Anton Forsberg made 27 saves, including 17 in the third period, as the visiting Los Angeles Kings defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Tuesday for their third straight win.
Detroit forward Patrick Kane assisted on Alex DeBrincat’s late-third-period goal, giving him 1,374 career points. Kane tied Mike Modano for the most points by a U.S.-born player.
Samuel Helenius, Andrei Kuzmenko and Corey Perry had the goals for the Kings.
John Gibson stopped 19 shots for Detroit in the opener of a three-game homestand. The Red Wings had a five-game point streak end (4-0-1).
The Kings had nine shots on goal in the first period, nearly twice as many as the Red Wings, However, neither side broke through. Detroit killed off two penalties, while Los Angeles killed off one.
The Kings got on the board midway through the second period via their fourth line. Jeff Malott fought for the puck from behind the goal line and backhanded it to Helenius, who one-timed it past Gibson from the left circle. The goal was Helenius’ second of the season in 24 games.
Detroit had a late power play in the period but couldn’t convert.
Forsberg made a quality save against Moritz Seider five minutes into the third period.
The Kings were awarded a power play a minute later when Jacob Bernard-Docker was whistled for slashing, and Los Angeles didn’t waste the chance. Adrian Kempe set up Kuzmenko, who ripped a shot from the right circle that beat Gibson on the stick side at 6:46. Kevin Fiala collected the second assist.
Detroit soon had a power play when Drew Doughty was sent to the box for holding, but Los Angeles’ aggressive penalty kill worked again. DeBrincat got behind the defense, but Forsberg smothered his shot with 4:11 remaining.
After pulling Gibson for an extra skater, the Red Wings continued to pressure the net and broke through with 2:15 remaining. Seider set up DeBrincat for his team-high 28th goal, from the left circle.
Perry’s empty-netter with 1:13 to go sealed the Kings’ victory.
–Field Level Media
