NEW YORK — Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala both scored, Darcy Kuemper had 19 saves and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday night to get their sixth straight victory.
The Kings opened a seven-game road trip – their longest stretch of the season – hot. Mikey Anderson snagged an empty-net goal to move Los Angeles to 17-8-3 with the eighth win in 10.
Anders Lee scored for the Islanders, who had two victories.
Kempe got on the board with his 14th goal at 13:51 of the first period. Kings’ captain Anze Kopitar with 1,401st career game accompanied by Trevor Moore.
Kopitar, 37, leads the Kings with 32 points (8 goals).
Fiala doubled the advantage, past Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin for his 10th of the season at 3:09 of the second.
Lee, the Islanders captain, cut the lead to two with his 13th of the season at 9:47.
Sorokin finished with 27 saves.
New York defeated Ottawa 4-3 Sunday after defeating Carolina at home last Saturday. The Kings had just won at home against Ottawa, Dallas and Minnesota.
Kings: Kuemper (2018-2022 Stanley Cup champion, Colorado Avalanche) is now 6-2-3.
Islanders: Lost 5-7-2 at UBS Arena. They’re 6-5-5 on the road.
Key moment
Kuemper denied Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the high slot with 2:37 left in the third. He also beaten Simon Holmstrom on the power play with under eight minutes left in the game to hold on to a one-goal advantage.
Lee has 273 goals as a career and is eight points higher than the previous Islanders captain John Tavares. The Islanders have beaten teams 50-42 in the opening and second periods but 47-26 in the third period and overtime.
Kings: Head to New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
Islanders: Play at Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.