Stars 5 - 7 Islanders
Final
  for this game

Isles host Stars seeking to start win streak

Oct 25, 2014 - 2:56 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Islanders try to get another winning streak going on Saturday night as they return home to take on the Dallas Stars.

The Islanders got off to a surprising 4-0 start to the season before getting grounded a bit with consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and Toronto. However, New York avoided a third straight defeat as it bested the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday.

Former Bruins backstop Chad Johnson made 14 of his 30 saves in the third period to lead the Islanders, while Johnny Boychuk returned to Boston for the first time since getting traded to the Islanders on Oct. 4.

Boychuk, who has two goals and six points through seven games, skated in just over 23 minutes of ice time against his former club and had one shot on net.

"It was a tough game, looking across the ice and playing against your friends," Boychuk said. "But when you're on the ice, it's business. I'm glad we got the two points and we're looking forward to the next game."

Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the Islanders.

New York saw a swap at defense, with Lubomir Visnovsky making his season debut after sitting out the first six games due to a back injury. He stepped in for Travis Hamonic, who did not play because of an upper-body injury.

The defenseman could sit out again tonight and the Islanders also lost forward Josh Bailey to a broken hand suffered versus the Bruins.

However, forward Mikhail Grabovski practiced on Friday and could return to action tonight for New York. He has missed the past three games with a concussion.

The Stars come to town riding a five-game point streak that was extended with Friday's 3-2 shootout victory over the hosting New Jersey Devils. Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza scored in the tiebreaker and Kari Lehtonen did not allow a goal in the two rounds.

Benn and Patrick Eaves scored in regulation and Lehtonen finished with 25 saves as Dallas improved to 4-0-1 in its last five games while impressing head coach Lindy Ruff.

"I thought tonight was by far our best game overall," Ruff said. "It looked a lot like how we played last year. We eliminated a lot of the mistakes."

Benn scored in his fifth straight game, while Tyler Seguin and Spezza extended point streaks with assists on the tally. Seguin has five goals and six assists over a five-game run, while Spezza has posted a goal and seven helpers in his last four games.

The Islanders won both meetings with the Stars a season ago, with their 7-4 victory on Jan. 6 snapping a four-game series home losing streak.






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