February 5, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) warms up before the start of the game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvani-Imagn Image After the Los Angeles Kings played the type of games that DJ Smith wants them to play on a regular basis but still ended up losing, the new coach will have another goal in hand to get his first win when the New York Islanders visit on Thursday.
Smith faced a difficult matchup in his first game since replacing Jim Hiller, who was fired on Sunday after a disastrous start after the Olympics.
The Kings faced the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and looked much better in a 4-2 loss against the NHL’s No. 1 team.
Smith said he likes the way the Kings look ahead, fight to win back possession of the puck, use their physicality along the boards and don’t sit in the middle of the ice and absorb the avalanche.
“We definitely need points, but you can’t criticize the effort at this point,” Smith said. “We’re going to need that every game.”
The Kings received good news regarding injuries/illness/personal issues during practice Wednesday.
Players expected to return against the Islanders are defensemen Drew Doughty and Jacob Movere, forward Trevor Moore and goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Doughty has missed the last two games with a lower body injury. Moore and Kuemper missed the last game due to illness, while Moverare was absent due to the birth of his son Milan.
Los Angeles will be without forward Quinton Byfield, who will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Additionally, Kings captain Anze Kopitar will play in his 1,500th NHL regular season game. Kopitar, now 38, has only played for the Kings, who selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft.
Only three active players appeared in more games.
Smith said Kopitar would like to have a chance to make the playoffs for the 11th time in 20 NHL seasons, but it will take a team effort.
The Kings enter the game five points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
“To be able to play and anticipate and hit at the pace I expect, everyone is going to have to work a little bit shorter shifts and everyone is going to have to play harder while they’re on the ice,” Smith said. “We’re going to need all four ambassadors. One might come in one night, one might go out, but I wouldn’t count us out.”
The Islanders lost 5-1 at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in the first game of a four-game road trip.
This loss ended their season-long winning streak of five.
“We had about 40 shots on net,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Maybe we could have done a better job of getting ahead of them, keeping the goalie’s eyes away from the puck, which would have helped, but overall they played well and there were things we could have done a little better early on.”
Ilya Sorokin is expected to score against Los Angeles after David Rittich made 21 saves against the Ducks.
Sorokin went 4-0-0 in February, but is just 1-5-0 with a .913 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average in six career games with the Kings.
The Kings and Islanders are scheduled to meet again March 13 in New York.
–Field level media
