3 Takeaways: Nelson Hat Trick Lead Islanders Over Stars 4-2

The New York Islanders extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1) with a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars in a Saturday matinee at UBS Arena.
Brock Nelson's fourth-career hat trick broke open a 1-1 tie in the third period, lifting the Islanders to their second win in as many games. Semyon Varlamov stopped 37 shots to improve to 2-0-1 in his last three starts, while Ryan Pulock rounded out the scoring for the Islanders.

"It feels like we're doing the right things again," said Anthony Beauvillier, who had one assist. "We're playing the right way, everyone is sticking together. It's fun winning games and playing the right way. After games you just know you did the right things. It's fun winning and we're playing the right way."
Denis Gurianov and Jacob Peterson scored for Dallas, who entered the day one point out of the Western Conference Wild Card, but failed to leapfrog the Vegas Golden Knights.

BROCK NELSON BREAKS OPEN GAME:

The Islanders and Stars hadn't seen each other in over two years when the puck dropped on Saturday, so there was a feeling-out process between the teams.
That led to a 0-0 score after one period and a fairly physical, but low-event period. Despite Pulock and Gurianov exchanging goals in the second period, there was still a sense of Saturday's game being a close-checking affair.
Enter Brock Nelson.
Nelson broke open the game with two goals 1:38 apart, turning a 1-1 draw into a 3-1 Islanders advantage. Nelson's first goal was a high wrister on Jake Oettinger that skipped off the goalie's collarbone, popped up and over into the Stars' net at 4:17. The power-play goal took advantage of a Stars penalty kill that had allowed a goal in three-straight games heading into Saturday's matinee.
Nelson followed it up with his 26th goal of the season at 5:55, taking a cross-ice feed from Anthony Beauvillier and roofing it over Oettinger. That had Nelson on the precipice of a hat-trick and after the Islanders stingy defense in a five-on-six situation, the 30-year-old center completed his hat trick with 19.5 seconds to play in the third period, icing the game with an empty-netter. The final goal was his 27th of the season, establishing a new career high for Nelson, who'd hit 26 goals twice in his career.
"It's a byproduct of a nice pass by Beau, a power play and being in different spots," Nelson said of his hat-trick. "It's nice to contribute and right now our line has done a good job of that. I've been a benefactor of that a couple of times now and it feels good."
While it marked the fourth three-goal game in Nelson's career, the hat-trick was his first three-goal period.
"Anybody on our team who has a hat-trick it's going to be a good day," Head Coach Barry Trotz said.

PULOCK UNLOCKS OFFENSE:

Pulock opened the scoring for the Islanders on Saturday, blasting a trademark slapshot through Oettinger from the half wall. Pulock's goal was his second of the season and gives the defenseman eight points (1G, 7A) in his last eight games. That run of points has overlapped with Pulock being reunited with longtime d-partner Adam Pelech, who picked up the primary helper on the play, as his slap shot missed far side and curled around to Pulock.
ISLANDERS 4, STARS 2
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KINGER'S CALLS
Pulock's Powerful Shot
Nelson's PPG
Nelson's GWG
Nelson Completes Trick
Pelech also tied his career-high in points (21) in the process.
"He's playing with confidence," Trotz said. "He's keeping it simple and going to the right areas, putting the puck in play and not trying to overthink it."

VARLAMOV STANDS TALL:

After going six-straight games without a win, Varlamov picked up his second win in three starts, while earning points in all three.
The Islanders netminder turned aside 37-of-39 shots in the win, marking his third-highest save total this season.
Varlamov came up with a key save on Michael Raffl to end the first period to keep the game scoreless and was solid in the second and third periods, stopping nine-of-10 shots in the second period and 16-of-17 in the third.
There was little he could do on Gurianov's one-timer on a two-on-one and Peterson's chance in the low slot was a prime high-danger opportunity as a Tyler Seguin rebound popped out front. He held the fort during a late Dallas push before Nelson iced the game.
"He's been a big part of our success," Pulock said of Varlamov. "He went through a tough start to the year with injury and then with COVID. It's tough to just come back playing a game right away from some of that stuff. Over this last little while he's been sharp and we've been helping him more. When you have two goalies that are as good as that, it gives you a chance every single night."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up a weekend back-to-back against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is at 2 p.m.