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LA Kings center Anze Kopitar and left wing Artemi Panarin celebrate after a goal against the New York Islanders (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Desperation Sparks Kings in Critical Win Over Islanders

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Raz Devraj | Last updated Mar 6, 2026 10:25 AM ET

The clock’s ticking, and time is running out for the Los Angeles Kings to salvage what’s been an underwhelming season so far. With just over 20 games left to play in the regular season, and the Kings in need of hurdling over multiple teams to secure a playoff spot, there is no longer any room to play around.

That much was evident when Kings’ general manager, Ken Holland, decided to pull the plug on Jim Hiller as the head coach and promote D.J. Smith as interim not more than five days ago. A sign that the path the Kings had been on was no longer palatable, and a shakeup was necessary.

“Every time you have a coaching change, you got to look yourself in the mirror too. Obviously, we haven’t been performing up to our standards, and we have 20 plus games to salvage the season and squeak into the playoffs,” said Anze Kopitar, who skated in his 1,500th NHL game on Thursday. “It’s all or nothing now, and we’ve got to play with desperation.”

A desperate team is exactly what the Kings looked like in their 5-3 win over the New York Islanders. A group looking for its first win under Smith after falling to the hands of the almost perfect Colorado Avalanche in his debut as the Kings’ new bench boss. A team that clearly knows its window is closing, and a team that knows it’s up to them to right the ship.

A Different Kings Team

The Kings showed that they wanted it last night, and all four lines were rolling in such a way that sparked a lighter crowd at Crypto.com Arena, and gave the fans a product that was worth cheering for. The relentless forecheck, the focus on not just getting the puck on net, but getting pucks to the net from good areas, the ability to retrieve the puck, cycle, and create plays in the offensive zone, and the discipline and unified commitment to finish every check, were all things that popped out and made you question whether or not you were watching Kings hockey.

61 games have been played, and not once have the Kings looked as aggressive, tenacious, and energetic as they did against the Islanders, especially in the first period when they managed to outshoot the Islanders 19-5, the most shots on goal the Kings had in one period all season long.

Despite the complete domination of play, in true Kings fashion, they only had one goal to show for it after 20 minutes. If it were any other night, that lead would have vanished quickly, but the Kings withstood the pushback from the Islanders and continued to push the pace, play in the offensive zone, and turn that one-goal lead into a three-goal lead late in the second period.

Bo Horvat showed shades of Tyler Toffoli with his quick rip off the draw with less than a second remaining on the clock in the second period to get the Isles on the board. It didn’t matter, though. The Kings were able to respond with a goal of their own each time the Islanders found the back of the net.

With eight minutes left and the goalie pulled, the Kings were forced to do what they do best: defend. And defend for an extended period of time, as the Islanders emptied out the tank, desperately attempting a multi-goal comeback. Unable to ice the game with an empty netter for the entire eight minutes, the Kings kept most of what the Islanders threw at them to the outside until a Matthew Schaefer shot deflected by Emil Heineman gave the Islanders their third goal of the game.

It’s a lot easier to preserve leads when there’s more than a one-goal lead to work with, and unfortunately for the Kings, that hasn’t been a common theme this season.

“We came out ready. Obviously, they played back-to-back, so we wanted to jump on them right away, and we did,” Smith said. “Give them credit, they pushed back hard, they are in the playoffs for a reason right now…at the end of the day, we found ways to score.”

It’s not often the Kings “find ways to score”, and that ultimately was one of the main reasons why they won. The last time they scored five goals in a game was on Dec. 27. On most nights, two are hard to come by, but as I mentioned, this wasn’t like most nights; this was a version of the Kings we hadn’t seen all season.

“Scoring five, I think, was a good confidence booster for everybody,” Adrian Kempe said. “It was a good win for everyone in the room, and after the (coaching) change and all that kind of stuff, this brings us back to a positive group again.”

We can talk about the Islanders being on a back-to-back, after being throttled by the Anaheim Ducks, but this was a Kings team icing a pretty light lineup without multiple regulars trying to find a way to keep their season alive.

The Kings already have a challenging task at hand as they desperately attempt to squeak into the playoffs, but a performance like that one becomes even more impressive once you remember who they are missing.

The loss of numerous key players has allowed for a few young guys to not only get in the lineup but also play important roles and key minutes, while the Kings try to get as healthy as possible. Guys like Kenny Connors, Jared Wright, Taylor Ward, and Samuel Helenius have gotten the opportunity to make an impact, and the one thing that’s been evident over the past couple of games is the fact that they fit right in. No one’s worried about them being a step behind; in fact, they are bringing a level of energy and heart to the group.

For a team making a push, depth production can only go so far. The Kings need consistency from their best players and have been lacking that more often than not. It’s players like Kempe, Kopitar, Brandt Clarke, and Artemi Panarin, who need to drive the bus, just like they did against the Islanders when the four players combined for seven points.

What the Kings put on display last night was a start, but it was a type of performance that’s going to need to be there every time they set foot on the ice the rest of the way if they want to clinch their fifth consecutive playoff berth.

“We’ve got to keep bringing this for every game to have a chance to make it to the playoffs,” Kempe said. “If we play like we did tonight, with effort, the way we played with the puck, and off the puck, I think it’s going to help us to get into good positions…the window is getting smaller and smaller, so this is the time to get hot.”