BROOKLYN – New York scored three goals in the first 14 minutes and the Islanders defeated the short-handed Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Thursday night at the Barclays Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a tale of two cities for the Los Angeles Kings at the beginning of their seven-game Grammy road trip. After an emotional 9-2 victory against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, the Kings struggled against the Islanders in New York on Thursday.
Jhonas Enroth got the start in net for Los Angeles after All-Star goalie Jonathan Quick was injured at the end of their victory against Boston. Enroth was not sharp early as the Islanders scored three goals in the first 14 minutes of action.
Johnny Boychuk, Casey Cizkas and Anders Lee all scored in the first period for New York, as penalties and mental mishaps affected the two-time Stanley Cup Champions early on.
Trailing 3-0 entering the second period, the Kings finally got on the scoreboard when Kyle Clifford scored with less than nine minutes remaining. After that, the Kings had momentum and were looking to capitalize, but Islanders' captain John Tavares intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, skated across the blue line and sniped a shot past Enroth's glove side to put New York back up by three.
Milan Lucic made it 4-2 midway through the third when a rebound off of Jeff Carter's shot hit off his skate and towards the net. Wisely, Lucic had the wherewithal to get his stick on the puck just as it crossed the red line allowing the goal to stand.
The Kings had a chance to get within one at the 4:30 mark of the third period, when Nikolay Kulemin was penalized for playing with a broken stick. LA Kings head coach, Darry Sutter, opted to pull Enroth to give the Kings a 6-on-4 advantage, but the move backfired as Travis Hamonic scored on the short-handed empty-netter when he launched the puck from his own zone and into the Kings goal.
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TURNING POINT
Tavares 4th goal. The New York Islanders' captain reversed the Kings momentum and quickly put his team back up by three goals in the second period.
MVP OF THE GAME
John Tavares. The Islanders center had a goal and an assist to lead New York to victory.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
LA Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel was called up from Ontario and made his NHL debut. Gravel became the 619th person to suit up for the Kings.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Hockey Dads pic.twitter.com/MSk109h0ij — LA Kings (@LAKings) February 12, 2016
Bring your Dad to work day!
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT
Kyle Clifford goes head over heels for his teammate Jordan Nolan.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"We had a very poor start and couldn't come back. We need to forget about tonight and get a new streak going tomorrow." – LA Kings forward Tyler Toffoli.
NOTES
Kevin Gravel made his NHL debut for LA...Jamie McBain, Nick Shore, Tanner Pearson and Jonathan Quick were all scratched...Peter Budaj was called up as the emergency goalie and could start tomorrow if Quick can't go (day to day).
RECORD
Los Angeles Kings (32-17-3, 67 points) 1st in Pacific Division
New York Islanders (29-18-6, 64 points) 3rd in Metropolitan Division
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Kings will not have to travel far as they play the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden tomorrow night at 4:00 PM PST.
The Islanders travel to Carolina where they will square off with the Hurricanes on Saturday, February 13 at 4:00 PM PST.
