The Detroit Red Wings welcomed the Los Angeles Kings for a Monday night matchup, the only time the two teams will face off in Detroit this season. After a back-and-forth game, the Red Wings pulled off a 5-2 victory.
Game Recap
The first 20 minutes of play were fast-paced, with both teams getting quality chances on Cam Talbot (Detroit) and Darcy Kuemper (Los Angeles). The scoring did not begin until the last five minutes of the period, and it came in a flurry. The Kings kicked things off with a goal from Kevin Fiala, who scored from the point, thanks partly to a screen in front of Talbot. They quickly scored again less than two minutes later.
A defensive zone faceoff win for the Red Wings by Dylan Larkin went as bad as it could go, as Moritz Seider went to play the puck and ended up pushing the puck in his own net off the post to give Quinton Byfield a goal to push the Kings’ lead to 2-0. But the Red Wings responded quickly, with Lucas Raymond scoring his 20th goal of the season thanks to a pass from Marco Kasper out in front of Kuemper. Raymond beat Kuemper with a quick backhand shot to bring the Red Wings within one. The period ended in a 2-1 lead for the Kings.
The Red Wings controlled the scoreboard in the second period, thanks to a power-play goal from Alex DeBrincat off a sweet cross-ice pass from Raymond to tie the score at two less than five minutes into the period. The game stayed deadlocked at two until the final three minutes of the period when the Red Wings’ fourth line caused chaos in the offensive zone. It resulted in Elmer Soderblom scoring his first goal of the season after picking up a rebound in front to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.
The Red Wings entered tonight’s game 11-0-1 at home when leading after 40 minutes of play and pushed that to 12-0-1 thanks to a strong period in net from Talbot and two goals from Kasper. Kasper scored on a two-on-one rush with Larkin, following up his own shot for a rebound goal to give the Red Wings a 4-2 lead before scoring an empty net goal to give the Red Wings a 5-2 win.
Talbot made 23 saves on 25 shots in the win, while Kuemper made 23 on 27. With the win, the Red Wings move to 24-21-5, and the Kings drop to 26-15-4. The Red Wings return to the ice on Thursday (Jan. 30) when they travel to Edmonton for a matchup against the Oilers. The Kings’ road trip continues on Wednesday (Jan. 29) as they take on the Florida Panthers.
