Islanders Stop Kings' Home-Ice Streak In Shootout
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen scored in the shootout, and the New York Islanders completed a Southern California sweep with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Chad Johnson stopped 28 shots and Brock Nelson scored in the first period for the Islanders, who snapped their three-game skid with an overtime win over undermanned Anaheim one night earlier.
Johnson turned aside Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter in the shootout while Okposo and Nielsen scored on Jonathan Quick, who made 25 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champions' six-game home winning streak ended.
Dwight King scored an early goal for the Kings in their return from a 1-3-1 road trip to Staples Center, where they completed the longest perfect homestand in franchise history last month.
New York had lost four straight in Los Angeles.
Conn Smythe Trophy winner Justin Williams missed his first game for the Kings since the start of the 2011-12 season, sitting out with blurred vision in his right eye after the Stars' Brendan Dillon clipped him in the face earlier this week.
Williams had played in 255 consecutive regular-season games for the Kings, winning two of his three Stanley Cup titles along the way. He has scored just one goal in 13 games this season.
King put Los Angeles ahead 3:49 in when he deflected Mike Richards' shot from the corner at an awkward angle, the puck trickling past Johnson for King's second goal.
But Los Angeles couldn't score again in its return from a road trip featuring only nine goals in five games. The Kings lost their first four on the trip before beating Dallas on Tuesday.
Nelson tied it on a power play late in the period, putting a quick shot into a small hole underneath Quick's glove arm at the post. Nelson leads the Islanders with seven goals.
The dull final two periods featured few genuine scoring opportunities, although Quick denied Nelson in the slot on a great chance in the third. Quick then stopped a point-blank attempt by Lubomir Visnovksy in overtime.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched defenseman Brian Strait and forward Cory Conacher. Scoreless center Casey Cizikas returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in Anaheim. ... New York wraps up its five-game road trip Saturday at Arizona. ... Los Angeles hosts Vancouver on Saturday before two Freeway Faceoff games against the Ducks next week.
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