It was a night the LA Kings will never forget as they defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 in brand new UBS Arena. For two players in particular, milestones were reached and memories were made. First, Drew Doughty made history as he played in his 1,000th game and became just the 12th player in NHL history to skate at least 1,000 games with one franchise and miss less than 40 games during that span.
Once the game got started, Quinton Byfield began the scoring by recording his first career NHL goal with a wicked wrister beating Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov glove-side on a zone rush. Andreas Athanasiou doubled the Kings lead when he again beat Varlamov glove-side with just five seconds remaining in the second period. The Kings would hold that two goal lead until 2:04 remained in the third period when Mathew Barzal got the Islanders on the board. The game ended with a little bit more chaos as Adrian Kempe netted the empty net goal for the Kings making it 3-1 before surrendering another late goal to the Islanders.
Cal Petersen stood tall as he carried a shutout for 57:56 and made 23 saves on 25 shots.
1/27 FINAL - Kings 3, Islanders 2
A memorable night for two Kings players as the team defeats the Islanders 3-2
Kings win in night of milestones for Byfield, Doughty
