Stars 3, Islanders 2
The New York Islanders dropped their third straight game Thursday night, losing 3-2 to the Dallas Stars in front of 9,288 at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders led 2-1 entering the third period, but Jamie Benn stole the lead back at 4:33, beating goalie Kevin Poulin low glove-side. Poulin, making his season debut, turned aside 26 of 29 in what was otherwise a solid outing. 

“Sometimes you just want to do too, much and in that case, he caught me low glove,” Poulin said, “I was expecting a little pass on a 3-on-1. Usually there’s a pass. He got me.”

The Islanders got into penalty trouble, sending eight players to the box. Dallas converted one of six power plays, and used the extended zone time to their advantage. Loui Eriksson opened the scoring six seconds after Matt Martin left the box on a first period hooking call.  

Michael Grabner got the Islanders on the board before the end of the first, banking a Kyle Okposo cross crease pass off his skate and by Richard Bachman. The play was reviewed, but the ruling on the ice was upheld. 

The Isles took the lead at the end of the second period, as Okposo snuck a shot through Bachman while Marty Reasoner crashed the crease. Okposo now has goals in two of his last three games.

The Stars came out firing in the third and took advantage of another Islanders penalty. While Tim Wallace was in the box for Interference, Dallas wasted no time as Brenden Morrow tied the game ten seconds into the minor.

“It’s definitely a tough loss when you have the lead like that,” PA Parenteau said. “You are not playing your best hockey but you still have the lead. That’s something we have to get better at, playing with the lead.”

With Steve Staios and Andrew MacDonald both out with injury, Islanders prospect Calvin de Haan skated in his NHL debut.  Paired with Dylan Reese, also a recent call-up from Bridgeport, de Haan logged 13 minutes of ice time and was a plus one.

“It’s definitely a little quicker. At every level the game gets a little quicker,” said de Haan, who is in his first professional season. 

The Islanders next game is Saturday night as they take on the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Puck drop is at 8 p.m.