Quincey’s Fluke Goal Not Enough as Kings Rally Past Red Wings

Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey scored in his return from injury on Wednesday night but it wasn’t enough for Detroit, as the Los Angeles Kings rallied in the third period for a 2-1 win.

Quincey had missed two games with an ankle injury before returning – along with Brendan Smith – to the Detroit blue line. Johan Franzen also returned from injury but the team lost Valtteri Filppula.

Quincey’s goal, scored at 9:42 of the first period, came on an improbable play. With the puck being cleared around the left wing boards, Quincey pinched in and threw it at Kings netminder Jonathan Bernier. Bernier knocked it high into the air with his glove, then lost track of it as it came down, bounced off his own back, and into the net.

It stood for over forty minutes as the game’s only goal, through a second-period stretch that saw the Red Wings kill off a four-minute LA power play, of which a full two minutes was a two-man advantage.

The Kings finally got on the board during another five-on-three. With 9:34 remaining in regulation, Jeff Carter tipped an intentionally-wide shot by Mike Richards past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard to tie the game, 1-1.

With 4:48 left the Kings took the lead. D.J. King dug the puck out from along the right wing boards and sent it to Anze Kopitar all alone in front of Howard, where he had time to slide the puck around him to make it 2-1.

Detroit would be unable to even things back up.

Howard finished the night with 27 saves on 29 shots. Bernier stopped 32 of the 33 chances he faced.

Carter’s goal was the only power play goal of the night. Detroit had three tries with the extra attacker while Los Angeles had five, including 2:46 of five-on-three time.

The Red Wings will be back in action Thursday night in San Jose.

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With Quincey and Smith returning from injury, Kent Huskins and Ian White were the healthy scratches on defense for Detroit.