Islanders at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings have yet to recapture the magic that enabled the club to win seven straight games to finish October with a flourish. After alternating losses and wins to begin November, the Kings look to return to their victorious ways on Thursday when they play the fourth contest of their five-game homestand against the New York Islanders.
Tyler Toffoli scored his 10th goal in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Arizona to match Chicago superstar Patrick Kane and Dallas captain Jamie Benn for the league lead. Toffoli looks to continue his success versus the Islanders, against whom he has scored three goals in four meetings - including Los Angeles' 3-2 road win on March 26. Now healthy, New York captain John Tavares is doing his best to return to form, scoring twice in Tuesday's 4-2 triumph over San Jose to retake the team lead in goals with seven. "We had a sense in here before the game that we were ready for it," Tavares said of the offensive awakening for the Islanders, who had failed to score more than two goals in the previous six outings.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (8-5-3): Mikhail Grabovski collected a goal and an assist versus the Sharks, marking his first points since scoring in back-to-back tilts on Oct. 24 and 26. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk has tallied in consecutive contests and also scored in his last meeting with Los Angeles. Unfortunately for the Islanders, goals haven't been in ample supply against the Kings as they scored three or fewer in each of their last 19 encounters (5-12-2).
ABOUT THE KINGS (9-6-0): Dustin Brown is showing signs of breaking out of his offensive slump. The captain netted his first goal of the season versus the Coyotes to extend his point streak to three games after being held off the scoresheet in six of his previous seven contests. Jonathan Quick is just 1-3-0 in his last four overall, but owns a 5-1-2 mark with a 1.59 goals-against average in his career versus the Islanders.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in each of its last four games.
2. New York has won all three of its games versus Pacific Division representatives and is 6-1-1 against the Western Conference this season.
3. Islanders G Jaroslav Halak has dropped nine of 15 decisions (6-7-2) versus the Kings.