Nelson hat trick lifts Islanders past Stars

Brock Nelson scored a hat trick in the third period to help the New York Islanders to a 4-2 win against the Dallas Stars at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Saturday.

"I don't think I've had one in a period like that," Nelson said. "You get one (goal), it feels good. You're not really thinking, you're trying to go out there and get chances. Obviously, when that chance comes, be ready for it. [Anthony Beauvillier] made a nice play on the second one. After that, you're not thinking about [the hat trick] specifically. Just trying to still create offense, stay on the attack, and then if you do get a chance, just bury it."
Ryan Pulock scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves for the Islanders (26-24-9), who have won five in a six-game point streak.
"There was no room out there," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "They're a good hockey team. They've got lots of size, lots of speed. There wasn't a lot of chances either way, and when they did, I thought [Varlamov] came up really well on them."

Jacob Peterson and Denis Gurianov each had a goal and an assist for the Stars (33-24-3), who have lost four of their past five games. Jake Oettinger made 21 saves.
"We played really well," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "Their goalie was really good. We didn't capitalize on the chances we had, and they did. But it was a hard-fought game. … We deserved at least a point out of this game."
Nelson scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 at 4:17. His shot hit Oettinger, popped up in the air, and went past the goal line.
He scored 1:38 later to make it 3-1 at 5:55 when he took a cross-ice pass from Beauvillier.
"Feels like we're doing the right things again, playing the right way," Beauvillier said. "Everyone is sticking together. It's fun winning games, playing the right way. After games, you just know you did the right things."

Peterson got Dallas within 3-2 at 11:39 when he scored on a rebound.
"I want to win," Peterson said. "I want to win games. It doesn't matter who scores the points if we don't win."
Nelson scored an empty-net goal at 19:40 to finish the hat trick.

Pulock gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the second period on a slap shot from inside the blue line.
Gurianov tied it 1-1 at 18:46 when he finished a 2-on-1 with Peterson from the slot.
"You don't get points for being the better team," Dallas forward Michael Raffl said. "Results are all that matters. We're aware of the position we're in in the standings (trail the Vegas Golden Knights by three points for the second wild card in the Western Conference), and we know we've got to find a way to win games."
NOTES: With an assist on Nelson's first goal, Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson has scored at least one point in 15 of his past 20 games. ... New York forward Anders Lee had his six-game goal streak end but extended his point streak to seven games with an assist (11 points; nine goals, two assists).