Rittich, Kings blank Islanders, 3-0 LA end Isles win streak at six

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In Los Angeles, the Kings’ David Rittich made 26 saves in a 3-0 shut out of the visiting New York Islanders on Monday night.

“It’s great I got a shutout, but I also said after my first (a 4-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 10) I’m here not to get shutouts, I’m here to get wins, and that’s all that matters,” Rittich said.

The Kings improved to 33-20-11.

“We knew we didn’t have the best night the other night against Dallas (a 4-1 loss on Saturday), so we knew what we had to do,” Rittich said. “We came out really strong. I think overall we did do a great job defensively. Playing against the Islanders, who are well-known for playing good defense, it’s good we showed up that way, too.”

After a scoreless first period, the Kings broke on top, 1-0, when Adrian Kempe scored at 7:14 of the middle frame, scoring off a shot from the right circle.
“To score from the outside is really difficult in the League,” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “Against Sorokin, it’s going to take a great shot to beat him. He’s got some power and quickness there on the release that’s hard to read. Those ones don’t go in very often unless you’re one of the elite shooters in the League.”

The Islanders dropped to 29-21-14.

The Isles were scoreless in five power play chances.

In the third period, LA’s Phillip Danault pushed the advantage to 2-0 with a marker at 6:07.

Trevor Moore sealed the win he scored into an empty net at 17:38 for the 3-0 final count on the scoreboard.

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the loss.
“If our power play would have clicked, maybe it would have made a difference,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We needed more traffic. When the puck is not moving as well as we wish on the power play, we need to do things a little different and get more traffic in front of the net (rather) than try to be a little fancy around and try to play around.”