3 Takeaways From 3-2 Loss to Stars

After a strong week in which the New York Islanders went 4-0-0 to give themselves a shot at a potential magical run to the postseason, they hit a wall in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Islanders Eclipsed by Stars, Win Streak Falls

Here are the 3 takeaways:

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

The New York Islanders had won four straight games previously and found themselves 11 points back of the Washington Capitals with 14 games to go, while the Dallas Stars sat just a point out of a playoff spot.

The desperation levels should have been high for both teams, but for the majority of the contest, the Dallas Stars were the one’s that played like their season was on the line.

Through two periods of play, the New York Islanders had nothing going offensively. They were outshot 29-10 up to that point, having allowed 18 shots in the first period alone before 11 in the second. The Islanders were held to just three shots on goal in the middle frame, with their first of the period, the Brock Nelson goal coming 31 seconds into the period, and their second coming with 1:30 to play in the period.

The Islanders finally showed some desperation in the third period as they recorded 11 shots on goal and had some excellent chances to score on secondary opportunities but were unable to beat Dallas Stars netminder Jake Oettinger.

“It was disappointing we didn’t get off to a better start,” New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said If we were to have played with the desperation, we did in the second half of the game there, I think we would be sitting here with at least a point.”

Noah Dobson Reaches 30-Assist Mark

With two assists in Tuesday night’s contest, New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson reached the 30-assist mark for the first time in his NHL career. The 22-year old defenseman has provided offense from the backend, truly coming into his own back in December, and has not taken his foot off the gas.

His awareness in all three zones has improved drastically, and his ability to slow the game down has allowed him to make plays of his own.

Late in the first period, Noah Dobson made a quick play in the defensive zone to hit Jean-Gabriel Pageau in stride, with Pageau eventually scoring on the rush to tie the contest at one in the first period.

PAGEAU WITH A RIP pic.twitter.com/VWozG5w4Rg

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 6, 2022

Dobson’s second assist came from his skates, as he transitioned up the ice through the neutral zone, dished the puck to Brock Nelson, and continued to skate providing Nelson with enough time and space to pick his spot and bury.

It's NOAH once again starting this one and Brock buries it! pic.twitter.com/xgCHn06d2K

— Isles on MSG+ (@IslesMSGN) April 6, 2022

Since January first, Noah Dobson has six goals and 22 assists for 28 points in 42 games played. He is also a +8.

“Noah was really good. He made some poise plays. I think he had two assists tonight,” Trotz said. “He keeps continuing to grow. (He) played big minutes and you know at the end he gave us a chance at one more crack at it.”

“The growth plate for him has been pretty steady.”

Varlamov Gives Islanders a Chance

After getting the day off Sunday, the NHL’s 3rd Star of the Week, Semyon Varlamov, was back in between the pipes Tuesday.

Althoug he allowed three goals in the 3-2 loss to Dallas, Semyon Varlamov gave the New York Islanders every chance in this one, as he stopped 37 of 40 shots that came his way.

Out of the 40 shots, 16 of them were considered high-danger shots, in which he stopped 13. And there was not a whole lot he could do on either three goals.

There’s no question that Semyon Varlamov was interfered with by Dallas captain Jamie Benn on the Dallas Stars first goal of the contest, but the officials determined that the contact was incidental and that the contact occurred outside the crease upon Barry Trotz’s challenge.

The second goal against deflected off of Tyler Seguin in front and the third goal, the game-winner, came via a Radek Faksa in-tight tip. The Islanders struggled mightily at protecting the front of Varlamov’s crease.

Over his last five games, Semyon Varlamov owns a .932 SV% with a 2.83 GAA.

“Outstanding…again like he’s been all year for us. He’s been a rock,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said on the performance of his netminder in the loss.

“All of our goalies have been really good for us all year. They give us a chance to win every night and that’s what he did tonight. He made some key saves at some moment to give us a chance to come back. I mean they put a lot of pucks on net with traffic and he was able to fight through the traffic, find those pucks to make the big save.”