The Upshot: NY Islanders fall to the Los Angeles Kings 3-2, can't complete comeback

HOW IT HAPPENED

After the opening 20 minutes went scoreless, the NY Islanders come out slow in the second period, allowing the Los Angeles Kings to score three consecutive goals in a 5:34 span in the second period. Kings forward Phillip Danault was credited with LA's first goal on an own-goal by Alexander Romanov who accidently knocked the puck into his own net. Just under two minutes later, Arthur Kaliyev received a pass from Rasmus Kupari and scored in a 2on1 sitation to give the Kings a two-goal lead. Later, Gabriel Vilardi scored the eventual game-winning goal on a one-time snipe from the top of the left circle. The Islanders attempted to make their way back down from 3-0 when Noah Dobson got the Isles on the board on the power play at 16:34 of the second period. Adam Pelech scored his fourth goal of the season late in the third period to bring the Islanders within one, but even with their net empty in the closing moments, the Islanders couldn't complete the comeback from a three-goal deficit.

Despite scoring twice, Jonathan Quick had a relatively easy night making 16 saves on just 18 shots. Ilya Sorokin's presence in net continued to be strong, however, he didn't get enough goal support to support is .929 SV%. Sorokin made 26 saves on 28 shots in the loss.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Islanders have been pretty awful on the power play since the loss of Mathew Barzal due to injury. Coming into Friday night's matchup, the Islanders have gone 0/9 in the absence of Barzal on the man advantage. Dobson's second-period power-play goal finally saw the Islanders break through on their 11th chance since No.13 has been sidelined.

Matt Martin tied a career-high in points on Friday night while riding a new career-long four-game point streak. In the last two contests, Martin has been elevated to playing on the Islanders' top line with Anders Lee and Bo Horvat. Over the four-game point streak, Martin has collected a goal and three assists. The 33-year-old wingers' career-high point total is 19 points (seven goals, 11 assists) which he has now matched in 61 games so far this season.

"It's not something I really focus on to be honest with you. I try to play the game the same way every night and obviously I've been getting some opportunities and capitalizing on some chances, so that's good. Always like to get in on the offense, but obviously it'd be a lot better if we were came away with two points tonight."

- Martin said of tying his career-high

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Islanders second period got away from them when the Kings scored three goals in a 5:34 span. With just 18 shots on net, the Islanders played without the puck on their stick for the majority of the game, and when momentum swung in the Kings direction, the Islanders had no answer in terms of putting LA's momentum to a halt.

"We've had a few moments like throughout the course of the season where a team scores a goal and we allowed the momentum swing to be too big and we got to respond right after that a little better," Martin said. 

STATS OF THE GAME

• Not only did he record an assist on Friday, but of the Islanders' 18 shots on goal, five came from Martin who has been offensively inclined as of late. He also added three hits for good measure.

• Brock Nelson currently has a 10-game point streak at home (12 points on six goals and six assists) after registering the primary assist on Dobson's second-period power-play goal.

• Horvat stays hot in the dot winning 57% of faceoffs on Friday night.

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT OF THE GAME

Brooklyn Sizemore was in attendance of Friday nights game against the Kings. Sizemore received a hear transplant in 2020 and thanks to Make A Wish NY, Sizemore's wish was granted as she wanted to attend an Islanders game at UBS Arena.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Islanders will look to rebound Sunday as they'll take on the Winnipeg Jets for the second time in three games, this time in Winnipeg. The puck drops at 3:30 EST.