Red Wings 3, Kings 1

[January 13, 2014]  LOS ANGELES — Red Wings 3, Kings 1: Rookie Tomas Tatar scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:54 to play in the third period and Jimmy Howard turned aside 44 shots, lifting visiting Detroit past Los Angeles.

Tatar, whose father passed away Friday in Slovakia, scored for the third consecutive contest and added an assist as Detroit won for only the fifth time in 15 games (5-7-3). Riley Sheahan scored his first NHL goal and helped set up the game-winner before Daniel Cleary added an insurance tally with 2:34 to play.

Howard made 35 saves over the final two periods to earn only his third victory since Nov. 1 (3-6-6). Defenseman Drew Doughty scored the lone goal and Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots as the Kings lost for the seventh time in their last nine contests (2-6-1).

The Kings converted during a 5-on-3 power play as Doughty ended a 13-game goalless streak with a straight-on slap shot at 14:10 of the first period — a goal that Detroit argued against to no avail, claiming Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown was crowding Howard in the crease.

Called up from the minors on Friday, Sheahan notched his first NHL tally three minutes later, diving in front to backhand the rebound of Tatar's shot from the slot past Quick. The duo combined for the game-winner as Sheahan unleashed a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that Quick kicked out to Tatar, who buried the rebound for his 10th goal and immediately pointed skyward.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Red Wings failed on four power-play chances to extend their string of futility to 0-for-16 over the last four games. ... Los Angeles Cs Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards assisted on Doughty's goal, giving them each a team-high 24 — although Richards saw his goalless drought reach 21 games. ... Red Wings LW Daniel Alfredsson sat out the game due to back spasms, joining injured Fs Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm and Johan Franzen on the sideline. Datsyuk missed his third straight game and Helm his fourth in a row.

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