trip continues Monday night in Denver when they take on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche enter the tilt 0-2-0, having pulled Alexander Georgiev in both games. That’ll be one angry and desperate group going up against the Islanders, who should have that same level of anger and desperation in their game come Monday.