Kings vs. Islanders: Artemi Panarin Scores Twice and Brandt Clarke Wins It in OT as Kuemper Stops 41

For most of the night, the Los Angeles Kings were hanging on. Then overtime arrived, they grabbed the puck and refused to give it back. "We possessed the puck for like three minutes there, tired some guys out, forced them to make a change they probably don't want to make," Brandt Clarke said. The payoff came when Adrian Kempe dropped the puck to him in the right circle and Clarke roofed it over Semyon Varlamov's glove.

That goal, 2:43 into overtime, gave the Kings a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Artemi Panarin scored twice in the first period, Darcy Kuemper made 41 saves on 43 shots, and a team that lost its first six games of the season now has two wins in a row.

The Panarin Show, Part One

Panarin wasted no time making Varlamov's first start at UBS Arena since Nov. 25, 2024, an uncomfortable one. At 5:51 of the first, he came down on a rush from the right circle and beat Varlamov over the glove, with the goalie leaning for a cross-ice pass that never came. Alex Laferriere and Clarke drew the assists.

At 16:37, Panarin struck again on his own. His first shot from the left circle was blocked by Matthew Kessel, the rebound bounced right back onto his stick, and he snapped it under Varlamov's glove arm for a 2-0 lead. Things got heated seconds later: the Islanders' Logan Stanley and the Kings' Samuel Helenius dropped the gloves at 16:49.

That made five points (three goals, two assists) for Panarin over his past two games, after a goal and two assists in Tuesday's win in Washington. He kept the credit spread around. "Every game I work, and then thanks to my partners," he said. "Our line, I feel, hasn't looked bad these past couple of games."

Kuemper Becomes a Brick Wall

After that, the Islanders took over. NHL.com had New York outshooting Los Angeles 32-15 through two periods, and Kuemper was the reason the scoreboard did not match the ice.

"Kuemper was phenomenal," Kings coach Peter Laviolette said. "If he wasn't as good as he was then it'd be a different story."

Los Angeles had a golden chance to put it away at 10:59 of the second. Kempe broke in alone, Matthew Schaefer was called for holding him on the breakaway, and Kempe got a penalty shot. Varlamov stayed with him and kicked it out with his right pad.

New York finally broke through on the power play at 14:06, with Brian Dumoulin in the box for tripping. Rookie Victor Eklund leaned into a one-timer from above the left circle, and it trickled under Kuemper's left pad. Tony DeAngelo and Emil Heineman assisted.

Schaefer Answers the Bell

The Islanders' young star defenseman tied it 7:06 into the third. Schaefer skated into the right circle and beat Kuemper on the blocker side for his first goal of the season, with Stanley and Brayden Schenn assisting. According to NHL.com, the goal tied Schaefer with Bobby Orr (24) for the second-most goals by a teenage defenseman in NHL history, behind Phil Housley's 46. He also logged 29:24 of ice time.

The Islanders nearly won it in regulation. With 57 seconds left, Schaefer's shot kicked out to Eklund, and Kuemper got his right pad across to deny him. That save bought the Kings overtime, and overtime belonged to them.

Stars of the Night

Panarin finished with two goals in 21:08. Clarke had the winner and an assist in 19:54, plus two blocked shots, and Kempe set up the overtime goal in 20:09 despite the missed penalty shot. Laferriere logged 22:17 and assisted on Panarin's opener.

But this was Kuemper's game. He stopped 41 of 43 shots for a .953 save percentage and even picked up the second assist on Clarke's winner. For a team that spent much of the night chasing, that is the definition of a goalie stealing one.

On the other side, Varlamov stopped 24 of 27 for an .889 mark, and the penalty-shot save mattered. "The penalty shot saved by 'Varly' was huge to keep us in that game, and it was a really important point for us against a tough team," Islanders coach Peter DeBoer said.

Turning Point: The Save With 57 Seconds Left

The Islanders had the crowd, the shot count and the momentum after Schaefer's tying goal. One more bounce and they win this in regulation. Kuemper's right pad on Eklund flipped the night, and the Kings then spent overtime keeping the puck away from New York until Clarke found his lane.

Laviolette liked how his group closed. "I think we only gave up maybe two chances in the third, none in the overtime," he said.

Stats That Matter

• 43-27: New York's edge in shots. The Islanders controlled the shot clock and still lost.
• .953: Kuemper's save percentage.
• 34-20: New York's edge in faceoffs, a 63 percent clip.
• 18-14: Los Angeles' edge in blocked shots, a big part of how the Kings survived.
• 5: Panarin's points over the past two games.

What It Means

The Kings improve to 2-4-2 with six points. As recently as Tuesday morning, they were the last team in the NHL without a win, according to the AP. Now they have back-to-back road wins and head to New Jersey on Saturday for the third game of a five-game trip. They did it again without Quinton Byfield, who is day to day with an upper-body injury, per the AP.

The Islanders fall to 5-3-2 with 12 points but extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2), per NHL.com. They are 4-1-1 at home and open a three-game Western Conference trip Sunday in Dallas.

"I thought we carried the play for a lot of that game," Islanders captain Bo Horvat said. "So, it was just one of those nights where we couldn't find the back of the net enough to get Varlamov the win."

The Redemption Arc Starts Here

Two weeks ago the Kings looked like a show getting canceled after one season. Two nights, two wins, and suddenly there is a second-season redemption arc in the works. They were outplayed for long stretches in Elmont, and their coach did not pretend otherwise. "The first few periods we were chasing the game," Laviolette said.

Clarke, though, put it best: "So, I was happy to bear down there."

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and NHL.com; postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com.