The Detroit Red Wings are known for their stars, but the third and fourth liners stole the show on Saturday night.
Cory Emmerton had two goals and an assist, and Drew Miller scored twice in the Detroit Red Wings' 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
Miller is on the third line, which also featured Dan Cleary with three assists and Darren Helm with two. Emmerton is a part of the fourth line, from which Tomas Holmstrom had two assists and Justin Andelkader one.
''I think it's huge to get the contribution from everyone. There's going to be nights where our big guys aren't scoring all the time,'' Miller said. ''You count on your third- and fourth-line guys to chip in and come up big for the team. It's good to see Emmer get two goals. It's a little kudos for the third and fourth lines.''
Niklas Kronwall added a goal and two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Brad Stuart also scored for Detroit.Jimmy Howard made 27 saves.
''I thought we started real well and we weren't able to maintain that kind of intensity, that kind of effort,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. ''But we did lots of good things, scored lots of goals. It was a tough night for them. We're happy to get the two points.''
Davis Drewiske and Jarret Stoll scored for Los Angeles, which lost for the sixth time in seven games amid reports that Darryl Sutter will become head coach in the upcoming week. Justin Williams and Dustin Penner had two assists each.
''Flat-out mistakes that cost us goals,'' said Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, who didn't think the unsettled coaching situation was a factor in the game. ''I can only speak for myself, but once I get out there, I only worry about what I can do on the ice. You're not worrying about who the coach might be, but that's just me.''
Jonathan Quick stopped four shots before being replaced less than halfway into the first period. Jonathan Bernier took over and made 15 saves.
The Kings, last in the NHL in goals-per game, appear close to having their third coach of the season. A team spokesman had no comment, and interim coach John Stevens - who replaced the fired Terry Murray - was behind the bench on Saturday night.
''If you give up eight goals, how many goals you score is going to be a moot point,'' Stevens said.
Detroit scored twice within 15 seconds for a 2-0 lead two minutes in. Miller put in a rebound at 1:45, and Emmerton tipped in Jonathan Ericsson's shot at 2:00.
Kronwall's slap shot from the top of the right circle beat Quick at 8:32 and sent the goalie to the bench.
Drewiske's second goal put Los Angeles on the board with 2:45 left in the first.
Emmerton's second goal restored the Red Wings' three-goal lead with 1:25 remaining in the first period. He put a one-timed shot past Bernier from the inside edge of the left circle for his third this season.
Stoll cut the Kings' deficit to 4-2 with 8:57 left in the second period when he chipped in a rebound for his third goal.
Zetterberg's eighth goal came with 8 minutes left in the middle period, and Datsyuk netted his 10th with 22 seconds left in the second.
Miller added his second of the game and fifth of the season 7:34 into the third period, and Stuart scored a power-play goal with 8:42 remaining.
NOTES: Fourteen Red Wings players had at least one point. . The Kings have scored two goals or less in their last 11 games. ... Los Angeles has four players from Michigan or the Detroit area: Defenseman Jack Johnson is from Ann Arbor, defenseman Matt Greene is from Grand Ledge, defenseman Alec Martinez is from the Detroit suburb of Rochester, and enforcer Kevin Westgarth is a native of Amherstburg, Ontario, which is just across the Detroit River.
