New York Islanders Defeat Stars 6-5
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NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Okposo had two goals and an assist, Cal Clutterbuck scored twice and the New York Islanders beat the NHL-best Dallas Stars 6-5 on Sunday.
Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, and Mikhail Grabovski also scored to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in six games and improve to 4-0-1 in their last five against the Stars. Thomas Greiss finished with 36 saves.
New York trailed 2-1 in the first period before scoring the next four goals and then held off Dallas in the third to improve to 12-4-1 against Western Conference teams.
Valeri Nichushkin had two goals for Dallas. Vernon Fiddler, Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza also scored, and Kari Lehtonen stopped 38 shots.
The Stars, coming off an overtime defeat at New Jersey the previous night, lost consecutive games for the first time this season. Dallas was the last remaining NHL team without back-to-back losses.
The Islanders, who were 1 for 14 on the power play over their last six games, went 2 for 6 against the Stars.
Clutterbuck, who left Saturday night's game at Pittsburgh, was briefly knocked out of this one at 5:07 of the second after a high hit by Dallas' Jason Demers.
Demers was issued a major and a game misconduct, ending his night.
About halfway through the ensuing 5-minute power play, Nick Leddy took a shot from the blue line. Okposo didn't get a clean shot on the rebound, and the puck was headed wide left of the net. However, it deflected off defenseman Alex Goligoski's skate and trickled behind Lehtonen near the right post at 8:13 to put the Islanders ahead.
With just under 5 minutes to go in the period, Grabovski was standing at the right side of the net when he took a pass from Ryan Strome and fired it past Lehtonen to make it 4-2.
Clutterbuck extended the Islanders' lead to three with his eighth of the season with 2:17 left in the period.
Nichushkin pulled the Stars to 5-3 at 1:46 of the third when his shot deflected in off Leddy's skate.
Clutterbuck restored New York's three-goal lead when he took a pass in front from Casey Cizikas from the right corner and fired it in near the midpoint of the period.
Nichushkin got Dallas back within two on a power play less than 30 seconds later, and Spezza pulled the Stars to 6-5 with 1:42 left.
Fiddler put the Stars on the scoreboard first early in the first period. Radek Faksa skated down the right side and fought off a defender while taking a shot that Greiss stopped, but Fiddler was trailing the play and backhanded the rebound in at 5:55.
With Dallas on the power play, Jamie Benn was whistled for a double-minor for high-sticking midway through the first. Less than 20 seconds later, Cody Eakin was also called for high-sticking, putting the Islanders on a 4-on-3 advantage.
The Islanders quickly tied it as Okposo found Lee below the left faceoff circle, and Lee skated in and fired a shot past Lehtonen with 9:26 left in the opening period.
The Stars took a 2-1 lead as Sharp tipped in a shot by Goligoski with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first. It was Sharp's 16th of the season.
Okposo's first goal of the game tied it again late in the period. Thomas Hickey fired a shot from the right slot, and the rebound came to Okposo, who whacked the puck as he was falling forward and sent it in with 1:32 to go.
NOTES: The Stars continue their stretch of three games in four days against the New York-area teams when they face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. ... Dallas fell to 15-6-1 against the Eastern Conference, including 8-2-1 vs. the Metropolitan Division. ... After holding opponents scoreless on the power play in a franchise-record 15 consecutive games (totaling 35 chances), the Islanders have allowed man-advantage goals in three straight games. ... New York D Johnny Boychuk missed his second straight game after being placed on injured reserve Friday. ... The Islanders began a stretch with eight of 10 games at home.
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