Red Wings rally but fall short, lose 4-3 in Los Angeles

The Red Wings began a four-game road trip Saturday allowing a goal nine seconds into the game.

It was an unfortunate way to start. But the Wings recovered and forced Los Angeles to sweat late in the third period, before losing 4-3.

Filip Hronek's goal at 17 minutes, 59 seconds of the third period, Hronek's first goal, after the Wings had pulled goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic for the extra skater, made the score 4-3.

The Wings had another great chance with Dylan Larkin in close, but Kings goalie Cal Petersen made that save, and the Kings held on.

"It was good to see us battle back in the third (period) but we can't put ourselves in a hole," forward David Perron told Bally Sports Detroit. "We had more energy but we have to show up a little earlier."

The Kings scored two power-play goals (in effect three, as one goal came as the Wings' penalty expired), as the Kings pulled away the middle of the game.

BOX SCORE: Kings 4, Red Wings 3

Dylan Larkin's seventh goal, on the power play, cut the Kings' lead to 4-2 at 1:57 of the third period. Larkin, in the slot, one-timed a pass from Oskar Sundqvist and helped the Wings control most of the final 20 minutes.

Sean Durzi had two goals (one power play) and Carl Grundstrom and Kevin Fiala added the other goals for the Kings (10-6-1), while Petersen stopped 18 shots.

Dominik Kubalik (power play) scored his seventh goal, opening the Wings' scoring. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 17 saves, as the Wings (7-5-3) saw their winless streak reach three games (0-2-1).

"All of our mistakes ended up in the back of our net tonight," coach Derek Lalonde told BSD. "We did some good things throughout and found a way to get behind too much."

Grundstrom got the Kings rolling, scoring nine seconds into the game. The Wings allowed Grundstrom to drive down the slot and he tapped a pass from Rasmus Kupari past Nedeljkovic, putting the Wings in a quick hole.

The goal gave the Kings some momentum, up until a good shift by Jonatan Berggren, Joe Veleno and Austin Czarnik led to a Wings power play opportunity, where Kubalik's one-timer off Filip Hronek's feed tied the score.

But the Wings couldn't sustain the momentum.

The Kings regained the lead on Fiala's power-play goal, and Durzi scored twice in the second period, once as the Wings' power play expired, a snap shot from the side. Durzi made it 4-1 at 13:41 of the second period, Durzi's shot from the high slot getting past a screened Nedeljkovic.

The Wings play Tuesday in Anaheim.

"A little more urgency throughout," Lalonde said of what the Wings will need. "We can't be leaving plays out there like we did."

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan