Islanders Dethrone Kings

Islanders celebrate after Streit's overtime winner (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

          On a day where former defenseman, Kenny Jonsson was inducted into the Islanders hall of fame is was a current defenseman, Mark Striet, whose goal in overtime lifted the Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, at the Nassau Coliseum, Saturday afternoon.
          From the start the game was a very physical one.  The teams combined for a total of 89 hits with the Islanders finishing with a season high 48 while the Kings finished with 41.

          The first period saw a lot of the play happening in the Islanders zone, where the Kings were able to keep with their forecheck and get pucks toward Nabokov, who stopped all 12 he saw that first frame.  However is was the Islanders who left with the 1-0 lead, as Michael Grabner was able to get one by the Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, after the puck ping-ponged through traffic, for his 15th of season. 

          The second period saw much of the same with the Kings out shooting the Isles 12-4.  However this period saw Andrei Loktionov score as he deflected a Dustin Brown shot past Nabokov to even the score 1-1.

          When the Islanders came out in the third they played a much more physical game.  They also blocked a lot of shots, making Nabokov's job a little easier.  The Isles finished with 22 blocked shots in the contest.  The period ended with the Islanders out shooting the Kings 12-11, however none of those 23 shots went in.   

          With both teams now securing a point they played a crucial overtime for a pivotal extra point.  The Isles are trying to stay within firing range for that 8th and final playoff spot, while the Kings are right above that playoff dividing line just 4 points ahead of both the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.  

          The overtime didn't last all that long as just 1:36 into the frame the Isles set up a beautiful goal by Mark Streit, his 5th of the season.  Andrew MacDonald threw a pass from his own zone up to Matt Moulson at center ice, who tapped one to Streit who cut through 3 Kings defenders and shot one 5-hole on Quick to end the contest.

          The win ups the Islanders record to 23-23-8, while the Kings drop to 26-19-11.  Next up for the Islanders is yet another matinee game against the Florida Panthers tomorrow afternoon, puck drop at 3:00