Tyler Toffoli, Kings ease past Red Wings

DETROIT -- Tyler Toffoli had two goals and an assist when the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday.
The Kings (15-12-2) are 1-1-0 to start a nine-game road trip after losing to the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 on Tuesday.
"We needed to wake up after that last game," Toffoli said. "We played good tonight, and even when we took penalties, we did a nice job on the kills. Now we need to keep this up."
Kings coach Darryl Sutter stayed on a more even keel.

WATCH: All Kings vs. Red Wings highlights
"People make this game too complicated," he said. "We play the same way pretty much every game. Against Buffalo, we didn't get big saves when we needed them. Tonight, we got big saves and big goals. That's all it is."
Derek Forbort and Nic Dowd scored, and Jeff Zatkoff made 17 saves for Los Angeles.
"I was pretty much a spectator tonight, and it was fun to watch," said Zatkoff, who grew up south of Detroit. "The guys did all the hard work, which didn't leave me much to do."

The Red Wings (13-14-4) are 0-3-1 on a five-game homestand that ends Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks. Detroit was outshot 31-18 and has been outscored 13-3 during the losing streak.
"We just can't seem to find a way to put pucks on the net," Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist said. "It's not a matter of effort. We just have to create more chances."
Jimmy Howard made 27 saves but fell to 5-7-1 this season.
"There's no easy answer," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "If it is fragile confidence, we have to get past that, because we can't afford it."
The Kings took a 1-0 lead 21 seconds into the game when Forbort tipped Dwight King's point shot over Howard's shoulder for his second goal. Anze Kopitar nearly scored at 3:21 with what would have been his 700th NHL point, but his shot hit both goal posts and bounced away.

Mike Green made it 1-1 with his seventh goal at 7:13 of the first period, pinching in to one-time Luke Glendening's pass through Zatkoff's five-hole.
"I thought we came out hard, and even though it was deflating when they get one that quick, we responded well," said Green, who had all of Detroit's two shots in the first period.
Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead with 16.3 seconds left in the second period when Dowd forced Howard into a sprawling save, then flipped the rebound under the crossbar for his third goal.
Gustav Nyquist came within inches of tying the game midway through the third period, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Toffoli made it 3-1 at 13:50 of the third with his sixth goal and added an empty-net goal at 16:26.
"I really liked the way that we stayed after them," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We didn't just sit back, we kept playing and got two more goals."

Goal of the game

With the Kings leading 2-1 in the third, Toffoli gathered up a loose puck at his own blue line, out-muscled defenseman Danny DeKeyser to get to the net and deked Howard for an insurance goal.

Save of the game

Toffoli came out of the penalty box early in the second period just in time to take a pass and break in alone, but Howard deflected the shot with his blocker.

Highlight of the game

On his second goal, Toffoli's shot fake at the blue line sent rookie defenseman Ryan Sproul to his knees, allowing Toffoli an uncontested shot into the empty net.

Unsung performance of the game

The Kings third and fourth line held Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha scoreless on five shots.

They said it

"It was great to get to start in our last game here. I have a lot of memories in this building - both playing here and watching games. It's a great rink." -- Kings goalie Jeff Zatkoff about playing in his hometown rink
"You want skill guys to play together, but they've got to be able to create turnovers. I mixed things up because we weren't getting any forecheck pressure." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on juggling his lines in the third period

Need to know

Toffoli has two goals and three assists in his past four games. … Detroit started the season with four straight home wins, but has gone 2-9-3 at Joe Louis Arena since Oct. 29. … The Red Wings didn't get a shot on goal from a forward until Zatkoff stopped Larkin's wrist shot at 5:09 of the second period.

What's next

Kings: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, ROOT, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; PRIME, FS-D, NHL.TV)