Kings’ Winless Streak Ends in Detroit, 5-3 : Nicholls and MacLellan Each Score Twice Against Red Wings

After going winless in their previous seven games (0-4-3), the Kings finally found a team they could beat Saturday night.

Center Bernie Nicholls and left wing Brian MacLellan scored two goals apiece to lead the Kings to a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings before 19,129 fans at Joe Louis Arena.

Nicholls broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal with 7:32 left in the third period, when he put the puck through the legs of Detroit goalie Greg Stefan. Left wing Steve Shutt scored the final goal with 4:03 left to help the Kings snap a two-game losing streak.

“I was coming in from the point, and Marcel (Dionne) saw me and gave me a pass,” Nicholls said in describing his second power-play goal of the night. “I was all set to give the puck to Dave Taylor, but a defenseman moved in front of him. So I backhanded a shot and then I whacked in the rebound.

“We hadn’t been going well lately, and I hope this turns it around. We had a good, long talk after our last game (an 8-3 loss to Minnesota).”

It was Nicholls’ second-consecutive two-goal game. He had a 25-game scoring streak earlier this season.

“I’m just starting to come back,” Nicholls said. “I went into a slump after my streak.”

The Red Wings haven’t beaten the Kings since 1981, going 0-6-3 in the last nine meetings between the teams.

Red Wing Coach Nick Polano said the officials cost his team Saturday’s game when they called a tripping penalty on Detroit defenseman John Barrett just before Nicholls’ goal.

“That was an unbelievable call by (referee) Denis Morel,” Polano said. “You don’t call a tripping penalty in the neutral zone in a 3-3 game. The game should be decided by the players, not by the officials.”

The Kings led, 3-1, early in the second period after Nicholls’ power-play goal in the first period and goals by MacLellan in the first and second periods. Dionne had three assists for the Kings, extending his scoring streak to 13 consecutive games, while Taylor had two assists.

“We needed this one badly,” MacLellan said. ‘We had been struggling lately. We’d get off to a good jump and then we’d have a letdown.”

That almost happened again Saturday. After falling behind, 3-1, the Red Wings scored a pair of power-play goals to tie the score at 3-3 going into the third period. It was the third time in the last four games that the Kings have failed to hold an early lead. They led Boston, 4-0, in the first period and were tied, 6-6, in overtime. They led Minnesota, 2-0, and lost, 8-3, Thursday.

“It was almost like we didn’t want to win for a while, but our guys fought back,” Kings Coach Pat Quinn said. “It wasn’t a great outing, but perhaps we’re headed in the right direction.”

After a holding penalty on MacLellan with 8:33 left in the second period, the Red Wings got back into the game.

Darryl Sittler scored his first goal in 15 games on a slap shot from just outside the right face-off circle to close the score to 3-2 with 7:01 left in the second period. It was the Red Wings’ first power-play goal in their last 14 attempts.

And, after a holding penalty on Nicholls with 24 seconds left in the second period, the Red Wings tied it at 3-3 23 seconds later when Steve Yzerman scored his 20th goal of the season. John Ogrodnick dug the puck out of the corner and passed it to Yzerman, who got his seventh power-play goal of the season.

“We made a dumb play on that goal,” Quinn said. “But we played much better in the third period than we have in a while.”

Detroit took a 1-0 lead with 14:57 left in the first period when Dave Silk scored his first goal as a Red Wing. Silk, who recently was acquired from the New York Rangers, deflected a shot by teammate Colin Campbell past King goalie Daren Eliot.

The Kings, who did not have a shot in the first 4 1/2 minutes, tied it on Nicholls’ power-play goal, which came with 10:43 left in the first period after a hooking penalty on Ogrodnick. It was his first penalty in 26 games and only his fifth of the season.

Nicholls’ goal was his 25th of the season. Dionne and Taylor assisted. Taylor set up the go-ahead goal when he took the puck away from a Red Wing defenseman and passed it to MacLellan in the left face-off circle. MacLellan fired a slap shot and picked up his 16th goal of the season with 2:59 left in the first period.

MacLellan gave the Kings a 3-1 lead when he scored his second goal of the game just 3:20 into the second period on a shot that deflected off the skate of Red Wing defenseman Reed Larson.

King Notes The Red Wings are 2-17-5 in their last 24 games against the Kings. . . . Detroit captain Danny Gare began serving a three-game suspension for “physically resisting” an official during a fight in last Thursday night’s game against Hartford. Gare reportedly was hit in the mouth by Hartford’s Torrie Robertson in the third period of Hartford’s 6-2 win. The blow chipped four of Gare’s teeth. Gare went after Robertson and resisted linesman Wayne Bonney, who was attempting to restrain him. Under league rules, the official has the right to suspend a player with no right of appeal. “I’m very upset,” Red Wing General Manager Jim Devellano said. “Danny Gare loses four teeth and gets suspended for three games, and Torrie Robertson gets off scot-free. I think the referee showed very poor discretion.”