Russell Morgan 
The LA Kings jump out to a three-goal lead against the New York Islanders and hold on for the 3-2 win to snag their first victory on the road trip.
Goal Breakdown
First period:
No goals
Second period:
LAK: Phillip Danault (15), Unassisted
LAK: Arthur Kaliyev (11), ASST: Rasmus Kupari (7), Jaret Anderson-Dolan (5)
LAK: Gabriel Vilardi (18), ASST: Alex Iafallo (15), Alex Edler (5)
An absolute rocket from Vilardi.#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/FUXbFBjHrm
— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) February 25, 2023
NYI: Noah Dobson (12), ASST: Brock Nelson (33), Anders Lee (20)
Third period:
NYI: Adam Pelech (4), ASST: Ryan Pulock (17), Matt Martin (12)
Three-game win streak for Quick
It hasn’t been one of Jonathan Quick‘s best years for the LA Kings. With the future hall-of-famer struggling to find some consistency throughout the season, many have already written him off from returning to the Kings after his contract ends in the summer. But there may be some quality play left in him yet.
JQ 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/NMhmAw22Ql
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 25, 2023
Quick had one of his better games last night against the Islanders, giving up only two goals on the way to his third straight victory. It marked his 370th career win passing Tom Barrasso for third place in all-time wins among U.S.-born goaltenders in NHL history. However, yesterday’s game felt more like the defense shutting down a below-average offensive team.
With only 18 shots on goal and 1.9 expected goals according to MoneyPuck.com for New York, the Kings did a good job keeping the pressure off Quick. Rebound control and position are still a little suspect from the veteran netminder, but it’s hard not to see the wins pile up and be optimistic for the near future.
A held lead
A three-goal lead should be a guaranteed victory against a New York Islanders team that plays so defensively, and while the win did come, it wasn’t without some nail-biting in the closing minutes for LA.
There still felt like a chance for the Kings to be more aggressive after attaining the three-goal advantage, but they decided to go into a shell. That’s fine against the Islanders, but if LA continues to play a passive game with a lead they’ll get swallowed up by other teams across the league. Have to stay on the gas pedal.
The fourth line responds
After Thursday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, LA Kings head coach Todd McLellan revealed the inability to roll all four lines with the fourth line “getting beat up a bit.” The youthful trio consisting of Jarret Anderson-Dolan, Rasmus Kupari, and Arthur Kaliyev bounced back on Friday night putting together a solid 5v5 showing.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Los Angeles Kings on 2023-02-24:#GoKingsGo #GKG pic.twitter.com/1ggKcbpBrQ
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) February 25, 2023
If the LA Kings want to go further in the playoffs than last year’s first-round exit, they’ll need to rely on their depth to carry them and that includes the bottom six. There’s a lot of young talent available for Todd McLellan and the flashes of quality play are there, but consistency can be an issue.
AN ARTY PARTY ON LONG ISLAND 🥳 pic.twitter.com/YXAWayim6F
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 25, 2023
UP NEXT: The LA Kings will stay in New York and face off against the Rangers for an afternoon game on Sunday at 2pm PT.
Featured image credit: (Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports)