Red Wings beat Kings 5-2

DETROIT -- The sight of red is still menacing for the Kings.

Hurt by a run of penalties, and perhaps some tired legs, the Kings lost to the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Thursday night, and fell to 2-2 on their season-long six-game road trip.

Since the NHL lockout ended in 2005, the Kings have a 2-12-3 record against the Red Wings, and are now 1-7-1 against Detroit since the start of the 2007-08 season.

The Kings led 1-0 after a strong all-around first period, on Dustin Brown's first goal of the season, but Detroit scored twice in the second period to take the lead for good as the Kings appeared to lose their control of the game's pace.

``We were going good and had chances,'' Kings coach Terry Murray said, ``and then we started the second period and it looked liked we were waiting for something. The first 10 minutes of the second period, we were watching. Nothing good was going on.''

The Kings, no doubt a bit winded after playing the previous night in New York, hurt themselves by taking four minor penalties in the second period. Jonathan Ericsson scored an even-strength goal and Tomas Holmstrom scored on the power play for a 2-1 lead.

Detroit pushed its lead to 3-1 on Henrik Zetterberg's third-period goal and Justin Williams pulled the Kings within one goal with 8:03 remaining, but Kirk Maltby scored with 5:17 left to give the Red Wings a 4-2 margin.

Brian Rafalski added an empty-net goal with 6.8 seconds remaining.

``I think we just got away from our game plan a little bit,'' Kings captain Dustin Brown said. ``It was spurts of good play and spurts of bad play. Of course, you have to limit your mistakes. We made some mistakes, and that’s a team that’s going to capitalize on those. I think we just need to be better and more consistent.''

Jonathan Quick, back in goal for the Kings after a night off, made 27 saves, but Detroit's Chris Osgood was stronger, with 24 saves.

The Kings went 0 for 5 on the power play and 5 for 6 on the penalty kill.

The Kings nearly beat Osgood in the first minute, but Osgood reached back to pull the puck off the goal line. The Kings got a power play at the 3:28 mark when Niklas Kronwall hooked Anze Kopitar, and didn't score on the power play but did score 14 seconds after.

Jarret Stoll won an offensive-zone faceoff, and Matt Greene took a point shot. Osgood made the save, but the rebound trickled out in front and Brown whacked it past Osgood at the 5:41 mark for a power-play goal and a 1-0 Kings lead. Stoll also got an assist on the goal.

The Kings finished off a strong first period, but Detroit got a power play early in the second period and scored 19 seconds after it expired.

Kings center Brad Richardson got kicked out of the faceoff circle and Peter Harrold lost the draw to Justin Abdelkader. Ericsson took a wrist shot from the boards, through some traffic, that beat Quick to the near post 3:34 into the second.

Detroit took a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal at the 8:47 mark of the second. Nicklas Lidstrom took a point shot, and Holmstrom tipped it in as he tangled with Matt Greene in front of the Kings' net.

``Right at the start (of the second period), I didn’t think we were too bad, at the very beginning,'' Murray said. ``They scored the goal right after the faceoff, that first one. I’d like to have that one back, and then a power-play goal, then it’s 2-0 and now it’s time to dig in or it’s going to be a real long night. The air seemed to be let out of our tires a bit after that first goal.''

Lidstrom sparked another goal as the Red Wings took a two-goal lead 3:24 into the third period. The Kings were deep into a power play when Stoll got called for holding.

The Red Wings won the faceoff, back to Lidstrom, who faked a shot and made a short, sharp pass to Zetterberg, who redirected it over Quick's shoulder.

Asked about whether he thought the calls against the Kings were bad calls or the result of the Kings not working hard enough, Murray expressed no opinion either way.

``Well, however they were, we have to kill them,'' Murray said. ``We need to be identifying those power-play situations, when we have to really dig in and be desperate and make sure we get through it.''

The Kings' inability to establish offensive success continued in the third period, as Detroit outshot the Kings 15-7 (and 32-26 for the game).

Lidstrom's second assist gave him his 1,000th career point. They went on the power play 8:11 into the third period after Kirk Maltby was called for tripping, but 26 seconds later, Ryan Smyth got called for slashing in front of the net.

The Kings pulled within 3-2 when Justin Williams was credited with redirecting Sean O'Donnell's slap shot from the point past Osgood, with 8:03 remaining in the third, but the Red Wings regained their two-goal lead with 5:17 to go.

Maltby forced the puck away from Drew Doughty in the neutral zone, then pounced on the puck after a scrum in front of Quick and scored for a 4-2 Detroit lead.

Trevor Lewis replaced Raitis Ivanans in the Kings' lineup, on the fourth line with Richardson and Harrold.

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Read Rich Hammond's coverage as the Kings' season continues. (all times Pacific)
Saturday at Columbus, 4 p.m.
Monday at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 22 vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24 at Phoenix, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 vs. Columbus, 6 p.m.