Jack Campbell comes through as Kings defeat Red Wings

LOS ANGELES >> Jack Campbell is the backup goalie for the Kings, so there was no way he was going to play in just the second game of the season.

That is unless Jonathan Quick was injured. Quick sustained a lower-body injury during practice Saturday, so insert Campbell.

All he did was stop 36 of 38 shots Sunday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Combine that with better puck management than they showed in Friday’s overtime loss to San Jose, and the Kings defeated the Red Wings 4-2 before 18,230 at Staples Center.

Campbell works as hard as anyone in practice in his effort to stay prepared, and he agreed that helps in a situation like this.

“I mean, I think everybody on this team is really detailed in the work we do; I think we work really hard every day, and no different for me” he said. “I try to get better every day and you never know when these things happen.

“It’s part of sports and you’ve just gotta jump in and make sure you play well to get the win.”

Coach John Stevens said it correctly when assessing Campbell.

“I thought he was terrific,” he said.

Campbell was clutch.

“I thought he really made some key saves at key times to kind of allow us to stabilize things a little bit,” Stevens said. “It was a really solid performance coming in on short notice.”

Quick was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least the first two games of the upcoming four-game road trip because he has to stay on IR a minimum of seven days.

The Kings (1-0-1) got two goals from Alex Iafallo – the last one into an empty net with time running out – and one apiece from Anze Kopitar and Paul LaDue.

Kopitar got the Kings on the board first when he scored his second goal of this young season 4:21 into the second period. Assists went to Ilya Kovalchuk and Jake Muzzin. It was the 400th career assist for Kovalchuk, who this season returned to the NHL after playing the past five seasons in his native Russia.

Kovalchuk took the puck near center ice, got around one defender and passed it off to Kopitar, who bore down on Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier before lifting it over his shoulder into the upper left corner.

Not long after, defenseman Muzzin and Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen dropped the gloves and threw down, both players getting in some shots and receiving 5-minute majors.

Detroit tied the score at 8:45 of the period when Anthony Mantha scored a power-play goal after Iafallo was whistled for a minor tripping penalty.

Undaunted, the Kings took a 2-1 lead when LaDue scored his first of the season at 16:14. Tyler Toffoli assisted. LaDue shot from close range, just getting the puck through the pads of Bernier.

Iafallo scored his first of the season and first of the night when Kovalchuk recovered a puck behind and to the right of the net. Kovalchuk fired a sweet pass to Iafallo, who banged it home at 9:15 of the third period for a 3-1 Kings lead.

“He’s a very underrated passer,” Kopitar said of Kovalchuk.

Dylan Larkin got the Red Wings (0-1-1) close when he scored a power-play goal at the 16-minute mark, but Iafallo put the game on ice when he scored into an empty net at 19:39.

Stevens talked about needed better puck management at the morning skate. Kopitar thought his team improved in that regard, although the Kings were still a bit sloppy at times.

“I think we didn’t give up as much off our mistakes, off our poor puck management,” Kopitar said. “I thought we were much stronger on the puck, making better decisions with it, obviously.

“That’s why you score three, four goals with that. And even the last few minutes of the game, I thought we played solid. There were no major scrambles, so a lot of credit goes to our puck management.”

Toffoli matched Kovalchuk with two assists.

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty played in his 330th consecutive game, tying Anze Kopitar for the club’s all-time record.

Also, Kings forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan made his NHL debut at the tender age of 19, making him the 10th youngest in club history to play a game for the team.

The Kings next play Tuesday at Winnipeg.