The Dallas stars started Saturday where they quit before the 4 nations’ facial breaks-with a victory.
New York Islanders cannot say the same and will begin to rediscover the form they showed during most of the three weeks before the leave.
Dallas will look to complete a back-to-back road sweep while New York will try to win more openly by an important stretch Sunday evening when the stars visit the islands in Elmont, new
Four players got a goal on Saturday night for the stars, who never hit a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
The islanders have not played since February 8, when they fell 6-3 to Minnesota Wild.
The winner of Saturday was the seventh in the last nine games (7-1-1) for the stars, who are about to return to the playoffs after reaching the Western Conference final for the past two seasons. Dallas is second in the Central Division, two points ahead of third place Wild.
“Our goal was to be our best until the end of the year – build the details of our game and get our game to the place where we feel really good with it going into the Stanley Cup finals,” said Stars Goalie Casey Desmith, as Made 31 saves Saturday. “We’re almost there, so we just have to keep building.”
The stars have surpassed their opponents 37-24 in the last nine games. Dallas competed for a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes before opposing a comeback attempt by the devils, who surpassed visitors 33-26 for the game.
“I liked our gravel and I loved our goalkeeper,” said star coach Peter Deboer. “(Desmith) was our best player tonight, and we needed him to be.”
The direction for the islanders can be determined by the six games that the team is planned to play before the trade deadline on March 7.
New York, which is five points behind the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets in the race for the two Eastern Conference Wild locations, came back in battle by going 8-3-0 in their last 11 games before breaking.
“It’s crazy that it’s suddenly over and you’re back to the usual grinding,” said the Islanders Center Brock Nelson. “This is equally important now. You change the mindset to the playoffs now and come back to it and how important these games are to us.”
The two-week 4 breaks came at the perfect time for the islanders, who went into the break after the losses to the wild and Winnipeg Jets in a back-to-back road set.
Defender Ryan Pulock (upper body) and Scott Mayfield (lower body) are expected to return from injuries on Sunday after missing the last seven and four matches respectively. Another defender, Noah Dobson, will miss his 10th straight game on Sunday with a lower bodily injury but returned to training Saturday.
The interruption may also have helped the first line the left -wing Anthony Duclair, who has not registered a point in its last seven matches and does not yet have round in shape after a two -month absence this season due to a lower body injury.
“I would say to all the guys who have been injured, they develop very well, which is good for us,” said Islander’s coach Patrick Roy.
-Field level media
