New development:After strong homestand Kings begin new trek at Blues

The Los Angeles Kings are getting healthier for the stretch run of their playoff push.

Forward Adrian Kempe scored a goal Monday night in his second game back from an upper-body injury, helping the Kings blank the New York Islanders 3-0 to cap a 3-1-1 homestand. Defenseman Mikey Anderson returned from his upper-body injury Monday after missing eight games.

The fortified Kings, who are 19-9-4 on the road, will open a three-game trip in St. Louis against the Blues Wednesday night.

Interim Kings coach Jim Hiller was especially pleased with Kempe’s performance against the Islanders

I thought that was his best game since I can remember,” Hiller said. “I thought he was extremely physical. He was fast, he just played a 200-foot game.

“You know you hear about that a lot, a 200-foot game, he was physical, he was a leader and that was all before he scored. Then, to see him score that goal, we’ve seen that goal many times, him down the wing and just snap it. All in all, just a really, really strong game.

Anderson’s return made the Kings stronger on the back end. He scraped off his rust by playing the body against the Islanders.

“We haven’t had any time to practice, so for me, that’s the first time I’ve been around five guys on the ice at a time,” Anderson said. “I’ve been skating a lot just by myself with one other guy, so I wanted to try and get engaged right away. A little physicality always can help that.

The Kings split their first two games with the Blues this season. They won 5-1 at home on Nov. 18 with Cam Talbot in goal and fell 4-3 in overtime in St. Louis with David Rittich in net.

Talbot started six straight games for the Kings until Rittich stepped in Monday to shut out the Islanders.