NHL

New York Islanders at Los Angeles Kings

· National Hockey League
Final
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Panarin leads LA Kings past Islanders 5-3 for their 1st victory under interim coach D.J. Smith

Adrian Kempe scores goal vs. Islanders

Panarin, Mikey Anderson and Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist apiece for the Kings, and Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves. Samuel Helenius and Alex Laferriere also scored in just Los Angeles' second victory since January.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar had an assist while playing his 1,500th game, becoming the 25th player in NHL history to hit the mark. The Slovenian center, who is retiring this spring after 20 seasons in Los Angeles, is just five points away from passing Marcel Dionne to become the Kings’ career scoring leader.

Bo Horvat scored an improbable goal off a faceoff taken with a second left in the second period for the Islanders, but it didn't prevent a second straight blowout loss for New York in Southern California.

Adam Pelech scored the second short-handed goal of his 11-year career and Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots for the Isles, who had won five straight before losing to Anaheim and Los Angeles by a combined 10-4 over the past two nights.

Emil Heineman scored with 1:59 to play while Sorokin was pulled for the final 8 1/2 minutes of the third period.

Smith replaced Jim Hiller on Sunday after the Kings’ slump took them out of playoff position. Los Angeles played decently in his debut while losing to NHL-leading Colorado on Monday.

Panarin had three assists in his first four games with the Kings, who acquired the Russian star from the Rangers and signed him to a $22 million contract extension a month ago.

Panarin finally got his first Kings goal 3:17 after the opening faceoff when Kopitar found him utterly unmarked 10 feet from Sorokin. He also secured his 10th career 20-goal season.

Down 3-0, the Islanders finally scored on an unbelievable play: With one second showing on the clock, Jean-Gabriel Pageau won a faceoff straight to Horvat, who whipped a perfect one-timer past Kuemper's pad for his 26th goal.

Up next Islanders: At San Jose on Saturday.

Kings: Host Montreal on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

LA leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 3:17 Artemi Panarin Goal (20) Wrist Shot, assists: Anze Kopitar (19), Mikey Anderson (8)
Goal 2nd Period 14:20 Samuel Helenius Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Jeff Malott (6), Taylor Ward (3)
Goal 2nd Period 15:51 Mikey Anderson Goal (3) Slap Shot, assists: Drew Doughty (12), Adrian Kempe (29)
Goal 2nd Period 19:59 Bo Horvat Goal (26) Wrist Shot, assists: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (14)
Goal 3rd Period 2:30 Alex Laferriere Goal (15) Snap Shot, assists: Brandt Clarke (23), Darcy Kuemper (1)
Goal 3rd Period 4:30 Adam Pelech Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (15)
Goal 3rd Period 8:30 Adrian Kempe Goal (23) Tip-In, assists: Brandt Clarke (24), Artemi Panarin (42)
Goal 3rd Period 18:01 Emil Heineman Goal (16) Tip-In, assists: Matthew Schaefer (25), Mathew Barzal (39)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/la.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLA
17 Blocked Shots 21
20 Hits 24
4 Takeaways 6
35 Shots 35
0 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 33.3
1 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
34 Faceoffs Won 27
55.7 Faceoff Win Percent 44.3
14 Giveaways 10
3 Total Penalties 3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
Los Angeles Kings Los Angeles Kings Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Joel Armia, RW Injured Reserve Mar 6
Andrei Kuzmenko, LW Injured Reserve Mar 6
Kevin Fiala, LW Injured Reserve Mar 6
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Alexander Romanov, D Injured Reserve Mar 12
Pierre Engvall, LW Injured Reserve Mar 12
Semyon Varlamov, G Injured Reserve Mar 12
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30

Game Information

crypto.com Arena

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 17,078 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 41 17 88 6
Pittsburgh 32 17 79 15
NY Islanders 37 23 79 5
Columbus 33 21 76 10
Philadelphia 30 23 71 11
Washington 32 27 71 7
New Jersey 32 30 66 2
NY Rangers 26 30 60 8

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 36 25 75 3
Edmonton 32 25 72 8
Vegas 29 22 72 14
Seattle 29 25 67 9
Los Angeles 26 23 67 15
San Jose 30 26 66 6
Calgary 25 32 57 7
Vancouver 19 37 46 8
Full Standings