NEW YORK — On Sunday night, Jason Robertson recorded his third career hat trick, helping the Dallas Stars secure a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders, marking their third consecutive win.
Jake Oettinger stood strong in goal, making 35 saves while Sam Steel contributed a goal for Dallas as they managed to withstand a late surge from the Islanders.
In a dramatic moment, New York’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau seemed to have equalized the game in the dying minutes; however, officials ruled that Pierre Engvall had interfered with Oettinger, nullifying the goal.
The Islanders had their own scoring moments with goals from Kyle Palmieri, Anthony Duclair, and Engvall. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves, but the Islanders couldn’t overcome Dallas in their first match back after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament break.
A notable incident occurred late in the second period when Dallas defenseman Lian Bischel left the game after being checked in the head by Casey Cizikas from the Islanders, and he did not return afterwards.
Palmieri managed to tie the game at 2 at the 8:55 mark of the second period, yet Robertson answered back with two power-play goals, completing his hat trick and pushing the Stars ahead 4-2.
Duclair later narrowed the gap when he skillfully gathered a loose puck and flicked a backhand shot past Oettinger at 9:17 of the third period, making it 4-3.
In terms of takeaways from the game, the Stars improved to 17-11-1 on the road this season, achieving the third-highest number of away victories in the Western Conference.
As for the Islanders, only Brock Nelson participated in the 4 Nations Face-off, but the rest of the team seemed to lag behind Dallas, who had just defeated New Jersey 4-2 the previous day.
A key moment in the match was when Cizikas received a match penalty for his hit on Bischel, which resulted in Robertson scoring twice during the ensuing power play and giving Dallas a two-goal lead.
Statistics highlighted that New York fell to 13-19-3 when allowing the opening goal of the game, and their record dropped to 16-21-6 when they failed to secure a power-play goal. Additionally, Nelson moved past Pat LaFontaine to claim eighth place on the Islanders’ all-time scoring list with a total of 567 points.
Looking ahead, the Stars are set to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday to wrap up their three-game road trip, while the Islanders will host their rivals, the New York Rangers, on the same night.
