Islanders lose to Stars as Casey Cizikas' match penalty proves costly

The Islanders, fighting through the rust of a two-week break for the NHL’s inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, were even with the sharper Stars midway through Sunday’s game at UBS Arena.

But a questionable match penalty to Casey Cizikas led to two power-play goals by Jason Robertson — part of his second-period hat trick — and ultimately cost the Islanders a 4-3 defeat despite the returns of defensemen Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield.

“I thought it was a hit to the chest before the head,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of Cizikas’ match penalty for a hit to the head of defenseman Lian Bichsel, who did not return, at 13:26 of the second period.

“The penalty on Zeke kind of changes the game and gives them momentum,” defenseman Tony DeAngelo said. “Just in general, from the bench it didn’t look too bad, but you don’t want to see a guy get hurt either way.”

The Islanders (25-24-7), who got 25 saves from Ilya Sorokin, lost their third straight and had their home winning streak snapped at six games as they started a crucial stretch of six games in 10 days leading into the NHL trade deadline on March 7.

There are two games against the Rangers, including Tuesday night at home, and a road match against the Bruins, with both among the nine teams potentially battling for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

So having Pulock and Mayfield — who missed seven and four games, respectively — return is a definite boost to the Islanders.

The Islanders, who are five points behind Ottawa for the second wild-card berth, went 0-for-2 on the power play and did not get a man-advantage shot after Oskar Back was called for slashing at 16:51 of the third period,

“We’ve got to find a way to even it up on the power play,” DeAngelo said. “That’s on us. They’ve got to start falling soon.”

Jake Oettinger stopped 34 shots for the Stars (37-18-2), who knocked off their rust with a 4-2 road win over the Devils on Saturday.

The Islanders closed to 4-3 at 9:17 of the third period as Anthony Duclair, with his first point in eight games, tracked down his own rebound in the slot. But Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s apparent tying goal at 15:08 was immediately waved off as it was ruled that Pierre Engvall interfered with Oettinger as he battled defenseman Mathew Dumba in the blue paint.

“I think Engie was in the crease there,” Duclair said. “So it was a pretty easy call.”

The Islanders had tied the score at 2-2 at 8:55 of the second period as Kyle Palmieri got free up ice seven seconds after Robertson regained the lead for the Stars.

But Cizikas upended a crouching Bichsel with a hard hit deep in the Stars’ zone, with the dazed defenseman remaining on the ice as Dumba went after Cizikas. The initial five-minute major was upheld after being reviewed by referees Frederick L’Ecuyer and Cody Beach and the ejected Cizikas left the ice yelling at them.

The teams skated four-on-four for two minutes — with the Islanders holding the puck the entire time — before the Stars started a three-minute power play that yielded two more goals from Robertson. Both came around the net at 15:53 and 17:28.

The Islanders’ not-surprising rust was evident from the opening faceoff as passes misfired and the Stars were able to get pucks deep. Dallas took a 1-0 lead at 2:10 of the first period as defenseman Cody Ceci’s shot from the right hit Back and Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and came to a wide-open Sam Steel for the easy score.

Engvall, off the rush, tied it at 1-1 at 3:44 of the second period with his first goal in 28 games.

“We all felt rusty,” Lee said. “Regardless of the preparation, there’s nothing to simulate game speed, and I thought we shook it off as quickly as possible.”

Notes & quotes: Brock Nelson’s secondary assist on Palmieri’s goal was his 567th career point, moving him past Pat LaFontaine for sole possession of eighth place on the Islanders’ all-time scoring list . . . D Mike Reilly (heart condition/long-term injured reserve) participated in the optional morning skate, though he has not been cleared for contact and there still is no timetable for any potential return . . . In addition to Jason Robertson scoring three second-period goals against the Islanders, his brother Nicholas  had two second-period goals in Toronto's 5-2 win over Chicago. They became the first brothers to score multiple goals on the same day in the NHL since Pavel Bure and Valeri Bure on March 1, 2000.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.