Red Wings 3, Kings 2
DETROIT -- Jonathan Ericsson's goal with 4.5 seconds left gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.
Jimmy Howard was spectacular with 45 saves for Detroit (7-4-1), which won its third straight. Pavel Datsyuk and Damien Brunner also scored for the Wings and Henrik Zetterberg had two assists.
Anze Kopitar and Alec Martinez scored for Los Angeles (3-5-2). Jonathan Quick stopped 28 shots.
Ericsson's slap shot from the right point trickled through Quick's pads for Ericsson's second goal.
Martinez tied the game 2-2 for the Kings with 52.8 seconds left and Quick pulled for the extra attacker. The native of the Detroit suburb of Rochester backhanded in a rebound off a goal-mouth scramble for his first goal.
The Kings outshot the Red Wings 23-9 in the second period but Howard held them off the scoreboard with several big saves. One was Dwight King's rebound from point-blank range with 7:12 left in the middle period.
Detroit led 2-1 after the first period.
Kopitar put Los Angeles on the board with 40.3 seconds left in the first period when he put in a rebound. It was Kopitar's fourth goal.
Goals by Datsyuk and Brunner had given the Red Wings a 2-0 lead.
Datsyuk's power-play goal opened the scoring 5:44 into the game when he took a pass from Zetterberg just inside the Kings blue line and split the defensemen for a breakaway and beat Quick high on the glove side.
It was the fifth goal for Datsyuk, who about 90 seconds before had taken a big hit from Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty in front of the Kings' net after Datsyuk made a toe drag move and was about to shoot. The hit knocked Datsyuk's helmet off.
Brunner's sixth goal came with 2:32 remaining in the opening period when his wrist shot from the upper part of the right circle beat Quick.
Notes: Defenseman Keaton Ellerby made his Los Angeles debut after being acquired from the Florida Panthers for a fifth-round pick on Friday. ... Kopitar will be an Olympian for the first time -- if, of course, he's healthy -- in the 2014 Winter Olympics because his home country, Slovenia, qualified for the Games by beating higher-ranked Belarus and host Denmark last week. ... Detroit forward Todd Bertuzzi missed his second game because of a sore back. ... It was the 750th game as an NHL head coach for Red Wings' bench boss Mike Babcock. ... Detroit waived goaltender Joey MacDonald. If he clears waivers by noon ET Monday, he'll be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. MacDonald hasn't played since last March 14 because of a bulging disc in his back. MacDonald has been cleared to play after 10 months of rehab.
