Anze Kopitar scored with 4:23 left, defenseman Alec Martinez had two assists, and the Los Angeles Kings won their third straight on their road trip by beating the slumping New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night.
Kopitar, who had a goal and five assists in his previous three games, got to a deflected puck off a drive by defenseman Andrej Sekera and fired it past Jaroslav Halak for his 16th goal.
Jonathan Quick made 25 saves in his 400th NHL game. He has won at New Jersey, the New York Rangers, and the Islanders on this trip that has two games left. Nick Shore netted his first career goal in his 28th game, and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the playoff-hopeful Kings.
Quick has won in his 100th, 200th, 300th and 400th NHL games.
Frans Nielsen and Johnny Boychuk had goals, and Halak stopped 34 shots, but the Islanders fell to 2-5-2 in their past nine.
Both teams scored during Los Angeles defenseman Matt Greene's holding penalty just 1:43 into the third period.
HIGHLIGHT: Nick Shore scores his first career goal for the @LAKings redirecting a Dustin Brown shot with his skate. http://t.co/KOurqAKurj
— Kings Vision (@KingsVision) March 27, 2015
The Kings took their first lead of the night on Toffoli's 22nd goal - his fifth short-handed - 12 seconds after Greene was sent to the box. Jeff Carter fired a drive during a 2-on-1 rush that Halak stopped, but Toffoli converted the rebound at the left post.
New York wasn't shaken, and forged the second tie of the game when Boychuk ripped a shot from the blue line, with Josh Bailey in front at 3:31.
The tide turned in the second period as the Islanders found their game and started taking the play to the Kings.
Nielsen gave New York a 1-0 lead 5:31 into the period when Travis Hamonic's clearing pass sent Nikolay Kulemin streaking ahead on an Islanders' 3-on-1 rush. Kulemin dropped the puck back to Nielsen above the right circle for a hard wrist shot that beat Quick inside the right post for his 13th goal.
HIGHLIGHT: Andrej Sekera fires, and Anze Kopitar perfectly redirects in his shot to give the @LAKings a late 3-2 lead http://t.co/PU1yAB5bM3
— Kings Vision (@KingsVision) March 27, 2015
It was the Islanders' fifth shot of the second period, compared to only one for Los Angeles.
New York gained even more momentum when it killed a Kings' 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:34. The Islanders even had the best scoring chance of the advantage when Bailey sprung Nick Leddy right out of the penalty box, but Quick turned him aside on the short-handed breakaway.
That perhaps gave the Kings a lift because just 24 seconds after the teams returned to full strength, Dustin Brown curled with the puck behind the Islanders net, came out into the right circle and snapped a shot that caromed in off Shore's skate at the top of the crease at 10:37.
New York outshot Los Angeles 16-8 in the second to trail 22-21 entering the third.
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The Kings carried much of the play in the scoreless first, but they couldn't get anything past Halak. Los Angeles held a 14-5 advantage in shots, but its best scoring chance was an attempt by Jordan Nolan that sailed to Halak's right and struck the left post at 6:20.
The Islanders didn't put their first puck on Quick until Kyle Okposo's drive 6:53 into the game.
NOTES: Quick is 10-1-1 in his past 12 road starts. ... The Islanders have gone 11 games without allowing a power-play goal. They have killed 25 straight short-handed situations, including two against the Kings. ... An adhesive ad began peeling off the boards in the third period. A linesman pulled it off completely and it was later replaced. ... Halak took a shot directly off his mask in the third period, and didn't appear to be injured. ... The Kings have won seven of their last 11 at Nassau Coliseum.
