The Detroit Red Wings will have an opportunity to quickly wipe out a bitter memory.
They will face the host Los Angeles Kings on Saturday less than 24 hours after squandering a two-goal lead late in the second period in a 6-4 setback to the Ducks in Anaheim.
The Red Wings saw a 3-1 lead go away after the Ducks scored four unanswered goals, the final two of them 38 seconds apart midway into the third period. Alex DeBrincat scored on the power play with 3:44 left to pull Detroit to 5-4, but an empty-net goal clinched the victory for Anaheim.
“This is back-to-back games where we had really good starts. We built leads and we got away from it,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said.
Detroit led 2-0 in the second period in Pittsburgh on Wednesday but had to go to overtime to get a 3-2 win.
Marco Kasper scored his first NHL goal and added an assist, and DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond also scored and set up a goal Friday. Three of the Red Wings’ goals came on the power play, giving them 11 with the man advantage in their last 10 games. Alex Lyon made 23 saves for Detroit, but Cam Talbot likely will get the start in goal Saturday.
The Kings are coming off a fruitless two-game road trip, losing 3-1 to the Calgary Flames on Monday and 4-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
Adrian Kempe scored both goals on Wednesday, and Trevor Moore and captain Anze Kopitar each had two assists.
“They pushed, and we didn’t do a very good job handling it,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “I thought, for whatever reasons, once we got into the second period, we had a really tough time connecting on passes. Turning pucks over because we just couldn’t get ourselves out of the D-zone.”
Goalie Darcy Kuemper (undisclosed) and defenseman Caleb Jones (upper body) left Wednesday’s game with injuries and were placed on injured reserve on Friday.
Kuemper made 20 saves before departing 4:34 into the third period. David Rittich, who replaced Kuemper, will start in goal Saturday.
Defenseman Drew Doughty (broken ankle) and forwards Alex Turcotte (upper body) and Arthur Kaliyev (broken collarbone) remain out with long-term injuries.
Los Angeles recalled goaltender Erik Portillo and defenseman Jacob Moverare from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League.
Forward Tanner Jeannot is eligible to return to action Saturday after serving a three-game suspension for his hit on Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser on Nov. 7.
Alex Laferriere leads the Kings with nine goals while Kopitar has club-best totals in assists (15) and points (20). Kempe is tied with Kevin Fiala with seven goals to go with 16 points.
Raymond’s 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) lead the Red Wings, DeBrincat is next with 15 (seven goals, eight assists), and captain Dylan Larkin has 12 points, including a club-best nine goals.
–Field Level Media