Anže Kopitar reaches milestone as Kings top Islanders for 1st win under interim coach D.J. Smith

LOS ANGELES — Kings captain Anže Kopitar’s 1,500th NHL game also marked D.J. Smith’s first win as interim coach and Artemi Panarin’s first goal in black and silver.

The Kings dispensed with the New York Islanders, 5-3, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, winning for the second time in three chances since breaking their season-long, five-game funk.

Kopitar is just the 25th player in more than a century of NHL competition to reach the 1,500-game mark and he could climb as high as 23rd all-time this season...