Points the thing for Kings in matchup with Red Wings (Mar 15, 2018)
LOS ANGELES -- The Detroit Red Wings roll into Los Angeles on Thursday night to take on a team that needs every possible point in its quest to make the playoffs.
Detroit played and lost Monday night in San Jose. The Kings played in Arizona on Tuesday, also a loss, though they salvaged an overtime point.
The Kings (38-26-6) have had difficulty stringing two wins together in the past few weeks, but they are currently on a two-game points streak. They pushed the Arizona Coyotes to overtime with two third-period goals, then lost in five shootout rounds. Goaltender Jack Campbell took the loss in the first extra-time game of his career. He made 26 saves in regulation and overtime.
Arizona got two past him in the shootout. Los Angeles is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games.
The Red Wings (26-32-11) have three consecutive regulation losses and is 0-6-1 during a seven-game losing streak that was extended with a 5-3 loss at San Jose.
Henrik Zetterberg scored the third Detroit goal, his 10th of the year. That moved him past Ted Lindsay for fifth in franchise goal-scoring with 366. He also notched an assist to bring his career points total to 950.
"Ted means a lot to me, so passing him and doing it in this building, too, where I played my first NHL game is a little special," Zetterberg told the Red Wings website.
Playing the Coyotes in a back-to-back situation after beating the Vancouver Canucks at home Monday night, the Kings started Campbell in net. He wasn't helped by a goal scored off an early Jeff Carter turnover.
The second Coyotes goal deflected in off a skate with Campbell sprawling for it. Arizona was up 3-0 by halfway, but Los Angeles crawled back.
Campbell made some key saves to allow the Kings to tie the score with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.
Coach John Stevens commented, "Well, we're going to need Jack to win games for us and get us points, bottom line. He's worked at his game hard. He hung in there and gave us a chance to win the game.
"I thought the save he made on the (Richard Panik) breakaway was huge and allowed us to stay within striking distance."
Carter has been on a tear since returning from a four-month spell on injured reserve. He has played nine games since his return, scoring six goals in the past eight games. This includes the team's second and third against Arizona.
Carter was reunited on a line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown late in the game. The line was on the ice for both Carter goals. Defenseman Drew Doughty got the primary assist on each.
Kopitar had the secondary assist on the tying goal to move to 76 points this year (28 goals). He has reached this plateau three previous times. His career high is 81 set in the 2009-10 season.
Stevens said, "I think it's tough for guys that have been injured for a long time trying to get back, and the schedule is what it is. But Jeff's a pro. He knows how to dig deep within himself to make a difference, and he has.
"His production has been big for us since he's come back, and I think it's important we manage his rest and his fatigue to allow him to be a good player and continue to help us."
Detroit has given up four or more goals in five of its last six games, including six to Boston. Detroit closed a two-goal deficit to force overtime in that game. The Red Wings lost 6-5.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after Monday's game in San Jose, "We're giving up more goals, but I don't think that's necessarily on the goaltending.
"I think we've had some mistakes that we've made, and they've gone in our net, and we've got to do a better job of that. The thing that hurt us the most in terms of momentum tonight was our turnovers. We were doing a good job; we turned a couple of pucks over; and they ended up in our net."
The Kings' starter in net will almost certainly be Jonathan Quick. He is 6-4 in his last 10 games. Quick posted a shutout versus Vancouver on Monday, his fourth of the year and the 48th of his career. He is fourth among active goaltenders in shutouts.
The Kings remain at home for a midday game Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. The Red Wings go back-to-back, facing Anaheim on Friday evening at Honda Center.
