Both the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders went through almost every emotion in the final two minutes of the third period.
In the end, a game-tying goal with 0.1 seconds left for Dallas was overturned by the situation room in Toronto, and the Islanders held on for a 3-2 win.
It was a crazy end to a fairly methodical game from both teams, with the score tied 1-1 after two periods and both teams playing good defense. Islanders goaltender David Rittich made most of the early saves, and only a Jason Robertson shot found its way through on a 2-on-1 with Tyler Seguin through the second. That tied the game after the Islanders opened the scoring when Cal Ritchie received a nice cross-ice pass with a tired Stars squad on the ice during a long shift.
Then, in the third, Bo Horvat retook the lead for New York, finding a loose puck in front of the net with no one else looking. The puck had squeaked right by Jake Oettinger, but he didn't seem to track it, leaving Horvat no problems.
Dallas soon got their first power play of the game, a double minor for high sticking that was the first call of the entire game, and looked poised to tie it up with their lethal scoring touch on the man advantage. Instead, at all blew up in their face when Kyle Palmeiri took advantage of a 2-on-1 shorthanded and rocketed a wrist shot past Oettinger for a 3-1 lead.
Jamie Benn, returning for the first time in the regular season after a collapsed lung kept him out since preseason, took a penalty to negate most of the rest of the double minor. The Stars seemed like the wind had been blown out of their sails.
But as the team has shown over the past several years, and no different this year, they are never out of it. Robertson batted a puck out of mid-air that ricocheted past Rittich to cut the lead to 3-2 after the Stars had pulled Oettinger for an empty net situation.
Then, the chaos continued when Mikko Rantanen hustled into the zone looking for that tying goal, caught a piece of an Islanders stick, fell forward and shoved defenseman Alexander Romanov hard into the boards, leaving Romanov writhing in pain. Referees Gord Dwyer and Stephen Hiff got together, called a major penalty and upheld the call via automatic review.
IslandersLive (@IslandersLive53) on X
Mikko Rantanen delivered a scary hit on Romy, thankfully he was able to skate off the ice without needing a stretcher. Hopefully, Alexander Romanov is okay. 🙏 #Isles
#Islanders #NHL #Hockey #MikkoRantanen #AlexanderRomanov #IslandersLive
That meant the Stars were now on the penalty kill for the rest of the game barring a New York goal, so if they were to tie it up it would have to be 5-on-5 with Oettinger pulled. They got possession, managed to set up in the offensive zone and with a tenth of a second left, Wyatt Johnston put a backhand into an empty net to seemingly tie the game 3-3.
The crowd went crazy but Rittich immediately went to the referees to signal goaltender interference. Robertson had taken Rittich out of the play, but it looked as if he was pushed. Once again the two referees got on the phone with Toronto and the situation room. The call was overturned, most likely due to Robertson entering the crease on his own before getting pushed.
Victory+ (@victoryplustv) on X
Wyatt Johnson finds the back of the net in the final second of the game, but the goal is overturned and called goaltender interference.
It was a bitter defeat for Dallas, who felt like they had clawed all the way back and pulled off a miraculous point, but now have to go on their longest road trip yet on the heels of that disappointment. Dallas will head to Northwest Canada and Seattle until after Thanksgiving, when they will finally return home for their annual Black Friday game.
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