Red Wings 5, Kings 2
Gustav Nyquist scored a pair of power-play goals and added an assist as Detroit tallied four times in the first period en route to its fifth straight home victory over Los Angeles.
Pavel Datsyuk scored for the third straight contest to extend his point streak to five games for the Red Wings, who improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven. Datsyuk added an empty-net goal and an assist, Tomas Tatar also scored and Niklas Kronwall set up a pair of tallies to tie Gary Bergman for fourth place on the club's all-time points list for a defenseman.
Michigan native Alec Martinez scored on a backhand shot midway through the second period to register the Kings' first goal by a defenseman. Tyler Toffoli added a short-handed tally early in the third, but Jimmy Howard (28 saves) stopped captain Dustin Brown on a penalty shot moments later to send Los Angeles to its third straight setback (0-2-1).
Captain Henrik Zetterberg's touch pass found Nyquist for a one-timer in the slot to open the scoring at 5:51 of the first period. Datsyuk doubled the advantage nearly four minutes later after banking the puck off Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin's skate and past Jonathan Quick (30 saves).
Nyquist added his second of the contest and team-leading seventh goal at 11:44 after converting a fortunate carom off the end boards. Tatar capped the first-period uprising at 15:28 by scoring from a sharp angle following a backhand feed from behind the net by Nyquist.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Red Wings participated in warmups wearing No. 9 Gordie Howe jerseys, showing appreciation for the hockey legend who suffered a serious stroke this past week. The crowd at Joe Louis Arena stood for an ovation when told that the Hall of Famer was watching the game on television. ... Datsyuk, who has collected four goals and as many assists during his point streak, has tallied eight times in eight meetings with Los Angeles. ... Kings C Anze Kopitar missed his third straight game due to an upper-body injury. ... Prior to the contest, Los Angeles activated C Trevor Lewis from injured reserve and assigned LW David Van der Gulik to Manchester of the American Hockey League.