The Kings earned their third consecutive win on Tuesday night. Back home after a quick stop in Las Vegas this past Sunday, the Kings kicked off a three-game home stand with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders. With the victory, the Kings have moved within one point of the second seeded Edmonton Oilers with one game in hand.
The Kings started the scoring late in the first period by scoring on a 6-on-5 delayed Islanders penalty. Maintaining possession for over 30 seconds after the infraction, Anze Kopitar fed Vladislav Gavrikov for a one-timer at the point and the defenseman ripped a howitzer past Ilya Sorokin for the 1-0 lead with 4:27 to go in the period. The Kings took that 1-0 lead and 15-6 shot advantage into the first intermission.
Period two was a wild one on Tuesday as the period saw a total of five goals, but thankfully only three counted. Having had success against the Kings throughout his career but especially as of late, captain Anders Lee evened the game with a shot five hole on a line rush entering the zone 8:37 into the period. Now tied, the Kings responded immediately as they’ve done so many times this season. Retaking the lead just 37 seconds after the Lee goal, Warren Foegele caused a turnover on an Islanders breakout attempt and quickly moved the puck to linemate Trevor Moore for a 2-on-1. Moore then fed the third member of their line Phillip Danault for a one-time snap shot and it beat Sorokin high glove side for the lead. The Islanders thought they’d evened the game again just minutes later on their own power play, but after a coach’s challenge was deemed successful for goaltender interference, the goal was taken off the board and the Kings kept their 2-1 lead. On a night where the Kings took eight penalties, the Kings did catch a big break while killing off one of their three second period minors. After the Islanders gained offensive zone possession with a face-off win, a pass to the point broke defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s stick and sprung Quinton Byfield for a breakaway. Scoring in his fourth consecutive game, Byfield beat Sorokin short-side high for his 15th goal of the season. Then, late in the period the Islanders thought they had yet another power play goal. Another Kings challenge for goalie interference was deemed successful and the visitors power-play goal was disallowed for the second time in the period. The Kings led 3-1 after two.
The Kings killed off four more Islanders power plays in the third period and netted another shorthanded goal, this one coming on a 200-foot rim around the glass on an empty net by Drew Doughty.
Darcy Kuemper returned to the Kings net after a night off on Sunday and stopped 33 of 34 shots.
