Detroit Red Wings snap Los Angeles Kings winning streak 4-1 -NHL Match Update
Los Angeles was on a roll by having won three straight, but as the Detroit Red Wings looked hungry for victory entering the Saturday night matchup, they nearly shutout the Kings and snapped their winning streak, 4-1, November 19, 2011, at the sold-out STAPLES
Center in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Detroit was on a losing streak of their own after coming out of four straight wins, St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks defeated them in the past two contests, putting the Red Wings in a two-game slump.
"It was very important, especially after the way we started the last couple of games," Detroit captain, Nicklas Lidstrom, said. "We weren't happy with the way we were playing, but today we stuck to our game plan for 60 minutes. We wanted to hang onto the
puck, especially in their zone, try to grind their D and get some shots with traffic in front of their goalie."
Mike Richards got a breakaway goal before midway through the first period shorthanded as Justin Williams was booked for tripping with a minor penalty.
Pavel Datsyuk potted the countering goal within the next 60 seconds taking advantage of their first power play opportunity of the night.
The home crowd of over 18,000 was confident that their team would eventually fight back and take the lead in the coming 40 minutes of regulation, but it was all Detroit from the road down.
Niklas Kronwall scored the tie-breaker at the 7:08 mark during the second period while Justin Abdelkader followed with another to extend the lead to, 3-1, with less than five minutes remaining to force an intense third period for the Los Angeles team.
Pavel Datsyuk made the insurance goal with 4:54 remaining in the third and final period of regulation, allowing Detroit to take the match and limited the Los Angeles Kings to only one goal on 24 shots taken.
"The story of our year is that we've played a lot of good hockey and we've found ways to make enough mistakes that we haven't been able to win enough," Detroit coach, Mike Babcock, said.
Detroit have one more on the road before going home against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday as the Kings also have the next two away, starting off with the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
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