Three times on Sunday night the New York Islanders pulled even with the Dallas Stars. Jason Robertson made sure the third one did not hold.
Robertson scored twice, including a third-period breakaway that finally put Dallas two goals up, and the Stars beat the Islanders 6-3 at American Airlines Center for their fifth win in a row. The goals were his fourth and fifth of the season, and he put three shots on Ilya Sorokin in just under 19 minutes.
Dallas is 7-3-1 and has won three straight to open a six-game homestand.
A quick answer
Tyler Seguin opened the scoring 11:31 into the game. Two minutes later, with both teams playing four-on-four, Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders' 19-year-old defenseman, carried the puck up the left wing and snapped a shot under the crossbar to tie it.
Robertson needed less than a minute to put Dallas back in front. Still at four-on-four, he got his stick on a Brayden Schenn pass behind the net, came out front and beat Sorokin from close range at 14:32. Nobody else touched the puck.
New York tied it again in the second on Kyle Palmieri's backhand. Justin Hryckowian scored on the power play for his first goal of the season, and Schenn answered before the period ended, sending the game to the third at 3-3.
Pulling away
Wyatt Johnston broke the last tie 4:10 into the third, finishing a feed from Nils Lundkvist in the slot. The Associated Press noted that Johnston, who scored 45 goals a year ago, has now scored in consecutive games after going without one in his first seven.
Five and a half minutes later Seguin found Robertson with a stretch pass, and Robertson went in alone and scored at 9:45 for a 5-3 lead. Roope Hintz picked up the second assist, his second of the night. Lian Bichsel dropped the puck for Mikko Rantanen at 13:02, and Rantanen buried his team-leading sixth goal to finish it.
"I mentioned the other day that we were one pass away from making it on the tape," Robertson told NHL.com. "We executed some 2-on-1s, some odd-man rushes, and goals went in. That's just a shot of confidence for everyone in the locker room."
Seguin and Johnston each finished with a goal and an assist. Dallas outshot New York 38-20, and Sorokin stopped 32. Jake Oettinger made 17 saves according to ESPN's box score and NHL.com, while the AP recap credited him with 16. The Stars killed all three Islanders power plays.
