Stars’ fall to Islanders in another puzzling defeat - The Dallas Morning News

ELMONT, N.Y. — As the days rip off the Stars’ regular-season calendar, results like Saturday afternoon’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders become harder to process.

The Stars didn’t play poorly. Islanders backup goalie Semyon Varlamov played well, but didn’t stand on his head. But still, the result was a regulation loss and the Stars will try to finish their four-game road trip with a win Sunday in Washington.

“We play like that, the points will take care of themselves,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “There does come a point, too, where you’re going to run out of games. We’ve got to get every point we can. We tried to get those tonight. Varlamov was very good, give him credit.”

The Stars were the better team on Saturday afternoon during their first visit to UBS Arena on Long Island.

At 5-on-5, they had significant advantages in shot attempts (53-33), shots on goal (33-21), scoring chances (34-11), high-danger chances (15-7) and expected goals (2.89-1.36), according to Natural Stat Trick. But Varlamov made 37 saves, and the Islanders received a hat trick from Brock Nelson.

Ryan Pulock also scored for the Islanders, sneaking a slapper from the point through Jake Oettinger. Denis Gurianov and Jacob Peterson each had a goal and an assist for the Stars. Oettinger made 21 saves.

“You don’t get points for being the better team,” Stars forward Michael Raffl said. “The results are all that matter. We’re aware of the position we’re in in the standings. We know we’ve got to find a way to win games. That’s how she goes sometimes.”

The loss was the Stars’ fourth in the last five games. Dallas has not won a game in regulation since March 6 at Minnesota.

The Stars entered Saturday one point behind Vegas for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, with four games in hand on the Golden Knights.

For the second straight game, the Stars received the secondary scoring they’d been searching for. Peterson rolled off a neutral-zone check to spring a 2 on 1 chance with Gurianov late in the second period. Then he waited to slide a pass across the slot for Gurianov’s 10th goal of the season, one that tied the game 1.a

“I know Denis has a good shot, so I was just looking for him,” Peterson said.

Peterson cut a 3-1 Islanders lead in half in the third period when Gurianov and Tyler Seguin won a puck on the forecheck and set up Peterson in the slot. It was Peterson’s 10th even-strength goal of the season, which is fifth on the team.

Saturday was the 12th time that the Stars did not get a goal from Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz or Joe Pavelski (when all three were in the lineup). Dallas has not won any of those games in regulation.

“We needed the big boys to step up, but they’re not going to score every night,” Bowness said. “So it’s good to see Denis score and Petey score. We need those guys to contribute.”

The Stars have had their fair share of games this season where the result hasn’t matched their on-ice performance, which can make Saturday’s game on the Island maddening for those convinced those games even out.

Now, the Stars are left to salvage a .500 road trip with a victory in Washington over a Capitals team that is 7-0-1 in their last eight games.

“I thought we played a very good road game today, but it is what it is,” Raffl said. “Sometimes, you don’t get the results. You’ve got to build off the good stuff you did because there’s a big game coming up tomorrow. We’ve got to be ready for that.”

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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