Crucial penalty call befuddles Islanders in loss to Stars: 'We thought it was a clean hit'

The Islanders' recent woes continued as they dropped a third straight game, 4-3, to the visiting Dallas Stars, dealing another blow to their hopes of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In the first game back after the 4 Nations Face-Off, New York looked to get back on track and find the form that saw them win 11 of 14 and make up ground in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. And when Kyle Palmieri scored to level the score at two goals apiece nine minutes into the second period there was a glimmer of hope.

The game changed four minutes later when forward Casey Cizikas was assessed a match penalty for a hit that was judged to hit the head of Dallas defenseman Lian Bichsel. On the extended power play, Jason Robertson scored twice – to give him a hat trick in the period – to put the visitors ahead for good.

“It's never easy when you get a five-minute major,” head coach Patrick Roy said after the game. “I know we played four against five for three minutes, but I mean, regardless of that, it was probably a key moment in that game. Unfortunately for us, we were not able to kill that penalty.

"But from my standpoint... I thought [Cizikas] hit the chest before the head. It's unfortunate to see someone be hurt, you don't want to see that happen. But at the same time, I thought that was the chest first. That's my opinion.”

Cizikas hit on Bischel. Called a match penalty. pic.twitter.com/2tJJ4KchGr

— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) February 24, 2025

Forward Anthony Duclair, who chipped in the Isles' third goal with 11 minutes to play in the third, pointed to turnovers costing the Isles and said "It's on us" to play better, but when asked about the hit, didn't agree with the referee's determination.

"We saw the replay on the bench there, we didn't think it was a high hit at all. We thought it was a clean hit," Duclair said. "Obviously, that's a guy we lose for the rest of the game. Not ideal."

Palmieri echoed that view.

"The call made a massive impact," the forward said, via Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. "I didn't see a penalty called before, and then all the stuff happens after the whistle, and they give themselves an opportunity to review it."

The Islanders appeared to level the score for a third time on the night through Jean-Gabriel Pageau with under five minutes to play in the third, but the refs again intervened to the chagrin of the home side, judging that Pierre Engvall interfered with Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger.

Of course, this call was much less controversial and Roy didn't even challenge the call on the ice.

"To be honest, I would have loved to [challenge] it," the head coach said, "but I think it was the right call on the ice. Our video guys have been doing a really good job all year on those situations and I support their decision on the way that Pierre got in the crease and he kind of pushed their guy in so it would have been a very difficult challenge at this moment."

Roy added that he "would have preferred" the referee to have let the goal stand and forced Dallas to challenge the call and "that's what should've happened instead of being us having to challenge that, but I think the result in the end would have been the same."

"I think Engy was in the crease there, so, pretty easy call," Duclair said.

The Islanders stand at 57 points, five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the final Wild Card spot, and three points behind Tuesday night's foes -- the Rangers.