Artemi Panarin, Kings hand Islanders another Southern California loss

Field Level Media|published: Fri 6th March, 24:37 2026

Mar 5, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings center Samuel Helenius (79) celebrates after a goal as New York Islanders defenseman Carson Soucy (4) reacts in the second period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Artemi Panarin scored his first goal for the Kings, helping Los Angeles to a 5-3 win against the visiting New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Panarin, Adrian Kempe and Mikey Anderson each had a goal and an assist, Samuel Helenius and Alex Laferriere also scored, Brandt Clarke had two assists and Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves for the Kings, who had lost six of their previous seven games (1-5-1).

Bo Horvat, Adam Pelech and Emil Heineman scored, Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two assists and Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots for the Islanders, who were coming off a 5-1 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday that snapped a five-game winning streak.

The Kings took a 1-0 lead after Sorokin lost his stick in the corner and Panarin ended up with the puck alone in front of him, scoring over his pad at 3:17 of the first period.

Panarin was playing in his fifth game with the Kings after they acquired him from the New York Rangers on Feb.4.

The Kings outshot New York 13-3 by the midway point of the first period and 19-5 heading into the second.

Sorokin robbed Kempe on a 2-on-1 short-handed chance at 9:41 of the second, but the Kings got one past him after winning the puck back on forecheck less than five minutes later. Jeff Malott made a backhand horizontal pass to Helenius for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead at 14:20.

Anderson sent a point shot through traffic and into the net to make it 3-0 at 15:51 of the second, his first goal since Dec. 6.

The Islanders won a faceoff with one second left in the second period and Horvat scored on a one-timer from above the left circle just before time expired, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

Laferriere drove into the New York zone while on a power play and scored to extend the lead to 4-1 at 2:30 of the third period.

The Kings went right back on the power play, but it was Pelech who scored short-handed get the Islanders within 4-2 at 4:30.

Kempe redirected the puck into the side of the net to re-establish the three-goal lead at 8:30.

The Islanders pulled Sorokin with more than eight minutes left for an extra attacker, and Heineman scored with 1:59 left to cut it to 5-3.

--Field Level Media

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