Kopitar’s four points leads Kings to 4-2 win over Red Wings

By Tyler Barnes –

The Red Wings’ four-game win streak was snapped on the road last night, as they lost to the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.

The Wings had no answer for Kings forward Anze Kopitar, who had a hand in all four of the Kings goals. Kopitar finished with a goal and three assists on the night.

Tomas Tatar and Alexy Marchenko added first-period goals for the Wings, who fell to 22-14-7 on the season.

Jimmy Howard made his first start of 2016 – he stopped 27 of 30 shots but came up with some big saves to keep his team in the game early on.

Tyler Tofoli got the Kings on the board with their first shot of the game, however. Kopitar brought the puck down ice two-on-one after a failed pinch attempt by Brendan Smith. After Mike Green slid to take away the pass, Kopitar opted for an impressive toe drag to buy time and ultimately found Tofoli at the backdoor for an easy 1-0 lead.

The Wings would add two goals late in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

As the Wings rushed up the ice, Pavel Datsyuk made a spinning backhand pass and found Helm near the top of the right circle. Helm fired a shot on goal and Tomas Tatar was in front to deflect the puck past Johnathan Quick.

Less than four minutes later, Helm threw a pass out front that ricocheted off of multiple Kings’ sticks. The puck somehow found its way to Alexy Marchenko at the point. Marchenko sent a shot on goal that found its way through a screen and beat Quick to give the Wings the lead. Helm and Datsyuk both drew their second assists of the period.

The second frame proved tough for the Wings to generate any offense, only managing four shots on goal. They would find themselves in penalty trouble late in the period, as well.

Jimmy Howard was whistled for tripping at 16:28 of the second period. Seven seconds later, Kopitar took a feed from Jake Muzzin off a faceoff and wired a shot past a screened Jimmy Howard to tie the game up 2-2.

As the Kings began pushing to take the lead late in the second, they drew another penalty on Johnathan Ericsson with only four seconds left in the period.

The Kings’ power play stayed red hot in the third period, as Rochester Hills native Alec Martinez wired home a one-timer to give the Kings the lead. Doughty and Kopitar drew the assists.

The Red Wings look to get back on track Thursday when they close out their west coast swing in Arizona against the Coyotes.