The Los Angeles Kings will finish an already successful road trip with a stop in Detroit on Wednesday night.
The Kings have collected eight of a possible 10 points on the first five legs of the trip, going 3-0-2 in that span. In their last game on Sunday, the Kings squeaked by Pittsburgh 4-3 behind two goals from Trevor Moore. His second goal of the game, with 6:39 remaining, proved to be the game-winner.
The Kings had given away a 3-1 lead before Moore’s decisive goal. Moore had four goals and 16 points in January.
“The bench was positive,” Moore said. “We kept going … kept doing our thing. We didn’t change anything, and I thought that would lead to success.”
All five games during the swing have been decided by a single goal. Los Angeles defeated the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders by 3-2 scores and lost in a shootout against the New York Rangers by the same margin. The Kings lost to Philadelphia 4-3 in overtime on Saturday before bouncing back against the Penguins.
“We got back to what we needed to do (Sunday),” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “They are a very good first-period team. They get out of the gate quick, especially at home. They can be a wall of momentum that can come at you. I thought we handled the first period well and settled in after that.”
Following their game against the Red Wings, the Kings won’t play again until a home matchup against Edmonton on Feb. 15.
In their first meeting with Detroit on Jan. 8, the Kings recorded a 4-0 shutout as Cal Petersen made 21 saves. Phillip Danault, Drew Doughty, Adrian Kempe and Moore scored the goals.
Detroit got an overtime winner from an unlikely source on Monday. Defenseman Jordan Oesterle scored his first goal this season to give the Red Wings a 2-1 victory over Anaheim.
Oesterle ripped a shot from the slot after a feed from Dylan Larkin, who won a faceoff in Anaheim’s zone. Oesterle’s overtime winner was the first of his career.
“It’s a pretty cool moment, I’m sure for him,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’s not new to the NHL, but being a Detroit kid and scoring in overtime, being an overtime winner, that’s awesome.”
Larkin scored the Red Wings’ regulation goal, his 23rd of the season.
“Dylan has done a real good job of skating with the puck and being strong on the puck, and making less hope plays and more plays when he sees them,” Blashill said. “When he doesn’t (see plays), he holds on to it and uses his skating to create space. When he does that, he’s a real effective player. He’s had pretty good confidence all season, and he’s seeing the ice real well.”
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic didn’t have a lot of activity. He only had to make 14 saves.
“We managed the puck good, got pucks behind them, we defended well,” Blashill said. “We have to keep doing that consistently.”
Detroit may be without one of its top defenseman on Wednesday. Nick Leddy left Monday’s game during the second period due to an upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media
