The New York Islanders will look to get back in the win column as they battle the Los Angeles Kings on the second stop of their California gauntlet trip. The puck drops on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Islanders are 35-22-5 and second in the Metropolitan Division. They have a five-point lead for staying in a playoff spot and just lost to the Anaheim Ducks on the road, 5-1. New York scored five minutes into the game, but the Ducks followed with three goals to end the period. Then Anaheim scored two more in the third period. The Islanders outshot the Ducks 43-26 and won in faceoffs 30-29, but lost in hits 28-19. The power play was 1-for-4, and the penalty kill was 3-for-4 on stops. Giveaways were a bit high, but some good blocks with them.

The Kings are 24-22-14 and sixth in the Pacific Division. They are five points back of the second wild card spot and just lost to the Colorado Avalanche at home 4-2. Halfway through the first period, the Kings were down 2-0. Los Angeles got on the board late in the period and tied things up halfway through the game. The Avs took the lead late and added an empty netter to put things away. The Kings were outshot 39-21 and lost in faceoffs 30-26, but won on hits 36-13. The power play was 1-for-1, and the penalty kill was 0-for-1 on stops. LA did a great job blocking scoring chances and could have done more with the Avs' puck giveaways.

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Note: The above data was collected on March 5, 2026, and may have changed since writing.

New York Islanders

Los Angeles Kings

New York is 21st in scoring, fourth in goals against, 31st on the power play, and ninth on the penalty kill. Bo Horvat leads the team in goals. The Islanders are 18-11-3 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. New York just had a five-game winning streak end, and this will be the second night of back-to-backs for them. Ilya Sorokin is the expected starter; he is 10-3-0 in his last 13 games but has never won in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is 29th in scoring, 10th in goals against, 27th on the power play, and 28th on the penalty kill. Adrian Kempe leads the team in goals, assists, and points. The Kings are 9-14-7 at home and 4-6 in their last 10 games. LA has lost six of their last seven games, and only one of those games was decided by a goal. The offense is struggling, and the defense only had a few good efforts going for them. The one win was against a below-average team, and the rest of the losses were against teams currently in playoff spots.

Best Bet: Islanders Money Line

Even though this will be the second night of back-to-backs for the Islanders, they will want to bounce back fast after a bad loss to the Ducks. Going into this game, the Kings will have had two days of fresh legs, but they have struggled at home, the offensive numbers are still down, and the recent losses were against quality teams.