LOS ANGELES — The Kings inundated the New York Islanders with a four-goal second period in a game they ultimately won, 5-2, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena to remain among the Pacific Division’s contenders and the NHL’s hottest teams.
First-place Vegas won its fifth consecutive game Tuesday, maintaining a three-point edge on the Kings, and Edmonton also prevailed, staying five points behind the Kings. The Kings are 6-0-1 in their past seven games and have gone 14-3-3 in their past 20, their .775 mark representing the best points percentage in the NHL since Jan. 22.
Center Blake Lizotte, defenseman Drew Doughty, winger Alex Iafallo and forward Trevor Moore scored for the Kings before forward Quinton Byfield added an empty-net goal. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov contributed two assists. Joonas Korpisalo improved to a perfect 3-0-0 as a King, making 26 saves. He’s allowed exactly two goals in each of his three starts.
Winger Pierre Engvall and center Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders. Defenseman Ryan Pulock added two assists, and Ilya Sorokin had 33 saves in defeat.
Two of the final three minutes of the game placed the Kings a man down, but they killed a late infraction and the player who took it, Byfield, deposited the empty-net goal upon departing the penalty box.
With around 7:30 remaining, Korpisalo made a key save on former Ducks winger Kyle Palmieri before defenseman Mikey Anderson saved a likely goal by disrupting a pass to the backdoor for marquee trade acquisition Bo Horvat.
With 2:58 left in the second period, the Islanders got a goal back just as their power play expired. Defenseman Sebastian Aho’s low-flying shot from the point was redirected skyward at the last instant by Pageau. Pageau played his first game since sustaining an upper-body injury on Feb. 11, and he’d played in 17 games since he last scored, part of a two-goal performance on Jan. 3.
The Kings further separated themselves with a goal 12:14 into the second period. A defensive-zone draw win and some dogged forechecking built a play that culminated in Moore’s marker from just inside the left faceoff circle. Moore exalted after the goal, his first since Dec. 1. Though Moore was injured for two stretches during that period, he had gone 18 games without a goal while producing just four assists.
Momentum had swung on special teams as the Kings emerged from a post-whistle scrum with a power play and, 30 seconds later, a two-man advantage thanks to winger Zach Parise’s tripping minor. After failing to cash in on 13 consecutive chances a man or more up, the Kings got both a go-ahead goal and an insurance marker from their power play.
They cushioned their lead four seconds before the Parise penalty expired. A keep-in by winger Arthur Kaliyev, a slot shot from Viktor Arvidsson and a putback for Iafallo for his 10th goal of the season afforded the Kings some breathing room a minute after they’d taken their first lead.
At the 6:06 mark of the second period, Adrian Kempe moved the puck high to Anze Kopitar, whose point-to-point pass set up a Doughty one-timer. Three of Doughty’s four goals have come on the power play this season.
The Kings deadlocked the score after 1:54 passed in the middle frame. Winger Gabe Vilardi won possession off the faceoff, sliding the puck back to defenseman Sean Walker for a shot that Lizotte tipped home. His 10th goal of the season equaled his career high from last year.
The Islanders scored the only goal of the first period 11:45 into the match when Pulock won a neutral-zone puck battle against Blake Lizotte. His pass ahead sent Engvall in for a shot from the slot that clipped Korpisalo on its way into the net. Engvall, who was acquired from Toronto near the deadline, scored his 14th goal of the season and his second in the past two games.
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