Robertson scores twice, Stars pull away from Islanders for fifth straight win

DALLAS -- Jason Robertson scored two goals, and the Dallas Stars extended their winning streak to five games with a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Robertson has eight points (three goals, five assists) on a four-game multipoint streak.

“I thought we possessed the puck pretty well in the third,” Robertson said. “Kept it pretty tight defensively, and then some bounces went our way in the neutral zone, and we just come back and attack.”

Tyler Seguin and Wyatt Johnston each had a goal and an assist, and Roope Hintz had two assists for the Stars (7-3-1), who won the third game of their six-game homestand. Jake Oettinger made 17 saves.

Dallas scored three straight goals in the third period to take control of a back-and-forth game.

“I thought we were the better team. Even through two (periods), it was even,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “They had a 10-minute stretch in the second I thought they were better than us … I thought our third, we executed at a high level and created some chances and scored on them.”

Matthew Schaefer, Kyle Palmieri, and Brayden Schenn scored for the Islanders (5-4-2), whose five-game point streak (3-0-2) ended. Bo Horvat had two assists, and Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves.

“They’re a good team. They’ve got lots of skilled players,” Schenn said. “When you give them transition, they come at you at full speed.”

The Stars spoiled the return of Islanders coach Peter DeBoer, who coached Dallas for three seasons from 2022-25.

"We had some self-inflicted stuff tonight,” DeBoer said. “That's probably the most rush chances we've given up the entire year in one game. So, you know, some stuff you got to clean up, and the lesson in that is, you know, we can't play that game against good teams.”

Johnston scored at 4:10 of the third period on a wrist shot from the slot to give Dallas a 4-3 lead.

Robertson scored his second goal on a breakaway at 9:45 to give Dallas its first two-goal lead of the night at 5-3 after getting a stretch pass from Seguin.

Mikko Rantanen scored at 13:02 on a wrist shot after receiving a drop pass from Lian Bichsel for the 6-3 final.

Seguin gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 11:31 of the first period, finishing off a 2-on-1 with Jamie Benn.

“You saw a lot of 2-on-1s,” Gulutzan said. “Part of our game plan today was not to force the issue when they had numbers back, but when they didn’t, capitalize on the times we could make a rush, the 2-on-1s and those sort of things. But it did turn into a little bit of a rush game, and I thought our guys did a good job.”

Schaefer scored for the Islanders at 13:43 to tie it 1-1 during 4-on-4 play. The defenseman skated down the left side before snapping the puck just over Oettinger’s right shoulder and under the crossbar.

The 19-year-old passed Bobby Orr for the second most goals by a teenage defenseman in NHL history. He has 25 goals in 93 games.

Robertson scored during that same 4-on-4 segment at 14:32 to make it 2-1 Dallas. He knocked down a pass attempt from Schenn behind the net, skating in front and wristing a shot past Sorokin’s glove from point-blank range.

“I mentioned the other day that we were one pass away from making it on the tape,” Robertson said. “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. Look to keep building on it and keep executing.”

Palmieri tied the game back up 2-2 at 4:01 of the second period. Ryan Pulock shot the puck from the point shortly after a face-off, and the rebound kicked off the end boards and right to Palmieri, who beat a recovering Oettinger with a backhand shot.

Justin Hryckowian made it 3-2 for Dallas on the power play at 10:52. Thomas Harley’s point shot rebounded off the boards above the goal line, and Hryckowian backhanded the puck in.

Schenn tied the game 3-3 after Anthony Duclair fed him a puck from behind the net out above the crease, where he sent a quick snap shot past the blocker of Oettinger at 17:45.

“I think we could’ve been tighter in our D-zone, ended more plays,” Palmieri said. “That’s how we’re gonna be successful. We’ve seen that recipe and what it looks like, especially these last couple games. For whatever reasons, we weren’t executing breaking the puck out and weren’t doing a great job ending plays in our D-zone.”

NOTES: Rantanen’s goal was his 322nd, moving him past Olli Jokinen for the third most by a Finland-born player in NHL history. … Forwards Dylan Hryckowian and Matthew Seminoff each made his NHL debut for Dallas. Hryckowian was in the starting lineup for Dallas along with his older brother, Justin, and finished plus-1 in 10:03 of ice time. Seminoff had two shots on goal in 8:53. … Stars forward Radek Faksa (lower-body injury) did not play after he left in the third period of a 3-2 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. …  Forward Sam Steel (undisclosed) was also out; the forward was given an injection as part of treatment Friday. Gulutzan said after the game that both may also miss Dallas’s game on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils.