The Kings ended their losing streak at the Joe Louis Arena Thursday night. Los Angeles scored three unanswered in the final period that once again left the Red Wings losing in regulation 4-1. Detroit area native Jeff Zatkoff earned a sentimental victory while putting the Kings back in the win column.
The Red Wings arrive at the midpoint of their current homestand still searching for a win in regulation. They let things slip away against the Arizona Coyotes who outplayed them to win 4-1 on Tuesday. With the Kings in a similar situation with trouble winning games, it gives Detroit a slight chance to change their pace. Los Angeles suffered a bad loss against the Buffalo Sabres losing the lead late in the game. Howard earned his place in net hoping to make up for the loss against Arizona. Zatkoff appeared in net for the Kings hoping to top that of the team he grew up watching.
His team made a huge statement quickly in the first period as a shot from Derek Forbort was redirected by Dwight King in traffic where his stick helped the Kings take a 1-0 lead 21 seconds in. it was Forbort’s second of the season and a good step for Los Angeles. The attacks kept coming for the Kings with one getting a piece of both posts but never crossing the goal line. After a quick check by officials, play resumed with Los Angeles up three shots with Detroit still searching for their first.
They made it happen before the four-minute mark but it was a shot that Zatkoff handled well. They handed the Kings their first power play of the night hoping that their second ranked PK could stop Los Angeles. Detroit took care of the two-minute penalty and picked up the pace on defense.
The Red Wings got a solid turnover with Luke Glendening setting up a shot that had Detroit near the net. Mike Green got on the rebound where his scoring chance leveled things at one all giving the defenseman his seventh on the year. Though they leveled the playing field, the Kings dominated on time with the puck where they took 11 shots on net with Howard making good stops while facing the Kings offense. Detroit got a power play before the period was over but their main concern was being outshot by nearly four times.
Nothing came out of the remainder of their power play to begin the second. When it was over, the Kings took off on shots to the net giving it their best against Howard who remained firm and in control. Howard handled an important power play for Los Angeles with eight minutes left in the period. Detroit made the stop but they couldn’t stop the pace the Kings were running. Time quickly flew by with the Kings fired nine shots in the period hunting for their second.
It came on a play behind the Detroit net where Drew Doughty took it back out front to begin the scoring chance. A pass to Dustin Brown led to the Kings taking shots at the net where an opportunity came on the stick of Nic Dowd who scored with 17 seconds on the clock. Dowd picked up his third with an easy shot into the net while Howard was laid out on the ice. Detroit only got five shots in the Kings end knowing that for a second time, they found themselves trailing.
The third belong to Los Angeles as they had their play in a high gear while the Red Wings struggled to keep up. The Kings made it 3-1 on a goal from Tyler Toffoli who got ahead of the Detroit sliding to Howard glove side to score his sixth of the season. The Red Wings pulled Howard to bring in a sixth man but their plans were foiled by the strong push from Los Angeles.
They overtook Detroit on the run where Toffoli earned his second of the night on an empty netter giving the Kings them four goals for the seventh time this season. Frustrations boiled from Detroit as they let it out on the Kings but the scuffle didn’t change the score. It was quickly finished with the remaining seconds flying off the clock to end the game. The Kings launched 31 shots at Howard where he and the team blocked and saved 28.
Zatkoff earned his second win of the season saving 17 of the 18 shots he faced giving him a .944 save percentage. The key to LA’s victory was Detroit’s consistency of not finding the net enough as well as sticks not putting the work to create further scoring chances. With the homestand nearly coming to a close, Detroit would have to create any sort of victory when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
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