Game Preview: NY Islanders vs Los Angeles Kings

Coming off their brutal 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, the NY Islanders travel across the country to take on the Los Angeles Kings. Having won three out of their past four games, the Islanders look to get back on track and maintain their wildcard position against the second-place pacific division team.

Last Game

For Islanders fans, there wasn't much to cheer about in the last game they played on Saturday. The Islanders welcomed the Capitals to UBS Arena, where the Islanders got crushed due to a lack of offense. Pierre Engvall would score the first goal of the game, which also happened to be the Islanders' only goal. However, thanks to goals by Dylan Strome, T.J. Oshie, Anthony Mantha, Nic Dowd, and Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals would walk out of UBS Arena with an easy 5-1 victory. Semyon Varlamov would have a game he would like to forget, giving up five goals and making only 22 saves for a .815 save percentage.

On the other side of things, the Kings didn't fare much better in their match-up with the Nashville Predators, as they lost to them in a shootout. Mikey Anderson would get the Kings on the board first in the first period, giving them a 1-0 lead. At the end of the first period, Nashville's Tommy Novak would score and tie the game. After this the game would remain scoreless until the shootout came. Nashville would go on to win it when Matt Duchene would pick up the only goal of the shootout.

Historical Matchup

This game marks the second time in the season that these two teams will meet. This also serves as the final time of the season these two teams meet. In Game 1 which came back on February 24, the Kings bested the Islanders at the UBS Arena, winning the game 3-2. After a scoreless first period, Phillip Danault, Arthur Kayliev, and Gabriel Vilardi picked up a trio of goals in the second period to put the Kings ahead, 3-0.

However, towards the end of the first period, the Islanders went on the powerplay and Noah Dobson would pick up his 12th goal of the year off of assists by Brock Nelson and Anders Lee. Adam Pelech picked up his fourth goal of the year late in the third period, but the Islanders would not be able to overcome the one-goal lead as they would fall to the Kings.

Players to Watch

For the Islanders, captain Anders Lee has been on a hot streak as of late. Over the course of his past five games, Lee picked up a total of four points all off goals, which leads the team. On Saturday, March 4, when the Islanders played the Detroit Red Wings, Lee would pick up two goals. Two games later against the Pittsburgh Penguins he would repeat this performance picking up another duo of goals. Lee has been a big part of the Islanders' offensive hot streak, and when he's on his game so is the team.

On the other side of things, Adrian Kempe has been a hot streak of his own. Over the course of his past five games, Kempe picked up five points off of four goals and one assist. On March 9 when the Kings met the Colorado Avalanche, Kempe picked up two goals, Kempe leads his team in goals, with 32 on the season. He also has 19 assists as well to tally a total of 51 points. Like Lee, when Kempe is on his game, the Kings will be a tough team to beat.

Projected Lines

Islanders

Anders Lee- Bo Horvat- Simon Holmstrom Zach Parise- Brock Nelson- Kyle Palmieri Matt Martin- Casey Cizikas- Hudson Fasching Pierre Engvall- Josh Bailey- Cal Clutterbuck

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

Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov

Kings

Quinton Byfield- Anze Kopitar- Adrian Kempe Trever Moore- Phillip Danault- Viktor Arvidsson Alex Iafallo- Blake Lizotte- Gabriel Vilardi Zack Macewen- Rasmus Kupari- Arthur Kalyiev

Mikey Anderson- Drew Doughty Vladislav Gavrikov- Matt Roy Sean Walker- Jordan Spence

Joonas Korpisalo Pheonix Copley

Lines via DaileyFaceoff