Game 40: Red Wings 7, Los Angeles 3

Detroit, MI (1/18/70)- Garry Unger, Frank Mahovlich and Wayne Connelly each scored twice as the Red Wings pummeled the Los Angeles Kings, 7-3, at Olympia Stadium on Sunday night.

The Red Wings (18-13-9) won their second straight despite falling behind, 2-0, after just three minutes.

But the Wings responded with a vengeance, chasing Kings goalie Gerry Desjardins with a three-goal blitz that took just four minutes.

After a 3-3 opening period, the Red Wings put the game away with a three-goal second period.

Both of Unger's goals were of the power play variety.

Detroit goalie Roy Edwards, playing his first game in over a week, overcame a shaky start to make 20 saves on the night.

"Obviously, (the Kings) caught us napping," Red Wings coach Sid Abel said of his team's slow start. "But we got it together and it was a good win for us."

LA's Bill White opened the scoring with a fluttering slap shot from the blue line that seemed to fool Edwards, who allowed the puck to pass over his right elbow. The goal came just 23 seconds into the game.

At the 3:00 mark, Ed Joyal beat Edwards with a wrist shot between the pads as the Olympia crowd grew restless.

Unger banged home a rebound at 3:39 with the Red Wings on a power play. Less than two minutes later, Connelly stole the puck from the corner and skated in on Desjardins, who came out to challenge. Connelly deked and backhanded the puck into the Los Angeles net.

At 7:31, Mahovlich came down the left wing and blasted a shot through Desjardins, who was then replaced by Denis Dejordy.

Edwards dismissed the notion that he was rusty.

"No excuses,"the goalie said. "The first goal, I just missed it. The second one, I overreacted and the shot wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

The Red Wings are off until Thursday while the NHL takes its annual All-Star Game break.

Roy Edwards makes one of his 20 saves in Sunday night's win over Los Angeles

LA 3-0-0 = 3
DET 3-3-1 = 7

1st Period
LA- White (Hughes, Krake) :23
LA- Joyal (Wall, Flett) 3:00
DET- Unger (Stemkowski, Baun) PPG 3:39
DET- Connelly (unassisted) 5:32
DET- Mahovlich (MacGregor) 7:31
LA- Campbell (Goring, White) 12:28

2nd Period
DET- Libett (Baun, Connelly) 7:00
DET- Mahovlich (Karlander) 9:52
DET- Unger (Stemkowski) PPG 13:00

3rd Period
DET- Connelly (Popiel, Brewer) 5:52

Shots on Goal
LA 10-5-8 = 23
DET 12-13-14 = 39

Goalies
Desjardins, Dejordy*(LA); Edwards (DET)
*7:31 1st Period

Power Plays
LA 0-for-4; DET 2-for-4

Penalty Minutes
LA 10; DET 8

Fights
None