National Hockey League
NY Islanders 5, Dallas 4
When: 8:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 2, 2017
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Jonny Murray
Attendance: 17438

DALLAS -- Even down 3-1 midway through the second period, the New York Islanders never lost confidence against the Dallas Stars. Thanks to four unanswered goals and Ryan Strome contributing a goal and two assists, the Islanders prevailed 5-4 on Thursday at American Airlines Center.

"The first two periods were a result of some turnovers and they've got some great offensive players that can make plays," Strome said. "In the third period, we really clamped down, we played in their zone. We did it consistently and got results."

Andrew Ladd, Nick Leddy, who also had an assist, Dennis Seidenberg and Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders (30-22-10), who are 3-1-0 through four games of their nine-game road trip.

"If you look at our road record, it's not great so far. The last four games, except the last one, we played solid, consistent hockey," Seidenberg said. "For the most part, (we've played) good road hockey."

Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for New York.

Jamie Benn had two goals. Jason Spezza, who also had an assist, and Radek Faksa also scored for Dallas (25-29-10), who got two assists from Tyler Seguin. Antti Niemi made 28 saves in a losing effort.

"Fourth goal killed us, the way we defended it and their best player's on the ice," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "It wasn't good enough."

New York drew first blood when Strome scored his 12th goal of the season 9:29 into the game. Strome beat Niemi through his five-hole on a wrister from the slot.

Dallas pulled the game level eight seconds from the first intermission. With the Stars on a power play, Benn scored from the right circle after receiving a Seguin pass for his 22nd goal of the season.

Late in the first period, Dallas lost forward Antoine Roussel to an upper-body injury and the news isn't good.

"I don't have a timeframe, but it's going to be a while," Ruff said of Roussel. "In all likelihood, (he'll miss) probably the rest of the year. That hurt us."

The Stars then took their first lead 7:33 into the second period when Faksa scored his ninth goal of the season from the edge of the left circle.

After evading Scott Mayfield by sliding along the boards, Faksa sent the puck across ice. Patrick Sharp retrieved the carom and passed it to Faksa, who then scored.

Spezza gave Dallas its first two-goal lead at 3-1 with 9:46 remaining in the second period when he scored his 10th goal of the season. Spezza received a pass from John Klingberg near the blue line and flicked a wrist shot that beat Greiss far post from nearly the same spot that Faksa scored.

The Islanders cut it to 3-2 when Ladd scored his 17th goal of the season off a rebound with 5:11 remaining in the second period. Strome's initial shot struck the far post, but Ladd slipped in the carom.

"Yeah, even at the end of the second when we got that goal, we started to (get going)," Islanders interim coach Doug Weight. "You get frustrated on the road. Really big on the road to come out with a third like that. We were nice enough to let them back in the game with some really stupid decisions, but those will be addressed and it's two points, and we're going to go on to a tough test tomorrow."

Thirty-two seconds into the third, Leddy tied when his slap shot from the left point deflected off the boards behind the Dallas goal, off Niemi's left skate and in.

Seidenberg then gave New York its first lead since the opening period when he beat Niemi to his left with a wrist shot from the high slot. Kulemin added his 11th goal 1:43 after Seidenberg's tally to put the visitors ahead 5-3.

Benn's second tally with 2:51 remaining came with Dallas shorthanded. Benn scored on a backhand from the edge of the right circle, was his 23rd goal of the season and ended New York's run of unanswered goals at four.

Niemi left the ice with 1:27 remaining, but Dallas couldn't find the equalizer.

NOTES: The Islanders scratched LW Anthony Beauvillier (illness), D Adam Pelech and C Alan Quine. ... The Stars scratched D Patrik Nemeth. ... Islanders C Joshua Ho-Sang had two shots in 17:01 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Stars D Greg Pateryn, acquired in a Monday trade with Montreal, made his Dallas debut and assisted on the second-period goal from C Radek Faksa. ... Stars RW Ales Hemsky had two shots and one blocked shot in 10:04 of ice time after missing the previous 58 games due to hip surgery.
Top Game Performances
 
NY Islanders   Dallas
Ryan Strome 3 Points Jamie Benn 2
Ryan Strome 1 Goals Jamie Benn 2
Ryan Strome 2 Assists Tyler Seguin 2
N/A Power Play Goals Jamie Benn 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Jamie Benn 1
Thomas Greiss .840 Save Percentage Antti Niemi .848
Thomas Greiss 21 Saves Antti Niemi 28
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Islanders 33 5 0-2 0-1 2 27
Dallas 25 4 1-1 2-2 4 29
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Stars have a W/L % of .231 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Islanders have a W/L % of .448 after a win and .515 after a loss.