Islanders get another strong performance from goalie Rittich to defeat the Stars

DALLAS — The Islanders are having an outstanding road trip. And goaltending, be it from Ilya Sorokin or David Rittich, has fueled it. Both netminders are giving them the chance to win close games.

They improved to 5-1-0 on this seven-game trek with a tense 3-2 win over the Stars on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

The Islanders survived Wyatt Johnston’s goal with no time on the clock being overturned for goalie interference.

Rittich made 22 saves for the Islanders (11-7-2), who scored their NHL-leading fifth shorthanded goal with Kyle Palmieri upping their advantage to 3-1 at 7:38 of the third period off an odd-man rush.

Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots for the Stars (12-5-3), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Coach Patrick Roy elected to start Rittich after Sorokin submitted another strong performance with 24 saves in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche, a close game with a deceptive score after two last-minute goals.

The Stars came within a goal at 18:01 of the third period on Jason Robertson’s second goal as they skated six on five.

Sorokin had won his previous three starts and the loss snapped his personal 4-0-1 streak.

Rittich had made 27 saves as the Islanders rallied for a 3-2 overtime win in Utah on Friday.

“We feel like we’re play a lot of games this month,” said Roy as the Islanders will play 15 games in November. “We feel like the workload is maybe too heavy right now for one guy. It’s important to use both guys and they’re both playing really well.”

Roy added Sorokin will start Thursday night when the Islanders end the road trip against the Red Wings.

He said there had been no temptation to go back to Sorokin against the Stars even after how he played in Colorado.

“It’s about the big picture,” Roy said. “It’s not just about winning one game.”

The Islanders checked off plenty on their pregame to-do list against the Stars in playing another top Western Conference Stanley Cup candidate tightly.

“We’re going to have to be sharp in the neutral zone and in our defensive zone,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “A lot of top-end skill [for the Stars] and the first two lines are pretty steady all the way across. One, we’ve got to stay out of the box. Two, we’ve got to stay in our structure.”

The game’s first penalty did not come until Bo Horvat was called for a four-minute high stick on Oskar Back at 6:48 of the third period, also receiving a 10-minute misconduct. But Palmieri scored shorthanded and Jamie Benn’s high-sticking penalty at 7:52 turned it into four-on-four play.

The Stars negated a second power play when Robertson was called for hooking at 14:29 with No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer in the box for high sticking.

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead at 10:35 of the second period after neither team had a shot through the first 8:25 of the middle frame. Rookie Cal Ritchie, in his 10th game since being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, finally notched his first point with the team by getting to the low slot to slam in a feed from Anthony Duclair.

But Robertson’s give-and-go goal with Tyler Seguin tied it at 1-1 at 12:26.

By then, Roy’s line blender was on puree.

He initially had rookie Max Shabanov on Mathew Barzal’s line with Jonathan Druoin. But, midway through the first period, Shabanov was skating on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third line with Duclair — double-shifted for Max Tsyplakov on Ritchie’s goal — while Anders Lee skated on Barzal’s line. By the second period, many combinations were changing shift to shift.

Rittich was the game’s best player in the first period, making 10 saves. The Stars’ top trio of Wyatt Johnston between Sam Steel and Mikko Rantanen, in particular, was able to control the puck in the offensive zone and Rittich also had to deny Jamie Benn, playing his first game of the season after dealing with a collapsed lung, at the crease at 12:07.

Notes & quotes: Defenseman Alexander Romanov was helped off the ice following Miko Rantanen’s five-minute major for boarding with 27.3 seconds left. Roy screamed at Rantanen from the bench . . . Simon Holmstrom (illness) was unable to play.

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.