Schenn, Pulock Receive Player Of The Game Honors Following Win Over Kings

Ryan Pulock’s return to the lineup yielded two points for the New York Islanders and one postgame award for the defenseman. 

Pulock, who had missed the previous four games due to an upper-body injury, didn’t skip a beat in his return, dishing out a pair of assists in the Islanders 5-2 win over the LA Kings. 

His teammates recognized his return effort and awarded him the hardest worker helmet. Brayden Schenn was given the oar after his three-point night (1G, 2A) at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday. 

Pulock played for the first time since sustaining the injury on Oct. 29 and had his first multi-point performance of the season. 

It was Pulock’s first multi-point game since Jan. 6, 2026 as he recorded a secondary assist on Schenn’s game-opening goal and another assist on Victor Eklund’s first game-winning goal of his NHL career. 

Pulock guided the Islanders to their first win in Los Angeles since Oct. 18, 2018, with a plus-4 rating which was also matched by his defensive partner Adam Pelech. 

Pulock played 19:22 of time-on-ice in his return and blocked two shots as part of the Islanders season-high 23 blocks.

Schenn recorded the 31st three-point game of his career and his first since March 28, 2026 against the Florida Panthers. 

Schenn had assists on back-to-back Islanders goals including Matthew Schaefer’s power-play tally which made it 2-1 Isles and Eklund’s seventh goal of the season. 

Of Eklund's seven goals, Schenn has assisted on six of them. 

Schenn has seven points (2G, 5A) over the last four games and at least one point in each of those four contests. It’s Schenn’s second four-game point streak of the season and he has 16 points (6G, 10A) in 18 games this season.

Schenn and Pulock's efforts help guided the Islanders to their first win in Los Angeles since Oct. 18, 2018.