DALLAS — Mathew Barzal’s point-per-game-plus production continued. This time it even included goals.
The Islanders top playmaker notched his first two of the season — to go with 19 assists — but it was for naught in a 5-2 loss to the Stars on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
The Islanders (11-8-0) have lost two straight and conclude their four-game road stretch against the Maple Leafs on Monday night. They got 21 saves from Semyon Varlamov but went 1 for 5 on the power play and yielded two leads while losing for the first time in seven tries when scoring first.
Jason Robertson extended his point streak to 11 games with an insurance goal at 16:27 of the third period to make it 4-2. Seconds earlier, defenseman Ryan Suter had swiped the puck off the goal line as Kyle Palmieri, in the blue paint, pushed for the equalizer.
Roope Hintz, who also has a 10-game point-streak for the Stars (11-5-2), was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves.
Barzal was three assists away from tying Alex Delvecchio’s NHL record for forwards of 22 assists before notching the season’s first goal, which he did in 1969-70 for the Red Wings.
Josh Bailey, the longest-tenured Islander who reached the 1,000-game milestone earlier this season, was back on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third line along with Palmieri after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of this trip in favor of Ross Johnston.
“You’re accustomed to playing pretty well every other day,” said Bailey, who has been a healthy scratch three times this season. “At this point in my career, I’ve been through these things before. You stay ready and when you get back out there you try to make the most of it.”
Bailey has gone six games without a point as he’s stuck on three goals and two assists in 16 games.
His line was on the ice along with defensemen Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson for the horrid defensive shift that led to Jamie Benn’s winner at 8:17 of the third period as the Stars had several good looks at Varlamov before Benn took Mason Marchment’s feed and roofed a backhander at the crease to make it 3-2.
Barzal finally unstuck himself from zero goals as he tipped defenseman Alexander Romanov’s shot from the left wall to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:30 of the second period.
Barzal’s second goal was a beauty as he skated through traffic to beat Oettinger from the slot on the power play to regain a 2-1 lead at 14:19 of the second period.
The problem was, the Islanders relinquished the lead both times.
Barzal’s defense played a part in the Stars’ first equalizer at 6:57 as he was gassed at the end of a shift that lasted two minutes, 26 seconds.
Barzal was on the ice for the full two minutes of one of the Islanders’ four power plays in the second period — remaining out with the second unit after his first unit went to the bench — and couldn’t change as the Stars pushed the puck into the Islanders’ zone. Tyler Seguin, with his 700th career point, fed an open Radek Faksa at the crease.
Marchment also broke free in the slot to beat Varlamov just 40 seconds after Barzal’s second goal.
The Islanders put together a strong, road first period, a necessity after their awful performance over the first 20-minutes of their 5-4 loss in Nashville on Thursday in which they trailed 3-1.
The Islanders took the game’s first five shots but lost that early momentum when Casey Cizikas was called for hooking defenseman Colin Miller at 5:56.
