DETROIT _ Their opponent carried the puck, but the Detroit Red Wings were the ones scoring.
The Wings did not have one of their better outings as they hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Monday at Little Caesars Arena, but it came against one of the worst teams in the NHL. The Wings won, 3-1, on the strength of 42 saves from Jimmy Howard.
Dennis Cholowski, Frans Nielsen and Dylan Larkin provided Detroit's goals on 21 shots.
The Wings started well and were rewarded with a lead when Christoffer Ehn fed the puck to Cholowski, who scored off a rush at 5:32 of the first period. The Wings held off the Kings on a power play (they came into the game with the worst road power play in the NHL, at 3.3 percent) but as the first period aged, Howard had to come up with several good saves among 10 total as the Kings took over momentum.
The Wings' lethargic play continued into the second period. The Kings buzzed around Detroit's zone, but the Wings bought breathing room with a goal at 6:06. Thomas Vanek sent the puck to the net. Nielsen tapped a backhand that Jonathan Quick stopped, but connected on the rebound for a fifth goal of the season. The Wings went scoreless through a 10th straight power play (dating back five games) and did little to stem the Kings carrying the play. Larkin took the puck in the offensive zone and tore towards the net, eluding Drew Doughty as he slipped and fell. Larkin deked to his forehand to earn his 12th goal of the season and seventh point in the past four games.
The Wings have built leads on their past four opponents. Tampa Bay and Toronto both erased two-goal, third-period deficits, and the New York Islanders also leveled a two-goal lead. Howard played well, but it wasn't like the Kings were going to mount a rally _ they came into the game averaging a league-worst 2.20 goals per game. They did ruin Howard's shutout bid at 13:22 of the third period when Anze Kopitar scored on what was the Kings' 36th shot on net.
