UBS Keys to the Game: Islanders vs. Kings

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (15-14-6) VS LOS ANGELES KINGS (21-16-6)
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Keep climbing.
After a resilient and responsive 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night - which moved the New York Islanders from seventh to sixth in the Metropolitan Division standings and above NHL .500 - the Islanders look to keep the momentum going as they host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Thursday will be the first meeting between the Islanders and Kings since Feb. 6, 2020. The Islanders have won five-straight home games against Los Angeles. Fittingly enough, the last time the Islanders came back from a 2-0 deficit - as they did on Tuesday against Philadelphia - was against that very game against the Kings back in February of 2020.
The Islanders' character win on Tuesday featured a game-winning goal by Zach Parise to break the 3-3 tie in the third period, a power-play goal from Mathew Barzal and other even-strength strikes from Noah Dobson and Anders Lee. Ilya Sorokin made 14 saves on 17 shots in the win.
"Most importantly, we got the two points that we needed to ultimately keep climbing," Parise said. "We had a good response from a couple early goals and a couple of unfortunate bounces. Our power play delivered and that's a spot that we needed to be a little better on."
The Kings enter the contest with two days rest since their 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Monday night in what was the second-leg of a back-to-back for them. For LA, Blake Lizotte and Alex Iafallo (power play) scored in regulation, while Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield scored in the shootout that the Rangers eventually won in the sixth round. Jonathan Quick made 28 saves on 30 shots in regulation.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Parise scored his third goal of the season and his second goal in as many games. The veteran winger now has 12 points (3G, 9A) through 35 games. Parise has six points (2G, 4A) in his last seven games.
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• Barzal posted a two-point outing as he notched his eighth goal of the season and first on the power play. The electric centerman leads the Islanders in scoring with 26 points (8G, 18A) through 32 games.
• Lee buried his 11th goal of the season. The Islanders' captain has put up 14 points (11G, 3A) through 30 games.
• Dobson tallied his sixth goal of the season and has officially doubled his previous career high of last year's three goals in 46 games. Through 33 games this season, the 22-year-old leads the Islanders blueline in scoring with 15 points (6G, 9A).
• Oliver Wahlstrom drew back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the Islanders' previous game against Toronto.
• Ilya Sorokin made his 24th start of the season and improved his record 12-7-5. The Russian netminder has a 2.29 GAA, a .926 SV% and four shutouts.
• The Islanders were 1-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill against the Flyers. In the NHL, the Islanders' power play ranks 24th at 17.0% and their PK sits in ninth at 82.8%.
• The Islanders are 7-3-4 when they score at least one power-play goal and 8-11-2 when they do not. The Islanders are 5-6-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-8-3 when they do not.
• Per team statistician Eric Hornick, the Islanders have allowed only 17 goals in their last nine games (1.89 per game); it is the lowest goals against average in the NHL in that span, dating back to December 30th.

KINGS NOTES:

• Lizotte scored his sixth goal of the season. The 24-year-old center now has 12 points (6G, 6A) through 37 games.
• Iafallo registered his 13th goal of the season, his second in as many games and his second power-play goal. The winger has three goals in his last four games and is riding a four-game point streak with as many points (3G, 1A) during that span.
• Kopitar recorded an assist. The Kings' captain leads his team in scoring with 37 points (13G, 24A) through 43 games.
• Quick made his 26th start of the season while his record dropped to 11-10-5. The veteran netminder has a 2.53 GAA, a .914 SV% and two shutouts.
• Goaltender Cal Petersen has made 16 starts this season and boasts a 9-6-1 record. Petersen has a 2.69 GAA, a .900 SV% and one shutout this season. Petersen has won four of his last five starts.
• LA was 1-for-4 on the power play against the Rangers and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. In the NHL, the Kings' power play ranks 26th at 16.7% and their penalty kill ranks 29th at 73.3%.
• The Kings average the fourth most shots per game in the NHL at 35.4 shots. Conversely, they relinquish the fifth fewest amount of shots in the league per game at 28.9.
• In the faceoff circle, LA ranks sixth in the NHL with a 53.1 FOW%.
• The Kings are 6-4-1 so far in the month of January.
• In the offseason, LA signed UFA Philip Danault from the Montreal Canadiens. Through 41 games this season, the centerman has produced 22 points (10G, 22A).
• Forward Andreas Athanasiou is on injured reserve (lower body).