Red Wings hold on for 3-2 win over resurgent Kings Friday night
By @StefanKubus –
DETROIT – Dating back to 2010-11, the Red Wings had defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six straight games at Joe Louis Arena.
And despite the Kings playing solid hockey as of late, with a 12-3-0 record in their last 15 outings after starting 0-3-0, that was a trend that continued Friday night, as Detroit posted a 3-2 victory over the Kings.
Petr Mrazek stopped 35 of 37 shots, defenseman Mike Green scored his first goal as a Red Wing and 19-year-old Dylan Larkin scored his seventh of the season, though he had an injury scare early in the third period. Tomas Tatar potted his sixth of the season, as well. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter scored both Los Angeles goals, and Jonas Enroth – who entered Friday with a 0.67 goals-against average, a .979 save percentage and a 3-0-0 record – allowed three goals on 29 shots.
“They’re a really good hockey team, playing them you can tell why they’ve been on a roll,” Blashill said.
“I don’t think we’ve given up lots of second opportunities, I don’t think we’ve given up lots of those, but we haven’t been hard enough at their net, and I thought we were better at that tonight.”
MORE: PHOTOS: Red Wings take down Kings Friday at The Joe
The first goal is always important, but between these two teams, it’s invaluable, as Detroit held a 8-2-2 record heading into Friday’s game when recording the first goal, with a 1-6-0 record when falling behind first. For the Kings, it’s a similar story: 7-2-0 when scoring first, but still a decent 5-4-0 when being scored on first.
While on the powerplay late in the first period, Justin Abdelkader took a pass at the goal mouth to the left of Enroth and spun a backhand pass across the crease to an uncovered Tatar, who buried his sixth of the season at 14:10.
The Red Wings headed back to the powerplay not long after, as Drew Doughty tripped up Dylan Larkin. And with it, came another goal, only this one was scored at the wrong end.
Just 12 seconds into the man-advantage, Jeff Carter broke down the ice for a breakaway, sold the shot, pulled the puck to the backhand to beat Mrazek for a beauty at 16:21.
Just four minutes into the middle frame, Larkin tried stuffing the puck short side high on Enroth on a little break down the right side. The rebound came out to Green, he kicked it to his stick and shot it five-hole. It was Green’s first goal since April 5 last season, a game-winner against Mrazek and Detroit while with the Washington Capitals.
“Thanks for reminding me,” Green said with a laugh.
Green quietly has collected a goal and three assists in his last four games, as he continues to find his offensive groove after returning from injury.
“I’ve been trying to concentrate on shooting the puck a little bit more to try to get at least something created, so it felt good to get one tonight,” Green said.
Larkin then scored his seventh of the season to give Detroit a 3-1 lead, banging home the rebound of a gorgeous passing play between Zetterberg and Abdelkader. That goal gave Larkin a share of the team lead with Gustav Nyquist, and Abdelkader’s multi-point game was his first since he posted back-to-back multi-point outings in the first two games of the season.
But at 10:43 of the second stanza, Carter came down the right side, used defenseman Niklas Kronwall as a screen and ripped home his second of the night during a 4-on-4 stint with both teams having representatives in the sin bin.
Early in the third period, Larkin went down awkwardly crossing over, seemingly catching a rut in the ice. He went off to the dressing room, but did return after missing about six minutes. Larkin received treatment after the game, and Blashill said his status for Saturday’s game in St. Louis is unclear, but he is acting as if he will play, considering he returned to the game.
“It feels good, feels better with the win,” Larkin told Fox Sports Detroit in a post-game interview. “I just saw the puck coming through to my skates, tried to go for it, caught a rut.”
Larkin also got in a skirmish with Carter late in the game, which saw Carter essentially sit on Larkin, holding him down, much to the displeasure of the 20,000 referees in the stands.
“He’s a feisty little guy, and his compete level is extremely high and he’s always moving, he’s always got his feet going, and I think that makes other teams a little bit frustrated because he is so fast and he competes hard,” Green said. “He’s got to keep that up.”
With Enroth pulled in favor of the extra attacker in the final minute, the Red Wings’ shot blocking allowed the team to hold on for the 3-2 victory.
“We showed a lot of character playing strong in the third period to hold them off, so we talked about that last game and in Ottawa there and it makes a big difference when we come out strong like that,” Green said.
Notes: Brad Richards made his return to the lineup after missing 13 games with a back ailment. He played 14:50, was a minus-one, but recorded four shots, one hit and one takeaway. Blashill said he “did a good job” for the team Friday night.
