Game Preview: Islanders at Kings

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-20-14) AT LOS ANGELES KINGS (32-20-11)

10:30 PM ET | CRYPTO.COM ARENA

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Red hot and back in a playoff spot.

The New York Islanders’ win streak reached a season-high six games on Sunday night, but in order to reach seven, they’ll need to take down the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night on the second half of a back-to-back set.

Twelve different Islanders hit the scoresheet in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Casey Cizikas, Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Bo Horvat (1G, 1A), Pierre Engvall and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the Islanders, while Mathew Barzal had a two-point game with a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in his first win since Dec. 13.

“Every game is important for us for the rest of the season,” Varlamov said after the win. “I’m sure it’ll be a battle until the end with the tight standings. We know where we are, we just have to stay focused on ourselves and keep winning.”

The win catapulted the Islanders back into playoff position for the first time since Jan. 13, as the Islanders leapfrogged the Detroit Red Wings and slotted into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Though the teams are tied with 72 points, New York has one game in-hand. The Islanders (72 points) are also two points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning (74 points), who hold the first wild card spot and the third-place Philadelphia Flyers (74 points). Notably, the Isles have two games in-hand over both teams.

As for the Kings, they’re looking to bounce back from a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Kevin Fiala scored the lone goal for the Kings, while Cam Talbot made 31 saves in the loss.

The Islanders completed a comeback win against the Kings on Dec. 9, where Anders Lee scored twice in the third period and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 13 seconds into the extra frame in a thrilling 3-2 OT win at UBS Arena. The Isles will look to sweep the two-game season series against the Kings on Monday night. If the Islanders can beat the Kings on Monday - followed by wins against the Ducks and Sharks - they will sweep the three-game California swing for the first time in franchise history.

ISLANDERS NOTES

- The Islanders earned six straight wins for the first time since their nine-game winning streak in 2021 (Feb. 28 – Mar. 14). New York has scored 30 goals and only allowed 11 goals over the span of their six-game winning streak. Their active streak of five straight regulation wins marks the first time they accomplished the feat since Oct. 26 – Nov. 3, 2022.

- Semyon Varlamov started on Sunday against the Ducks, suggesting that Ilya Sorokin is expected to face the Kings. Sorokin is 22-13-11 this season, along with a 3.01 GAA and .910 SV%. He is 1-2-0 lifetime against the Kings, with his only win coming this season on Dec. 9, where he turned aside 33 of 35 shots in the comeback win for the Isles.

- Kyle Palmieri buried his 20th goal of the season on Sunday against the Ducks, marking the sixth time he hit the 20-goal mark in his career and first since 2019-29. The winger is the fourth Islander to reach the 20-goal threshold this season, joining Horvat, Nelson and Barzal.

- Four Islanders extended their personal point streaks on Sunday night. Mathew Barzal extended his streak to seven games with nine points (3G, 6A) over that span. Brock Nelson’s streak reached five games (4G, 6A), Horvat extended his streak to four games (3G, 5A) and Sebastian Aho is riding a three-game point streak (1G, 2A).

- Barzal passed Bob Bourne for sole possession of 11th place in franchise history with 305 career assists.

- Kyle Palmieri is expected to reach his milestone 800th NHL game on Monday, while Jean-Gabriel is expected to skate in his 700th NHL game.

KINGS NOTES

- Like the Islanders, the Kings also stood pat at Friday’s trade deadline. Los Angeles ranks third in the Pacific Division with 75 points. The Kings have one game in-hand over their division rivals in the Vegas Golden Knights (75 points), who occupy a wild card spot in the Western Conference along with the Nashville Predators (78 points).

- Adrian Kempe returned to action on Saturday after missing five games with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old led all forwards on his team with 20:51 TOI on Friday in the 4-1 loss to the Stars. Kempe has 51 points (19G, 32A) through 58 games this season.

- Trevor Moore leads the Kings with 24 goals, while Kevin Fiala leads the team with 57 points and 36 assists. Fiala is hot right now with eight points (4G, 4A) in his last five outings, including two three-point performances over that span.

- The Kings saw a coaching change this season, as the organization hired Jim Hiller as interim head coach on Feb. 2, replacing Todd McLellan. Los Angeles went on a 7-11-7 skid from Dec. 9 – Jan. 31 following a dominant stretch of 16-4-3 to start the season. The coaching change seemed to steer the Kings in the right direction, as the team is 9-5-1 since Hiller took over. Hiller was an assistant coach for the Islanders from 2019-2022 prior to his time with the Kings.

- The Kings will host the Islanders in the conclusion of a five-game homestand. They went 2-1-1 through the first four games of the homestand and went 5-4-1 in their last 10 games overall.

- Los Angeles owns the league’s top penalty kill (86.0%) while their overall defense has been stingy as well, as the Kings allow an average of 2.63 goals against, which ranks third-best in the NHL.