The Dallas Stars finally had a night where the goals came in bunches.
After leaning on defense through the early part of the season, Dallas flipped the script Sunday and rolled past the New York Islanders 6-3, with Jason Robertson driving the offense with two goals. Tyler Seguin and Wyatt Johnston each chipped in a goal and an assist, giving the Stars their first real scoring burst of the year. Before this nine-goal game, Dallas had not been in anything close to this kind of shootout; the most goals in any Stars game so far had been five.
The night also delivered a pair of milestones for the Hryckowian family. Justin Hryckowian scored his first goal of the season on the power play, while his younger brother Dylan made his NHL debut after signing with Dallas out of college earlier in the year.
The brothers started together on a line with Jamie Benn. Matthew Seminoff also made his NHL debut, and both call-ups saw limited ice time without hurting the Stars.
This one also had a bit of history attached to it behind the bench. Pete DeBoer returned to Dallas for the first time since the playoff decision to pull Jake Oettinger in an elimination game in the Western Conference Final two seasons ago. DeBoer stood by that choice after the game, and the fallout eventually led to his firing, even after he had guided the Stars to the Conference Final in each of his three seasons.
Dallas got the scoring started with a classic Benn-to-Seguin connection, a familiar look that put the Stars in front in the first period. New York answered when Matthew Schaefer flashed real skill during 4-on-4 play, finishing with a roof shot to tie it 1-1. Robertson quickly restored the lead by forcing a turnover behind the net, spinning and beating Ilya Sorokin in the same 4-on-4 sequence.
The second period stayed tight and trading blows. Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders, then Brayden Schenn answered for Dallas, with Hryckowian’s power-play goal tucked between those New York tallies. That left the game locked 3-3 heading into the third.
From there, Dallas pulled away. The Stars got the Islanders defense moving the wrong way, and Johnston snapped home his second goal of the season and second in two games to put Dallas ahead for good.
Robertson added another, then Rantanen made it 6-3 with seven minutes left. After that last goal, the teams played the final seven minutes without a whistle.
Both Oettinger and Sorokin entered with strong numbers, but the Stars forced the issue and finished with a 38-19 edge in shots on goal. Dallas now moves on to Tuesday’s matchup with the New Jersey Devils, who just acquired former Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
In Other News...
Stars Exposed A Late-Game Problem The Islanders Couldnt Survive
The Islanders hung with Dallas through two periods in a game that kept swinging back and forth, but the third period brought the kind of breakdown that cant happen against a team with the Stars finish. After trading chances and staying level at 3-3, New York watched Dallas pull away with three unanswered goals, turning a competitive night into a frustrating 6-3 loss that left the Islanders staring at the details they could not quite clean up.
Pete DeBoer and his players pointed back to the same problem afterward: the mistakes that piled up once the game tightened. Against strong opponents, the margin is slim enough already, and the Islanders know they have to be better about limiting breakdowns when the pace picks up. What stood out most from this one was how exposed they looked in transition, a reminder that one messy stretch can undo everything that came before it. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Are Starting To Look Like Something Much More Serious
By the end of Week 4, the Stars had pushed themselves into the kind of early-season rhythm that gets attention around the league. A five-game winning streak is one thing, but it is the way Dallas has been stacking those wins that makes the start look more meaningful, with the group showing real balance at both ends of the ice and looking increasingly hard to play against.
For a team that has spent the opening month making every shift feel purposeful, the next stretch will say plenty about whether this is just a hot run or something sturdier. The Stars have given themselves a strong platform, and in a conference race where other clubs are still sorting out consistency, Dallas is starting to look like a team with a much clearer identity than most teams can claim this early. [Read more 🡒]