Slapshot Game Preview: New York Islanders vs. Los Angeles Kings

Slapshot Preview is designed to highlight three important elements of the Isles' next game in a quick-hitting fashion.

New York Islanders at Los Angeles Kings

11/12/26

10pm Eastern

SHOT #1: Leave Familiar Struggles in San Jose

Familiar struggles plagued the New York Islanders in their 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.

The overtime period wasn’t enough to settle the contest, and the Isles dropped the game in an eight-round shootout.

The Islanders were outshot by the Sharks 41-32 and failed to convert scoring opportunities, specifically at the outset of the third period.

Perhaps the most notable familiar struggle to rear its ugly head in San Jose was the Islanders’ inability to win a game that featured solid goaltending from Ilya Sorokin.

The Isles’ netminder stopped 39 of the Sharks’ 41 shots for a .951 SV%.

It was imperative that the Isles let their recent loss to the New Jersey Devils count as one and not let the loss linger.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and now the Isles’ winless streak has hit four, with a record of 0-2-2. Couple that with a 4-3-3 record in their last ten, and the importance of getting things on track is mounting.

The Metropolitan Division is doing little in the way of cushioning the Islanders’ slide. The Carolina Hurricanes remain one of the best teams in the NHL, and the New Jersey Devils are surging, winners of five in a row coming into their game Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets.

As the Isles were unable to set the tone of their West Coast swing with a win, their sights need to be set on beating the Kings and setting themselves up for a solid November.

The problem is, their time to do so is running out.

SHOT #2: November Rain

The importance of the month of November to the Islanders isn’t just about November—it’s about December, too.

There is no such thing as a guaranteed win in sports, but any objective view of the month of November would suggest a number of winnable games for the Islanders. Of course, looking at an entire NHL season month by month doesn’t paint a complete picture. But for a team like the Islanders, who need to show improvement, and fast, it’s a helpful tool.

This need to find success in the month of November is only compounded by a difficult December.

The final month of the calendar year includes road games where the Islanders travel to play the Hurricanes, Mammoth, Avalanche, Golden Knights, and Bruins.

A deeper look at that schedule will show the Isles playing two teams who currently lead their divisions, Carolina and Boston. The rest of those opponents are each currently over .500 and have over 20 points.

The home portion of the schedule in December isn’t much more forgiving.

In addition to the aforementioned Bruins and Avalanche coming to UBS Arena in December, the Isles’ home games include contests with the Panthers, Rangers, and Senators. Each of those teams is above .500 and has over 20 points.

December is a difficult month for the Islanders.

And they’re running out of time to make up ground in November.

SHOT #3: Hollywood Sequel

This will be the second game between the Kings and Islanders this season.

On October 22, the Isles dropped a game to the Kings in overtime at home. It was a game in which Artemi Panarin scored two goals and Darcy Kuemper had 41 saves.

There were a number of things the Islanders did well in that game. They battled back from a 2-0 deficit after the first period. They outshot the Kings 43-27. The team also made good on one of its two power-play opportunities.

At the end of the night, though, the scoreboard is the only stat that matters.

So, whether it was a case of the Isles running into a hot goalie or another example of offensive struggles, at the end of the night, it was a loss.

The October 22 game against the Kings was the Islanders’ tenth game of the season. Speaking about the game, Head Coach Pete DeBoer had the following to say, per Ethan Sears:

"We break it down, and we look at our game analytically every 10 games, but I'm not looking at points," and would go on to comment, "I'm looking at our process right now. I think the points take care of itself, and I like our process."

Fast-forward to now, and the Islanders have an opportunity to flip the script on the Kings. Fitting for a game in Los Angeles.

For the Isles’ sake, the hope is that the old adage that “the original is always better than the sequel,” is wrong in this case.

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