3 thoughts on the New York Islanders' loss to the Dallas Stars

The New York Islanders played a solid game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. In the end, the Isles were on the wrong end of a 3-0 blanking. The score looked a lot worse than the game really was.

So, let’s look at some thoughts from the New York Islanders 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The Isles ran into a brick wall

The Dallas Stars are one of the league’s best defensive teams. They play a smothering, physical style that makes it tough for anyone to get through. We saw it in last year’s playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers’ high-flying style failed to get much going. Ultimately, the Oilers won the series because the Stars ran out of gas against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

But on Saturday night, the Stars didn’t face McDavid or Draisaitl. So, the Stars locked the game down, keeping the Isles at arm’s length the entire game. While the Isles did have some solid moments offensively, they weren’t enough to break through.

One particular sequence stands out when Kyle Palmieri went end-to-end in the second period. He took a burst of speed that made it virtually impossible for Dallas forward Jason Robertson to keep up with him. Ultimately, kudos to Jake Oettinger for shutting the door on the play.

Beyond that, the Isles had few chances to score. Perhaps it boiled down to the Islanders’ ability to finish off the plays. Moving forward, finishing off scoring chances is something the Isles will need to work on.

The top six got burned

Both Dallas goals happened with the Isles’ top two lines on the ice. The first goal scored by Tyler Seguin happened with the top line on the ice. In particular, the four Islanders’ players in front of them failed to pick up Seguin who moved into the slot, wide-open. He had all the time and space to take a strong shot and beat Semyon Varlamov.

In the second, it was the second line that got burned. In that goal, Maxim Tsyplakov was stripped of the puck, leading to a second chance following a big save from Varlamov. Wyatt Johnston muscled the puck off Tsyplakov’s stick, making a quick feed to Jamie Benn who buried the puck home.

I’m sure these defensive lapses are something Patrick Roy will address moving forward.

The Isles played a solid game overall

Overall, the Isles played well enough to win. However, they were unable to convert scoring chances into goals. For instance, if Palmieri had scored in the second, the game’s complexion would have changed considerably. Instead, the Stars locked the game down in the third period, leaving the Isles without a goal to show for their efforts.

Varlamov also deserves credit for keeping the Stars in the game despite not being overly tested. Again, had the Isles found the back of the next, the New York Islanders could have walked away with a W. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

So now, the Isles’ attention turns to the Colorado Avalanche; another team seemingly struggling at the moment.