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 Lucic, a left winger who was the closest King to the puck, was
credited with the goal at 3:28 of the second, lifting Los Angeles
(10-6-0) to its 10th win in 13 games.
"One of those ones where you got to be lucky, and sometimes you get
the bounces going your way," said Lucic, who scored his fourth goal
of the season and his second in three games. "We definitely got a
big one tonight."
Kings goaltender Jhonas Enroth stopped 31 of 32 shots. Enroth, the
backup to Jonathan Quick, is unbeaten in three starts this season.
He claimed his first win at Staples, and he has a 0.67 GAA and a
.979 save percentage.
"I really wanted to get a home start and play in my first game
here," Enroth said. "I felt good about it. I was excited to play,
and we played a pretty solid game. It was nice to win here."
The only Kings player more excited than Enroth was Lucic, who has
been a key contributor in the club's recent run.
"The first three games didn't go the way we wanted to at all," said
Lucic, referring to the Kings three consecutive losses to open the
season. "They weren't just losses, they were bad losses. To be able
to turn it around and get ourselves back up in the standings was
something we wanted to do sooner than later. I know it's early, but
you want to get your stuff off to a good start."
Netminder Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves as the Islanders (8-6-3) lost
for the third time in four games.
"We played hard, competed and tried to throw everything at it in the
third," Islanders captain John Tavares said.
Center Brock Nelson put the Islanders on the board first, converting
a pass from Tavares and ripping a shot past Enroth for a 1-0 lead at
10:41 of the first period. It was Nelson's fourth goal this season.
After New York defenseman Calvin de Haan was sent to the box for
tripping, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty smoked a shot past Halak
three seconds later for a power-play goal with 3:37 left in the
first to tie the score.
Doughty, who has two goals on the season, passed Lubomir Visnovsky
for third place on the franchise's list for power-play goals by a
defenseman with 32.
Early in the second period, Boychuk failed to clear the puck near
the Islanders' net. Kings center Tyler Toffoli gathered it and fired
a shot that bounced off Halak, who tried to steer the puck with his
stick. However, it bounced off Boychuk's skate and into the net for
a 2-1 Los Angeles advantage.
[to top of second column] |
"I just got in on the forecheck, and the puck went into the net,"
Lucic said. "I tried to handle the puck, but I went down and all the
sudden the goal horn went off. I didn't really know what happened."
New York had opportunities in the final period, including a
five-on-three advantage for 45 seconds in the opening five minutes,
but failed to score.
The Kings improved to 8-1-2 in the past 11 meetings between the
teams.
"We came into a really good atmosphere here against a good team, and
I thought we played pretty well," New York coach Jack Capuano said.
"We had a chance ... on the five-on-thee and didn't get it done."
NOTES: New York is 7-1-1 when C John Tavares records a point, taking
its first regulation loss Thursday. The Islanders are 5-0-1 when
Tavares scores a goal. However, the Kings remain the only NHL club
Tavares has failed to score a goal against. ... Kings D Drew Doughty
ranked fourth in the league in ice time per game (26:34) entering
the game. ... The Islanders scratched D Adam Pelech, LW Taylor Beck
and G Thomas Greiss. D Derek Forbort and C Jordan Weal were
unavailable for the Kings. ... The Kings have killed off 12
consecutive penalties and 18 of 19 over the past seven games. ...
The two clubs meet again Feb. 11 at the Barclays Center in New York.
... The Islanders visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night, while the
Kings complete their five-game homestand Saturday against the
Edmonton Oilers. ... An announced crowd of 18,230 attended the game.
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