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New York Islanders

Islanders Bend the Knee in 2nd, Lose 3-2 to Kings

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New York Islanders

ELMONT, NY– The New York Islanders played a solid 15 minutes of hockey, as they didn’t bring enough in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Islanders are now 30-25-7, and with the Buffalo Sabres winning in regulation, they trail New York by three points with five fewer games played.

LINEUP

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Matt Martin
Zach Parise-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Arnaud Durandeau-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching
Ross Johnston-otto Koivula-Simon Holmstrom

Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

GOALS

Phillip Danault gave the Los Angeles Kings a 1-0 lead at 6:40 of the second period as after a shot deflected off of him and then Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin, defenseman Alex Romanov accidentally deflected the puck over his netminder and in. Viktor Arvidsson and Mike Anderson were credited with the assists on Danault’s 15th.

Arthur Kaliyev extended the Kings’ lead to 2-0 as he finished off a Rasmus Kupari 2-on-1 pass for his 11th of the season at 8:05 of the second period. Jaret Anderson-Dolan was credited with the secondary assist.

Gabriel Vilardi gave the Kings a 3-0 lead as his one-timer knuckled past the blocker of Sorokin for his 18th of the season at 12:14 of the second.

Noah Dobson got the Islanders on the board as his power-play one-timer beat Kings netminder Jonathan Quick over the left pad for his 12th of the season. Brock Nelson and Anders Lee were credited with the assists at 16:34 of the second.

Adam Pelech banked a puck off Kings defenseman Matt Roy with under five to play in the third to cut the Islanders’ deficit to 3-2. Matt Martin and Ryan Pulock were credited with the assists on Pelech’s fourth of the season.

Islanders Stopped Skating in the 2nd

The Islanders didn’t do much in the first period, being outshot 12-5, but they were not bad by any means. It seemed like more of a feeling-out process against a Kings team that played the night before.

However, the Islanders stopped skating in the second period, and the Kings scored three goals in a little over 10 minutes.

The Islanders did get a power-play goal to get on the board, but they were outshot 13-8 and were flat-out dominated for most of the middle frame.

“They got some momentum, and we made a couple of mistakes, and they made us pay for it,” Lambert said. “I’ll give them credit tonight. They played well, they were structurally good, and they made it very difficult for us on the fore-check. ”

Islanders Fail to Test Struggling Quick

Kings forward Jonathan Quick has had a miserable season. He entered the night with an .878 SV% and a 3.49 GAA in 29 appearances, with the third-worst GSAA in hockey at -20.80.

But the Islanders failed to test him enough, as they threw just five shots on goal in the second and just five shots in the third.

“We should have definitely tried to get some more looks on net tonight,” Matt Martin said. Confidence is an important thing. He made some good stops in that game. But yeah, we definitely need to find a way to get more shots on net.”

Pelech Takes Shifts with Dobson in 3rd

With the Islanders down 3-1 in the third, Islanders head coach Lane Lambert separated his defense pairingagain, placinged Adam Pelech with Noah Dobson.

Sebastian Aho had a lousy game, with a bad mistake leading to the Kings’ second goal, but Dobson allowed a backdoor pass on the odd-man rush, which is a no-no.

Aho was the only Islander on the ice for two King goals.

The defense pairings switched often as Lambert hasn’t found the right duos just yet as the season is quickly coming to a close.

UP NEXT: The New York Islanders are in Winnipeg to face the Jets Sunday at 3:30 PM ET.

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