LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jonathan Quick seems to have figured things out in goal for the Los Angeles Kings.
The same seems to be true for the rapidly improving team in front of him, from the power play to the penalty-kill to the overall record for the Kings.
Quick stopped 24 shots, Dustin Brown and Alex Iafallo each had a goal and an assist, and the Kings beat the New York Islanders 4-1 Wednesday night.
Jeff Carter had a power-play goal and Matt Roy also scored to help the Kings win for the fifth time in eight games (5-2-1).
Quick has started each of those wins, and he has a 5-1-1 record with 2.00 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in his past seven appearances.
“He’s like the penalty-kill, really,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “His numbers don’t reflect how well he’s played. A couple games early in the year got away from him, and if you start with numbers that aren’t real good … it’s hard to get them back. It takes a long time, but he’s been tremendous over the last little bit.”
Derick Brassard scored for the Islanders, who went 0-2-1 on their three-game California road trip. Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves, his first regulation loss in 10 starts.
It was the second straight regulation loss for the Islanders after setting a franchise record by earning a point in 17 straight games. New York was 15-0-2 in that span before losing 3-0 at Anaheim on Monday night.
“You’re going to go through some dry stretches where it’s not going to come easy for the players individually or collectively. And right now it’s not coming easy for us,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “Teams are bearing down for us, you know. We’re not sneaking up on anybody. It’s a dry patch that you have to work through as a group and stay positive.”
Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead with 3:43 left in the second on Carter’s first power-play goal of the season by tipping Michael Amadio’s shot from the point over Varlamov.
It was the Kings’ third power-play goal in four games. They had eight goals with the man-advantage in their first 21 games.
The Kings had dominated the second period with long stretches of sustained possession before Carter got his fourth game-winning goal, and they kept it up after that to improve to 6-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Roy made it 3-1 at 10:19 of the third on a one-timer from the high slot off a pass from Blake Lizotte for his second of the season.
Iafallo added an empty-netter with 2:07 left to cap the scoring. He has four points in the past two games.
“I think in this league, if you get a lead in the third, you better hold onto it,” Kings center Blake Lizotte said.
The Islanders went in front 1 -0 at 8:46 of the first when Brassard tipped Scott Mayfield’s shot from the blue line and sent it bouncing under Quick.
The Kings took over the scoring after that as Brown tied it 1-1 at 9:46 by sneaking a sharp-angle shot from the left circle under the crossbar.
“It’s an unfortunate bounce, that first goal, and then we were close at times and just unable to capitalize,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Nick Leddy after he aggravated a previous injury against the Ducks on Monday, Trotz said. … New York also scratched F Otto Koivula and F Ross Johnston. … Kings F Trevor Lewis returned after missing eight games because of a lower-body injury. … Kings D Alec Martinez was placed on injured reserve. Martinez had surgery to repair his right wrist after he was cut by a skate against San Jose on Monday.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Columbus on Saturday night.
Kings: At San Jose on Friday.
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