DALLAS — The Islanders got the start they needed, but not the finish.

Just two days after the first 20 minutes killed them against the Predators, the Islanders couldn’t withstand a third-period push from the Stars, and lost 5-2 at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

It’s the first time since Oct. 22-23 that the Islanders have lost consecutive games, and with another road game against the Maple Leafs coming up Monday, there’s some urgency to right the ship before they return home.

After the third period opened with the score tied at 2-2, Jamie Benn scored the go-ahead goal for the Stars at 8:17, backhanding a feed from Mason Marchment past Semyon Varlamov. It ended up being a three-point night for Benn, who also assisted on the first two Dallas goals and keyed a top line that gave the Islanders fits all night.

“They were getting the puck in deep,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “We made a couple of defensive errors when they were out there, so they took advantage. Those type of players, they can do that.”

Just like in Nashville on Thursday, there was no comeback. The closest the Islanders (11-8-0) got after Benn’s goal was forcing a Ryan Suter clearance off the line on Kyle Palmieri’s shot, keeping a 3-2 lead intact at 15:36. Barely a minute later, Jason Robertson extended the Stars’ lead to 4-2 with a goal at 16:27 of the third. Jani Hakanpaa’s empty-netter in the final minute made it 5-2, a lopsided score for a game that was even throughout.

“It would’ve been in,” Palmieri said. “But didn’t happen.”

The Islanders were left to rue a 1-for-5 mark on power plays and their failure to take full control of the game during a second period in which they had four chances at five-on-four.

“I know it ended up 5-2, but that’s a tight game,” captain Anders Lee said. “It’s not a lot out there. I think we held them to a pretty good amount and just a couple mistakes, a couple good plays, it ended up in the back of our net. Opportunity was there to win the game.”

During that second period, there was one big positive: Mathew Barzal broke his season-long scoring drought with his first two goals of the season. He deflected Alexander Romanov’s shot past Jake Oettinger at 1:30 and sniped home a power-play goal from the slot at 14:30.

In between, though, Barzal was primarily responsible for Radek Faksa’s goal at 6:57 of the second period. He let Benn skate through him to help set up the goal, which tied the game at 1-1. And, just 40 seconds after Barzal gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with his second tally, Marchment tied it up on a one-timer from the slot, courtesy of Benn.

After the first period did them in against the Predators, the Islanders did what was needed in the opening 20 minutes Saturday. Though they went to the first intermission scoreless, the Islanders had the first six shots of the game before their momentum was halted on a Casey Cizikas hooking penalty. It was a mostly even match through the first period, though Varlamov withstood a number of tests, including a Ty Dellandrea shot from the crease that he deflected away.

It wasn’t a perfect start, but it was good enough until the prevailing issues came later.

Going into the third period tied despite having four power plays in the second period felt like a wasted opportunity for the Islanders in the moment. As it turned out, it was.

“There’s some stuff we can get better at,” Palmieri said. “Clean up some stuff in the D-zone, but they played a pretty good hockey game. … I think we can do a better job limiting chances.”

The two-game skid is the first real adversity the Islanders have faced in nearly a month, but in a division with the red-hot Devils, Hurricanes and Rangers in the Metropolitan Division, even a strong month has given them only minimal leeway.

Barzal breaking his scoring drought (he already was averaging an assist per game) is no small deal. But that feels like a bit of a consolation prize on a night where the Islanders left victory on the table.

“We didn’t finish strong enough in the third period,” Lambert said. “As a result, we failed to get the result we wanted in a game that I think we could’ve won.”