03/05/26 11:29:00
Printable Page
03/05 23:27 CST Panarin leads LA Kings past Islanders 5-3 for their 1st victory
under interim coach D.J. Smith
Panarin leads LA Kings past Islanders 5-3 for their 1st victory under interim
coach D.J. Smith
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --- Artemi Panarin scored his first goal in a Kings uniform,
and Los Angeles beat the New York Islanders 5-3 on Thursday night for the
club's first victory under interim head coach D.J. Smith.
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.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
|