Kevin Fiala Returns From Broken Leg as Islanders Beat Kings 5-2

Fiala set up Quinton Byfield's power-play goal, but Los Angeles outshot New York 28-21 and still dropped a third straight game.

The Kings got Kevin Fiala back Thursday night and still lost, 5-2, to the New York Islanders at Crypto.com Arena. Final score per TheSportsDB. It was their third straight loss, and the Ball Exclusives recap syndicated on Yardbarker has them 14th in the Western Conference.

Fiala did his part in his first NHL game since February. The Associated Press reported that he picked up the secondary assist on Quinton Byfield's second-period power-play goal. It was the 300th assist of his career, and he played 16:37 and finished minus-1.

Getting that far took a while. At the Milan Cortina Olympics, Fiala was skating for Switzerland when Canada's Tom Wilson drove him into the side boards and came down on his left leg. NHL.com reported that he was carried off on a stretcher with several fractures and needed another procedure in September. Before the game, coach Peter Laviolette told NHL.com that live game action is "always a little bit of a different feel" than practice.

It was also the first time Fiala and Artemi Panarin had played in the same Kings lineup since Panarin arrived from the Rangers in a Feb. 4 trade, NHL.com noted. That's two of the team's best scorers on the ice together, and two goals on the scoreboard.

Here's the number that explains the night. Los Angeles outshot New York 28-21, according to the Ball Exclusives recap. Darcy Kuemper, playing his 500th career game, stopped 16 of the 20 shots he faced, and the 21st was Bo Horvat's empty-netter. A shot count treats a point shot the same as a tap-in at the back door, so it can't say who had the better chances. It does say the Islanders needed fewer of them.

Brayden Schenn got New York on the board 5:50 into the game, the first of his three points on the night. Trevor Moore tied it for the Kings less than four minutes later. Then Matthew Schaefer put New York ahead to stay on a power play, scoring in his 100th NHL game.

That goal gave Schaefer 77 points in 100 games, AP reported. That's fourth among teenage defensemen, behind Phil Housley, Rasmus Dahlin and Ray Bourque. Rookie Victor Eklund made it 3-1 early in the second, scoring for a fourth straight game.

Byfield's goal at 7:52 of the second cut it to 3-2, and the Kings got 12 more minutes of hockey before Simon Holmstrom answered 39 seconds into the third. The Islanders had lost four straight. Thursday ended that run.

Fiala made it through more than 16 minutes on a leg that was broken in several places in February. The Kings close their seven-game homestand Saturday against the Calgary Flames, and they still haven't turned his return into a win.

Source: yardbarker.com, retrieved November 13, 2026. Other sources: sports.yahoo.com, nhl.com.