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Lang, Red Wings continue mastery of Kings

Oct 17, 2006 - 5:21 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings' dominance over the Los Angeles Kings continues.

Robert Lang scored two goals and backup goaltender Chris Osgood stopped 22 shots in his first start of the season to help lift the Red Wings to a 3-1 victory over the Kings.

Detroit started slowly in the opener of a four-game West Coast road trip.

"The game definitely didn't start the way we wanted it to, but that's the way it is on the road sometimes," Lang said. "It's a 60-minute game, so we just bought ourselves enough time to get back in it and win."

Osgood was pleased with his effort in place of Dominik Hasek. His last start was the preseason finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 1.

"It was good to get back in there," Osgood said. "Obviously, you want to play and get on the ice and contribute, and I feel like I can do that. I can contribute and be an important part of the team. I have a pretty open mind this year.

"I'm just going to be ready to play when I'm called upon and when I play, I'll play well."

Kris Draper added a shorthanded tally for Detroit, which improved to 10-0-2 in its last 12 games against Los Angeles. The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead just 1:37 into the third period when Lang scored a power-play goal.

He took a pass from Nicklas Lidstrom down low and looked like he was going to skate in closer, but he immediately snapped the puck past Los Angeles goaltender Dan Cloutier for the go-ahead tally.

"Handling the puck on this ice was hard, so I just kept it very simple tonight," said Lang, who played for the Kings from 1992 through 1996. "It was get up, get away and get it down to the offensive zone and take it from there. I also think it helped that we didn't give them too much (room) tonight."

Lang scored an insurance goal with just under four minutes left in the game. He took a pass from Mikael Samuelsson after a turnover at the Los Angeles blue line, skated in on Cloutier and beat him between the legs for a 3-1 lead.

Sean Avery scored for the Kings, who went 0-for-8 on the power play and have lost three straight home games.

"We are in a results-driven business and we can never lose sight of that," Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford said. "We did play pretty well tonight against a veteran club and we hardly gave them anything all night. They got their goal on a 5-on-3 and that was a lucky break for them. They were great after they got their lead, which is what veteran teams do."