Los Angeles moved one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
“I think guys are feeling better about our game again,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “It (stinks) when (a coach gets fired), but sometimes it needs to happen for the group. I think the guys as a whole have responded well. You kind of find yourself in a little rhythm, playing better, a little more lively around the rink, on the bench. So, all positives. We just have to keep building on it.”
Emil Heineman scored twice, and Bo Horvat had two assists for the Islanders (37-24-5), who had won two in a row. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves.
“I can't say we had a bad start,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “ I mean, I know we dug ourselves a big hole being down 3-0. For some, when we're saying [we need] better starts, it's not turning over pucks, maybe. But overall, I mean, we stayed in the game. We were resilient. We almost scored at the end of the second period when we hit the post. We had our chances also in the third period after we made it a 3-2 game. But some nights, I mean, it doesn't happen.”
Moore gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 3:33 of the first period. He blocked Scott Mayfield’s point shot before skating in on a breakaway and beating Sorokin over his blocker.
Kopitar extended the lead to 2-0 at 13:07. He deflected a slap pass from Anderson, who was at the left point, inside the right post.
“He's obviously one of the best 200-foot players ever,” Kings forward Alex Turcotte said. “So, yeah, he got the puck to me, I got it to Mikey, and then Mikey made a great play to him. And it's obviously pretty cool, playing with him. I’ve learned so much. I didn't even know he was that close (to Dionne). So, it's pretty cool.”
Kempe made it 3-0 at 18:28 of the first. Artemi Panarin stole the puck from Matthew Schaefer in the neutral zone before finding a streaking Kempe, who redirected the pass with one hand on his stick over Sorokin’s glove.
