Down 3-0, Kings Rally to Tie

The Kings may not be the most talented team in the NHL, but they sure showed some character Monday night by rallying from a three-goal deficit to tie the Detroit Red Wings, 3-3, before 10,663 at the Forum.

Veteran center Ray Ferraro scored the game-tying goal midway in the third period after goals by Sean O’Donnell and Eddie Olczyk in the second as the Kings woke from an early slumber to skate away with a much needed point.

Goaltender Byron Dafoe and the Kings’ defense were the key reasons for the comeback tie, which gives the Kings 59 points and moves them within four points of eighth place in the Western Conference.

Dafoe made 40 saves, and the Kings, who were outshot, 43-26, were able to keep Detroit’s high-scoring attack scoreless over the final 40:24 of the game.

“We need points, wherever we can get them,” said King winger Kevin Stevens, who returned after missing several games because of an ankle injury. “We played hard and a point is a point. . . . We don’t play too bad against the good teams, it is the other teams that [hurt us].”

In the first two games between the teams, Detroit outscored the Kings, 9-0, as goaltender Chris Osgood recorded two of his six shutouts this season. But in the third meeting, the Kings rallied from a two-goal deficit and gained a 3-3 tie at Detroit in January.

On Monday, the Red Wings started the game playing like the team the Kings faced in their first two meetings. From the opening face-off, Detroit clearly dominated play as they kept play mostly in the Kings’ zone for the first 25 minutes of play in taking a 3-0 lead.

Detroit winger Vyacheslav Kozlov scored the game’s first goal when from the right circle he knocked a shot off the left post past Dafoe to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 2:26 into the first period.

Instead of responding, the Kings’ continued to play listless and soon found themselves down by two goals. With defenseman Rob Blake serving an interference penalty, the Red Wings’ Kris Draper outfought O’Donnell to score a power-play rebound goal at 8:37 to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.

Later in the period, the Kings had their first man-advantage of the game but were not able to score as Detroit extended its mastery over the Kings’ power play this season. In the first three games this season, the Kings’ power play was 0 for 12.

With a two-goal lead at the start of the second period, Detroit added an insurance goal at the 4:36 mark when former King Tomas Sandstrom scored from the slot through the legs of Dafoe.

That’s when the Kings decided to wake up. Trailing by three goals, the Kings suddenly became more aggressive offensively. O’Donnell got credit for his fifth goal of the season when he knocked the puck off of Detroit defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov into the net at 11:15.

The Kings then cut the Red Wings’ lead to 3-2 late in the period when center Eddie Olczyk scored his 21st goal with a great individual effort to beat Osgood. Earlier in the period Olczyk missed a scoring chance by shooting wide from the right circle, but on his goal, he faked the shot and skated in front of the crease to score with 50 seconds remaining in the period.

In the third period, the Kings’ penalty-killing unit kept the game within reach by keeping Detroit scoreless in two consecutive power plays midway through the period.

Then with nearly eight minutes remaining in regulation, King forward Kia Nurminen made a great looping clearing pass to Ferraro, who outskated Lidstrom and scored from the slot at 12:22 to tie the game.

In overtime, Dafoe made sure the Kings at least finished with a tie as he made key saves on Darren McCarty, Viacheslav Fetisov and Kozlov.