Kopitar helps Kings clip Red Wings
DETROIT -- Anze Kopitar scored twice, including the eventual game winner, and set up another as the Los Angeles Kings rallied for a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Dustin Brown and Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings (14-8-3), who won successive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak in October. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves.
Mike Green scored for the Red Wings (10-10-5), who have lost five straight (0-2-3). Detroit also dropped to .500 (4-4-4) on home ice this season.
The Wings opened the scoring 14:12 into the first period. Defenseman Green jumped up in the rush, took a feed from Frans Nielsen and streaked unopposed toward the L.A. goal before snapping a high wrist shot past Quick's glove side.
The Kings pulled even with 2:17 left in the second period. Dustin Brown skated the puck off the boards and wristed a high shot past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard (32 saves).
With 6.1 seconds left in the second frame, the Kings struck again, this time on the power play. A tic-tac-toe passing play in the Wings zone ultimately found a wide open Kopitar, who drove a low shot into the net before Howard could slide from post to post.
Only 58 seconds into the third period, it was 3-1 L.A. Oscar Fantenberg's point shot missed the net, but Kempe, left standing alone beside the Detroit goal, grabbed the rebound off the back boards and stuffed it in the net.
Kopitar added his second of the night at 12:17 of the third. With Brown driving to the net, Kopitar utilized him as a screen and fired a low shot through Howard's legs.
NOTES: Detroit D Trevor Daley (neck) missed his second straight game. ... D/RW Luke Witkowski (NHL suspension) and RW Martin Frk (groin) were also out for the Wings. ... D Kurtis MacDermid and C Torrey Mitchell were scratched for the Kings. ... Wings C Frans Nielsen's first-period assist was his 400th point in the NHL. ... Detroit LW Tomas Tatar's next assist will be his 100th in the NHL. .... With 17 assists, Wings C Dylan Larkin already has two more helpers than he dished out all of last season. ... Kings D Alec Martinez played for Wings coach Jeff Blashill in college when Blashill was an assistant coach at Miami. ... The next assist by Kings RW Marian Gaborik will be his 400th in the NHL. He has 396 career goals.