Horvat scores in OT, Islanders defeat Stars

DALLAS -- Bo Horvat scored 2:54 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Horvat scored on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Mathew Barzal.

“We know that every game is important here. Every game matters here for the rest of this season,” Horvat said. “That was a big two points today, and we’ve got to get another two points against Detroit here (Thursday).”

Ryan Pulock had a goal and assist, and Kyle MacLean scored for the Islanders (24-20-14), who had lost five of six (1-3-2). Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves.

“I think we’re just trying to build something here. There’s been some ups and downs throughout this [season],” Pulock said. “We play good at times and we’ve kind of hurt ourselves in moments, but I thought tonight we stayed with it. We never had any ups and downs. Had a couple of times where we got hemmed into our [defensive] zone, but we were able to stay structured, stay composed and find a way to get the job done.”

Logan Stankoven scored his first NHL goal and had an assist, and Matt Duchene scored for the Stars (35-16-9), who are 1-2-3 in their past six games. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves.

“It’s nice to get that first goal. Would have been nicer to cap it off with a win,” said Stankoven, who was playing in his second game. “Everything besides winning was super cool, and [I’m] really grateful. The crowd was great, and the fans treated me really well.”

Pulock gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 15:59 of the first period with a shot blocker side on Wedgewood from the high slot.

“Dallas is an extremely tough team. A lot of depth, solid back end. So for us to come in here and get this one on the road is a big two points,” New York forward Brock Nelson said. “We did a good job of sticking with it. Right now, it’s singular game focus and trying to string together as many as we can.”

Duchene tied it 1-1 at 7:11 of the second period, scoring a power-play goal after collecting a rebound at the bottom of the right face-off circle. The goal was Duchene's 800th NHL point (339 goals, 461 assists in 1,034 games).

“We were probably the better team tonight. A lot of good looks. Played most of the third and the second in their end. The first was probably our worst period. You get to [overtime], and it’s kind of a coin flip as we always talk about,” Duchene said. “No time to feel sorry for ourselves. It’s a huge week for us, and we’ve got a big one against Colorado tomorrow.”

MacLean put the Islanders in front 2-1 at 15:24 after Pierre Engvall found his own rebound and pushed the puck into the slot.

“I thought every line brought something,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “The line with MacLean and [Matt] Martin and [Cal] Clutterbuck, they played a solid game. They forechecked hard, they got the puck out. Our [defense] played well. I thought Engvall had a super game. He played well, he was skating well. He was dominant out there. I was very happy.”

Stankoven tied it 2-2 at 18:17, scoring through traffic from the bottom of the left face-off circle off a pass from Wyatt Johnston. Stankoven, who was recalled earlier Monday, is tied for the most points in the American Hockey League this season (57 points in 47 games with Texas).

“We started slow. I didn’t like our first period at all. I thought we worked ourselves into the game,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Had enough chances to win it in the third. … Had a breakaway, hit a crossbar. We worked hard enough, I thought, to either score or at least draw a penalty or two down the stretch that we didn’t get.”

NOTES: Horvat scored his third overtime goal this season, tying Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield and Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg for the most in the NHL. ... Stankoven, who turned 21 on Monday, became the 18th player to score his first career goal on his birthday. He is also the second to do so this month (St. Louis Blues forward Zachary Bolduc did it on Saturday). … Duchene became the second player from the 2009 NHL Draft to reach 800 points, joining Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares (1,018 points in 1,084 games).