NEW YORK — Jason Robertson achieved his third career hat trick, propelling the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday night, marking their third consecutive win.
Jake Oettinger made an impressive 35 saves in goal, while Sam Steel added another point for Dallas, which managed to withstand a late offensive push from the Islanders.
The Islanders nearly equalized in the waning minutes of the game, when Jean-Gabriel Pageau seemed to score. However, the referee disallowed the goal, citing interference by Pierre Engvall with Oettinger.
For New York, Engvall, Kyle Palmieri, and Anthony Duclair found the net, and Ilya Sorokin turned away 25 shots, but it wasn’t enough as the Islanders stumbled in their first outing following the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
Dallas defenseman Lian Bischel suffered a head injury after a check from Casey Cizikas in the second period and did not return to the game.
The game took a turn when Palmieri tied the score at 2-2 at 8:55 of the second period, but Robertson quickly responded with two goals on power plays, completing his hat trick and putting the Stars ahead 4-2.
Duclair brought the Islanders a bit closer when he capitalized on a loose puck, executing a backhand shot past Oettinger at 9:17 of the third period.
**Takeaways**
The Stars improved their record to 17-11-1 for away games this season, ranking them third in terms of road victories in the Western Conference.
On the other hand, despite Brock Nelson being the only Islanders player to take part in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the team appeared to lag behind Dallas, who had just defeated New Jersey 4-2 the previous night.
**Key Moment**
Cizikas received a match penalty for his hit on Bischel, creating an opportunity which Robertson seized by scoring twice with a man advantage, enabling Dallas to secure a two-goal lead.
**Key Stat**
The loss marked New York’s record at 13-19-3 when conceding the opening goal, and they fell to 16-21-6 in games where they failed to score on power plays. Additionally, Nelson surpassed Pat LaFontaine on the Islanders’ all-time scoring list, achieving 567 points.
**Up Next**
The Stars will travel to Columbus on Tuesday to conclude their three-game road stretch, while the Islanders will host city rivals, the New York Rangers, also on Tuesday.