Takeaways: Islanders Lose 5-3 to Kings

The New York fell to the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 on Thursday night in the second half of a back-to-back set, marking their second straight loss. 

Bo Horvat, Adam Pelech (SHG) and Emil Heineman scored for the Islanders, and JG Pageau (2A) recorded two points, but it wasn’t enough to combat offense from Artemi Panarin (1G, 1A), Samuel Helenius, Mikey Anderson (1G, 1A), Alex Laferriere and, Adrian Kempe (1G, 1A).  

Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves on 35 shots in his first start since Feb. 28 while Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves on 34 shots in the win.  

The Islanders (75 points) are still in third place in the Metropolitan Division. The second place Pittsburgh Penguins (75 points) also lost with a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The Columbus Blue Jackets (72 points) gained ground on the Islanders with a 4-2 win over Florida.

TAKEAWAYS 

• The Islanders were strong overall in the second half of back-to-back sets this season – they were 7-2-1 in the second half of back-to-back sets this season coming into Thursday’s contest – but struggled to get to their game.  

• The Kings controlled the start of the contest, outshooting the Islanders 19-5 through the opening 20 minutes. They broke the ice at the 3:-17 mark of the first period, as Panarin scored his first goal as a King and 20th of the season to take a 1-0 lead. Panarin was undefended in front of the crease.  

“I think the first, it was too much east-west, too much bringing it back,” Ryan Pulock said. “Not enough speed to our game. We weren't getting enough pucks and too many turnovers, and we played on our own zone too much.” 

• The Kings built a healthy lead from there, as Helenius and Anderson scored in the span of 1:31 to take a 3-0 lead over the Isles.  

“When you dig yourself that big of a hole, it's tough to come back in this league,” Horvat said. We have to find ways to play with the lead.”

• In a moment of urgency with one second left on the clock in the second period, Pageau won the offensive zone draw and passed it right to Horvat, who snapped in a quick goal with .2 seconds left in the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1. 

“It was a heck of a play by Pager to win that faceoff,” Horvat said. “You just kind of close your eyes and shoot at that point, hope it goes in and it did. But that goal was supposed to give us momentum into the third period, but we couldn’t quite convert.” 

• Los Angeles regained the three-goal lead back early in the third period as Laferriere went from coast-to-coast on a Kings power play and was able to walk right in and zip a shot past Sorokin to make it 4-1 at the 2:30 mark of the third period.

• Pelech added a shorthanded tally, his second of his career, to make it 4-2 with the help of a pass from Pageau as they threaded through the neutral zone.  

• Kempe once again took back the three-goal advantage for the Kings before the Islanders capitalized on a 6-on-5 situation. Heineman snapped a nine-game goal drought with a late third period goal at the 18:01 mark of the third period, tipping in a shot from the point by Matthew Schaefer. 

• The Islanders’ penalty kill went 2-for-3 while their power play went 0-for-3.  

“Our power play has to be better,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “There’s no doubt about that. It was, again, another night where it could have given us a chance to get back in the game, and we didn't do it. Especially on the road, I think our power play has to be better.”

• Pulock returned to action after he missed Wednesday’s contest against the Anaheim Ducks with an upper-body injury. He skated with Matthew Schaefer and recorded 19:29 TOI, two shots and three blocked shots. 

“It's good to get back,” Pulock said. “Obviously, this time of year, you're, you're fighting through things or whatever it might be, but I’m trying to bring my game and help this team. Not the result we wanted tonight, but for me it was good to get back.”

NEXT GAME  

The Islanders continue their four-game trip with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at SAP Center at 10 PM EST.