The Red Wings had given up four multigoal leads in their previous three games, but were able to hold on against the Kings after jumping ahead 3-0.
"There have been a lot of blown two-goal leads, and one that was three goals, but tonight we did a better job of playing with a lead," Howard said. "We bent, but we didn't break."
Cholowski gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the first period, taking a pass from Christoffer Ehn and scoring on a wrist shot into the top of the net.
"I'm not out there looking to score goals," Cholowski said. "I just want to play my game and jump into the offense at the right times."
Matt Luff nearly tied the game at 1:44 of the second period, but Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson slid across the crease to block the shot.
"It's still 1-0 at that point, so that's a huge play," Howard said. "If he doesn't block that, who knows what might have happened."
The Kings had several odd-man rushes early in the second period but couldn't score.
"We scored five goals in our last game (5-1 win against Vegas Golden Knights), and then we didn't do anything again tonight," Kings forward Adrian Kempe said. "If we put away one of those great chances in the second period, we probably win the game."
Nielsen made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the second period, getting his own rebound and scoring into an open net for his fifth goal in six games.
Larkin extended the lead to 3-0 at 18:08, intercepting Derek Forbort's clearing pass in the slot, skating around Drew Doughty and beating Quick from in front. Larkin has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak.
"I thought I'd seen Doughty slide in situations like that a couple times, so I was figuring he would do that," Larkin said. "I saw it unfold right in front of me."
Said Blashill, "That shows the depth that Dylan Larkin goes to improve his game. That's something he found on his own, and then he used it against one of the best defensemen in this League."
Kopitar cut it to 3-1 at 13:22 of the third period, getting his own rebound at the right post and scoring off Howard's skate.
"We got 43 shots and we had a lot of 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 rushes, but we only scored one goal," Kopitar said. "We can't be satisfied by just creating chances, we need to start scoring."
