Howard Shuts the Door on Kings, Red Wings Win 2-1

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped 51 of 52 shots against Thursday night, carrying the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

The win pulled the Wings to within three standings points of the Kings with one game in hand.

Los Angeles netminder Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of 24 Detroit shots, facing only 11 chances in the final 40 minutes of play.

Darren Helm gave the Red Wings the win with just 18 seconds left in regulation. Helm drove to the net from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, jamming the puck between Quick’s pads.

Detroit had carried a 1-0 lead for much of the game after Danny Cleary opened the scoring with less than a second left in the first period. A chance by Valtteri Filppula slipped through Quick at the side of the crease and Cleary was left open to swat the puck across the goal line.

Ryan Smyth got the Kings on the board and tied the game with 4:22 left in regulation. While on a power play a bouncing puck came to Smyth on the far side of the net for an easy goal.

It was the lone power play goal of the game. The Kings had four tries with the extra attacker while Detroit had two.

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The Red Wings were without Tomas Holmstrom, who suffered a broken foot during the morning skate and will miss three to four weeks. Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg returned to the lineup after missing time with separated shoulders.