Three Takeaways from Stars Overtime Loss to Islanders
In Patrick Roy's first game behind the bench for the New York Islanders, the Dallas Stars gave up a tying third period goal before losing in overtime 3-2.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports - Three Takeaways from Stars Overtime Loss to IslandersThe Dallas Stars took on the New York Islanders on the second day of a back-to-back, after a massive win against the New Jersey Devils. While the Stars were playing two days in a row, the Islanders were making coaching staff changes.
The Islanders relieved Lane Lambert of his duties and hired former NHL player and head coach Patrick Roy on Saturday. This took the Stars from being the pregame favorite to the Islanders being the favorite, likely due to the new coach bump.
Shortly before the game, Scott Wedgewood was announced as a surprise starter, his second start in two nights.
The Stars came out hot during the first period, which is something they have struggled with all season. Just two games ago, the Stars got one shot on goal in the first 30 seconds and then did not record another shot on goal for the next 27 minutes.
The offensive push looked promising, but at the end of the first period, the Stars found themselves down 1-0 due to a goal from Alexander Romanov. Wedgewood made some excellent saves, as both teams had a lot of good chances to start the game.
The second period was much better for the Stars on the score sheet. The Stars are +17 in second period goals, which is second in the league, whereas the Islanders have also allowed the second most second period goals in the league.
The Stars outshot the Islanders 14-5 throughout the second period, and around the halfway mark, Jason Robertson tied it up with a filthy between the legs, back hand, forehand goal.
At around the 15 minute mark, Nils Lundkvist found the back of the net, tallying his second goal of the season. Lunkdvist has been making the most of his playing time due to Miro Heiskanen being out.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
1. The power-play did not capitalize.
The Stars went 0-3 on the power-play against the Islanders. During the six minutes with a man advantage, the Stars only recorded five shots on goal, and none of them were high-danger chances.
The Islanders did a really good job of clogging up the middle on their penalty kill and not letting the Stars get into the interior part of the ice to be able to take any high-danger shots. Mason Marchment was the only one who got a chance from right around the net and missed on his opportunity.
The power-play won't always be perfect, but the Stars had three power-play opportunities, whereas the Islanders didn't get a single opportunity. The Islanders penalty kill also sits at 28th in the league with a 73.6% success rate.
2. Shot attempts did not translate to goals.
The Stars could not find the back of the net, but it wasn't due to a lack of trying at even strength. Ilya Sorokin stopped 41 of 43 shots on goal, giving him a .953% save percentage. The Islanders are second in the league in giving up shots on goal with an average of 35.17 shots allowed per game.
Unlike the power-play, the Stars were able to get into the high-danger areas around the crease to generate some scoring chances. However, Sorokin was on his game and the Stars got goalied a bit.
3. Scott Wedgewood continues to be great.
Since the Stars were on the second day of a back-to-back and Wedgewood started the first game, it was all but written in stone that Jake Oettinger would get the start against the Islanders.
About an hour before the game, Wedgwood learned he would get the start as Oettinger had come down with the flu.
Wedgewood stopped 31 of 33 shot attempts against the Devils in the 6-2 win, giving him a .935% save percentage against his former team. Though his numbers against the Islanders weren't as good, he kept the Stars in the game when the defense broke down and made some incredible saves.
The Stars had a bad turnover in overtime by Matt Duchene while at the same time, there was a defensive misstep by Thomas Harley that led to the Bo Horvat overtime winner.
The score sheet will tell you that the Stars should have won that game, but the Stars instead left a very valuable point on the table against a team that led the league in overtime and shootout losses with 11.
Dallas is now 1-1-1 on the current road trip with a chance to close it out with a winning record in Detroit Tuesday.
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