Kings hope to find offense against Red Wings

The Kings weren't able to break out of their scoring slump game skid. They might not powered Red Wings.

Los Angeles looks to win its second straight overall and fourth in a row at Detroit, but does so against a Red Wings club that is averaging nearly four goals a game over the past month and has won nine in a row on home ice.

The Kings sit last in the NHL with 2.13 goals per game and have been held to a pair of goals or less in 10 straight outings. Los Angeles' front office had enough of the lack of production on Monday, firing head coach Terry Murray and replacing him on an interim basis with assistant John Stevens.

Stevens' two games as the bench boss have been much of the same, with the Kings getting shut out 3-0 at Boston in his debut on Tuesday to open a four- game road trip before squeaking out a 2-1 triumph at Columbus on Thursday.

Both goals came in the third period and were scored by Dustin Brown and Davis Drewiske, while Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.

"The status doesn't change; it still feels like a win," Stevens said. "It was just a big win for our team considering the slide we've been on here. I just thought the guys played extremely hard tonight."

Los Angeles played without defenseman Willie Mitchell due to a groin injury and he is questionable for tonight as the Kings try to extend their winning streak at Detroit. The Kings have outscored the Red Wings 10-3 in winning the past three as the guest and have taken five of the last seven encounters overall.

Detroit, though, claimed a 4-1 win at Los Angeles in the first of four meetings between the teams this year, getting a pair of goals from Pavel Datsyuk and 23 saves by Jimmy Howard. They have also been unbeatable at home, winning nine straight since their last loss at Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 3.

The Red Wings did have a three-game win streak snapped on Thursday with a 4-3 setback at the Predators, who got a pair of goals from Shea Weber in the third period.

"It was kind of a lucky bounce for them," Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom added of the game-winner. "But they were going to the net and creating the traffic there."

Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Lidstrom each had a goal and Howard made 17 saves for the Red Wings, who suffered just their third loss in 13 contests. They have scored 51 goals over their last 13.

Following tonight's game, Detroit will play four in a row on the road beginning with Monday's game in Edmonton.