Islanders get past Kings, extend point streak to eight

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders extended their point streak to eight games when Michael Dal Colle broke a tie with 2:23 remaining in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday.

Casey Cizikas, Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson scored, and Ryan Pulock had three assists for New York (30-15-6), which is 6-0-2 in its past eight games. Robin Lehner made 34 saves.
The Islanders are 8-0-0 in the second half of a back-to-back; they lost 1-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shootout here Friday.
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Islanders highlights]
"We responded well," Dal Colle said. "That's a huge two points. We worked hard. To get rewarded like that, it's a good feeling."
Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, Ilya Kovalchuk scored, and Dustin Brown had two assists for Los Angeles (20-27-4), which lost the opener of a six-game road trip. Jonathan Quick made 28 saves.
"We've got to find a way to lock it down and win the game," Kopitar said. "That's just the bottom line."
Cizikas gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period when he collected Johnny Boychuk's rebound at the left face-off circle and roofed it over Quick for his 12th goal of the season.

Kopitar's 15th goal of the season tied it at 8:07. He came down on a 2-on-1 and redirected Alex Iafallo's cross-ice feed to make it 1-1.
Quick kept the game tied at 2:08 of third period when he stretched his left pad to make a save on Josh Bailey's redirection of Boychuk's shot from the right point.
Kovalchuk then gave the Kings a 2-1 lead at 13:15 when Kopitar pivoted in the slot and passed to Brown, whose shot hit Kovalchuk and went thru Lehner's five-hole.

But Barzal tied it 31 seconds later when he redirected Pulock's feed past Quick at 13:46 to make it 2-2. It was Barzal's 15th goal of the season.
"They responded, and that's what you want," Islanders coach Barry Trotz. "That's why we've got good leadership in the room."

Dal Colle made it 3-2 when he redirected Pulock's shot in the right face-off circle after Leo Komarov won a puck battle in the corner against Derek Forbort.
"Leo's a little old school," Trotz said. "Gets under your skin, gets them nervous. He has a really good stick, an underrated stick, and he can make plays like that.
"What Leo brings, you don't look at the numbers, you look at the intangibles. Those are things that the analytics can't describe, but only your room can."

Nelson scored an empty-net goal with 1:31 remaining for the 4-2 final.
"It wasn't our best all night," said Pulock, who had three blocked shots. "There were times when we were pretty good, and there were times we weren't that sharp. When they took the lead there kind of late in the third, it was a great response by us to bear down and find a way."

They said it

"We've said it a bunch of times, it's not 15 minutes, 55 minutes, it's a full 60-minute effort; sometimes it takes 65. That just wasn't the case again." -- Kings captain Anze Kopitar
"I don't know if there's an underdog feel; every night, you have to prove yourself. I'll tell you this: If you don't show up to work in this business, you're not going to have success. Luck really doesn't follow you in this league a whole lot. It might follow you for a game or two, but it's not going to follow you for a season." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz

Need to know

Los Angeles was 0-for-3 on the power play; New York was 0-for-2. … It was the Kings' first game since they traded defenseman Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. … Kopitar's goal was the first allowed by the Islanders in the first period in 186:29. … New York is 6-1-2 at Nassau Coliseum this season.

What's next

Kings: At the New York Rangers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SNE, SNO, SNW, MSG, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)