Jamie Benn scored the tiebreaking goal with 11:43 remaining in regulation and had two assists to help the Dallas Stars post a 5-2 victory over the visiting New York Islanders on Saturday night.
With star forward Roope Hintz a late scratch due to a lower-body issue, Benn helped pick up the offensive slack for the Stars.
After assisting on second-period goals by Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment, Benn took a behind-the-net pass from the latter and backhanded the puck by New York netminder Semyon Varlamov to break a 2-2 tie at 8:17 of the third.
Varlamov had 30 saves.
Jason Robertson added a late insurance goal for his 12th that extended a point streak to 11 games, and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for Dallas, which has 20 goals during its 3-0-1 stretch. Jani Hakanpaa’s empty-netter capped the three-goal third for the Stars, who are 5-2-0 at home.
Meanwhile, Mathew Barzal scored his first two goals of the season for the Islanders, who twice failed to hold a one-goal lead. New York has lost back-to-back contests and is 4-4-0 following a five-game winning streak.
New York recorded the first five shots on goal but was outshot 13-9 through the first 20 minutes.
Barzal opened the scoring just 1:30 into the second period. He deflected in Alexander Romanov’s shot for his first goal since April 23.
Dallas tied the contest at 6:57 of the middle frame. It started with Benn’s backhanded pass to Tyler Seguin, who found Faksa in front of the net to convert. For Seguin (two assists), it was the 700th point of his stellar career.
Barzal wasn’t done. He gave the Islanders the lead back on the power play with 5:41 remaining in the second, when he beat a poorly positioned Oettinger.
However, the Stars tied it just 40 seconds later when Benn found an open Marchment, who sent the puck past a partially screened Varlamov.
–Field Level Media
