The Upshot: Late NY Islanders push falls short against streaking Los Angeles Kings

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Los Angeles Kings got goals from Adrian Kempe in the first and Kevin Fiala in the second and held on to defeat the New York Islanders 3-1 at UBS Arena on Tuesday night. Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for LA's sixth straight win and Mikey Anderson added an empty net goal. It's the team's eighth win in their last 10 games as they start a seven-game road trip. Anders Lee scored the Islanders goal, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 27 saves in the loss for the Islanders, who saw their two-game winning streak come to an end.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Despite having a flat first period and falling down 2-0, the Islanders got better as the game went on and gave themselves an opportunity to tie the game in the third period. “We didn’t have a good first period, we had some turnovers and lost battles, but the thing I liked is that we didn’t dig ourselves in too big of a hole,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said.

Lee scored the team's lone goal at 9:47 of the second when he stopped Kyle Palmieri's slow-moving shot toward the net, spun around, and beat Kuemper five-hole. For Lee, it was his team leading 13th goal of the season and moved him into eighth place all-time in franchise history for goals scored with 273, passing former captain John Tavares.

“It was a game that was right there,” Lee said. “We couldn't get the extra one tonight. Kuemper made some good saves at the same time. Ilya gave us a chance all night. But yeah, when we play that simple hockey game, that's who we are.”

WHAT WENT WRONG

The first period and inability to get off to a quick start really hurt the Isles' chances against a Kings team that is sound defensively and doesn't allow much time and space. The Isles worked hard in the third period to try to find the tying goal, even hitting two posts, but it's hard to win games against really good teams when you come out the way they did on Tuesday night.

“We didn't have a good first period,” Roy said via NHL.com. “We had a mix of turnovers, battle losses, but the thing I liked is we didn't dig ourselves too big of a hole. It was a one-goal game. We didn't start very well the first 10 minutes of that second period as well, but we scored a goal that put us back in the game. And from there, I thought we played better. We were better in our battles. We hit two posts in the third. We had our chances. Our goalie was outstanding, again.”

STATS OF THE GAME

Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles had only two shots on goal in the third period on Saturday, 5-5-3 shots over three periods on Sunday and three shots in the first period tonight. It marked the first time in Islander history that they had been held to five shots or fewer over five consecutive periods. The Isles finished with 20 shots on goal; it was the 13th straight game that they had 31 or fewer. The team has only 33 shots over the last two games; it is only the 8th time in club history that has happened and the first time since 2019.

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT OF THE GAME

Alexander Romanov's open ice hit on King's winger Alex Laferriere was the highlight for the Islanders in the early parts of the game. The hit was clean, but Romanov did generate attention from LA in the moments that followed though no penalties were called.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Islanders are home against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. Face-off from UBS Arena is slated for 7:30 PM EST.