DALLAS — Jamie Benn scored the go-ahead goal and had two assists, helping the Dallas Stars defeat the New York Islanders 5-2 at American Airlines Center on Saturday.
“Every time I showed up at work this summer after I took the job, he was the first guy in the gym,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said of Benn. “He was the first guy at training, he was the first guy trying to get quicker. Nobody put in more work than him coming into this season. I think you get what you put in sometimes. He’s playing fantastic.”
Mason Marchment had a goal and an assist, Tyler Seguin had two assists, and Jason Robertson scored to extend his point streak to an NHL career-high 11 games for the Stars (11-5-2), who have won three of four (3-0-1). Jake Oettinger made 27 saves.
“I think [Oettinger] kept us in it for as long as we needed,” said Benn, the Dallas captain. “Every time we scored a goal, they kind of found a way to get some momentum back, and we finally broke through in the third (period) there.”
Video: NYI@DAL: Benn nets 8th goal of season in 3rd period
Mathew Barzal scored his first two goals of the season in his 19th game for the Islanders (11-8-0). Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves.
“I’m excited to score whether it’s my first or my fifth,” Barzal said. “I know you guys were making a deal of [not having a goal], but I wasn’t bothered for a second. It’s literally just about making an impact and helping the team win. That’s really it.”
Video: NYI@DAL: Faksa nets 2nd goal of season in 2nd period
Barzal gave New York a 1-0 lead at 1:30 of the second period when he tipped in Alexander Romanov shot.
Radek Faksa tied it 1-1 at 6:57 after Seguin slipped a cross-crease pass to him.
Barzal’s second of the game made it 2-1 on the power play at 14:19. He scored from the slot off a Brock Nelson pass.
“We all knew it was coming,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “He’s gotten those looks before. So now we can stop worrying about that and start seeing him do it more often. I don’t think it was as big a deal as it got made up.”
Video: NYI@DAL: Marching scores in 2nd period
Marchment tied it 2-2 at 14:59 on a wrist shot through traffic that went bar-down.
Benn gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 8:17 of the third period with a backhand off Esa Lindell‘s no-look pass from behind the net. He has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak.
“We started better for sure,” said New York coach Lane Lambert, whose team trailed 3-1 midway through the first period of its previous game, a 5-4 loss at the Nashville Predators on Thursday. “We didn’t finish strong enough in the third period. As a result, we failed to get the result we wanted in a game that I think we could have won.”
Video: NYI@DAL: Robertson increases Stars’ lead in 3rd
Robertson made it 4-2 at 16:27 from the right circle off a Joe Pavelski face-off win. He has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) during his point streak.
Jani Hakanpaa scored into an empty net with 21 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
Stars forward Roope Hintz was scratched with a lower-body injury. He had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in a 10-game point streak.
Dallas used 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
“That was a gutsy win tonight,” Seguin said. “Missing a few guys, missing probably our best player in Roope, some guys having long days, and some guys sick. Just a weird day coming off a long road trip. Gutsy win.”
NOTES: Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri played his 700th NHL game. He was minus-2 with no shots on goal in 18:29 of ice time. … New York defenseman Adam Pelech was minus-3 and played 19:06 in his 400th NHL game. … Seguin’s first assist was his 700th NHL point, making him the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach the milestone. He has 701 points (309 goals, 392 assists) in 843 games since being selected No. 2 by the Boston Bruins. … Scott Wedgewood backed up Oettinger two days after being taken off the ice on a stretcher with an upper-body injury during a 6-4 win at the Florida Panthers.
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