Kings try to continue fast start vs. Islanders
LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders will attempt to end their lone West Coast road trip on a winning note when they face the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Sunday.
New York (2-2-1) is in the midst of a challenging schedule with five of its first seven games away from Brooklyn's Barclay Center and are in a stretch of 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.
They conclude their road swing against a more familiar foe -- the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Both teams are playing the back end of consecutive games. The Islanders defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 while the Kings used a decisive third period power-play goal from Drew Doughty in a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Thomas Griess came up big for the Islanders by stopping 40 San Jose shots, including 29 in the final two periods. Brock Nelson scored the decisive goal in the second period and Cal Clutterbuck added an empty-net goal to support Griess' second victory of the season.
"We bent, but we didn't break," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "We needed some big saves from Thomas and he was great in net."
Nelson like the way his team responded after a 3-2 loss in Anaheim on Wednesday.
"It was a good road win for us," Nelson said. "Greiss played well and made a lot of big saves. It is a good bounce back from Anaheim and it is nice to come out on top."
Los Angeles (3-0-1) has taken advantage of a friendly schedule that keeps them in California until its Oct. 21 matchup at Columbus. The Kings will play the second of eight consecutive games against the Eastern Conference.
The three power-play goals they registered in the Buffalo win were their first of the season after starting the season on an 0-for-16 run.
The fast start is rare for the Kings. It is the first time since 1995-96 they have registered points in each of their first four games.
"It's important. We think you've got to get seven points a segment if you're going to be in the playoff hunt," Kings coach John Stevens said. "To get points early in the season, it doesn't matter what time of the year it is, those points are extremely important, especially when you've got some new people here, you've got some young guys in our lineup, you want to get off to a good start, get some points in the bank and hopefully build a little confidence in the group, so I think it's extremely important."
Doughty agreed with Stevens that a strong start is important to a team that has missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons.
"We want to start the season off right," Doughty said. "Right now, if we had lost the first three games or lost a couple of them, the mood in the room wouldn't be where it is right now. We are at a high right now.
"We are really confident in each other and in the team, and we just feel good about ourselves. That all changes if we start losing, so we got to keep pushing forward and keep winning, and we are going to continue having fun if we win."
Dustin Brown continued his strong start against Buffalo registering a power-play goal for his fourth tally in four games. After scoring only 25 goals in the past two regular seasons, Stevens has made Brown a fixture on a wing for Anze Kopitar and the partnership has paid off.
"Brown has been terrific. He's getting back to his power game," Stevens said. "We're trying to make that a part of our identity as a hockey team and he's leading the charge. He likes being there.
"The defensemen were shooting pucks and he stood down there in front of the net tipping pucks for a good five or 10 minutes at the end of practice today. He understands the value of being there, he wants to be the guy there, and I think it's a great example for everybody else to kind of lead the charge of getting more people to the front of the net."
