Red Wings score 2 late goals to beat Kings 4-3

[March 10, 2012]  DETROIT (AP) -- Darren Helm scored with 1:13 left in regulation, lifting the banged-up Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg scored twice and assisted on Valtteri Filppula's tying goal with 4:02 left, less than 2 minutes after Dwight King put Los Angeles ahead 3-2.

Joey MacDonald made 21 saves for the Red Wings. Jonathan Quick stopped just 11 shots for the Kings.

Los Angeles pulled Quick to have an extra skater and had a 6-on-4 advantage on a power play with 23.2 seconds left and a faceoff in the Detroit end. The Kings got the puck, but MacDonald stopped Jeff Carter's shot with 15.2 seconds left and they could not get another shot on net.

Detroit had lost five of seven to slip behind Western Conference and Central Division-leading St. Louis.

The Kings, vying for one of the final spots in the Western Conference playoffs, have lost two straight after winning four of five.

Los Angeles had twice as many shots as the Red Wings through two periods, but allowed Zetterberg to tie it with goals late in the first and second periods on two of their eight shots.

The last time Detroit entered a third period with just eight shots was April 1, 2004, according to STATS, LLC, in a 3-2 win over St. Louis. The Red Wings finished with 15 shots, seven fewer than their previous season low.

Los Angeles, though, couldn't build a lead larger than one goal.

Carter, who assisted on King's goal, put the Kings ahead 1-0 on a power play 7:29 into the game, and Justin Williams put them ahead 2-1 with 2:19 left in the first period.

The Red Wings were missing injured All-Stars Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard, seven-time Norris Trophy winning defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, forwards Todd Bertuzzi and Justin Abdelkader along with defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl.

With a several called-up prospects from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit struggled until the final minutes.

It took the Red Wings about 10 minutes in each of the first periods to get a shot on Quick.

Zetterberg made the most of his opportunities, scoring his 17th and 18th goals on two of his four shots to score more than once in a game for the first time since March 16, 2011.

NOTES: Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Datsyuk (right knee), Howard (groin) and Bertuzzi (groin) are expected to play at some point during next week's three-game trip in California; Kindl (upper body) is a week or two away from returning and Ericsson (left) wrist will be out for another two to three weeks. Abdelkader was scratched with the flu. ... The Kings had won three of their last four in Detroit.

[Associated Press; By LARRY LAGE]

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