When you have 13 more shots on goal (40-27) not to mention 19 more shot attempts (65-46) and 17 more face-off wins (43-26) than your opponent, you simply have to win that game. Also, this should have been the one layup of a four-game pre-Christmas gauntlet of a homestand for the Black and Gold. Their next three tilts involve the Islanders (22-8-2), Predators (16-12-5) and Capitals (24-6-5) and while Nashville isn't what they used to be, those clubs are all light years ahead of the going nowhere Kings. So how did the Bruins lose this one? Well goaltender Tuukka Rask (23 saves, 13-4-4) is now 0-3-1 in his last four starts and he hasn't won since Dec. 1 vs. Montreal (15-12-6). Cassidy and Rask both agreed that he just never made that one key stop when the Bruins had to have it. Instead, something named Matt Roy beat him cleanly with a shot from a few feet inside the blue line to knot it at three with 2:01 left in the third period. The other three goals were tougher to pin on Rask but a top-level goalie in the NHL needs to make a spectacular save here or there.
This wasn't a case from years past where Jonathan Quick (37 saves, 10-12-2) stole two points for the Kings but he was unquestionably better than Rask which shouldn't happen anymore in 2019. You knew that something was off with the B's at the beginning of the game as they were called for too many men on the ice exactly one minute into the action. What the hell? LA has the second-worst power play in the league so obviously they scored on their first opportunity of the evening as Blake Lizotte redirected a pass from Jeff Carter. Lizotte's fourth goal of the season was also assisted by Tyler Toffoli. Boston tied it up at 19:01 of the first period with a power play tally of their own. Danton Heinen used his pregame soccer juggling skills to knock the puck in with his skate. It was quickly reviewed but remained a goal as Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak had the helpers on his sixth goal of the season.
It was a weird game as LA's penalty kill unit (also ranked #30) somehow found a way to score on its second chance. Adrian Kempe was able to skate by a gassed Marchand and Pastrnak for a breakaway then slide a backhander under Rask's pads for his fifth goal of the season (unassisted at 2:45 of the second period) and a 2-1 Kings lead. Patrice Bergeron answered with a snap shot off the post and in at 10:44. Torey Krug had the lone assist on Bergeron's 11th goal of the season (he has 3 goals and an assist in 5 games since returning from his latest lower-body injury). Boston outshot LA 16-8 in the third period and finally took their first (and only) lead at 1:24 as Brandon Carlo threw the puck on net from the point and it went in. Jake DeBrusk and Heinen provided the assists on Carlo's third goal of the season. That should have been enough but I guess that Roy's goal was karma for the softy that Quick had allowed to Carlo. Your guy Nikolai Prokhorkin (who must be so bummed that his fellow Russian Ilya Kovalchuk just got waived by the Kings) had the lone assist on Roy's fourth goal of the season.
They were only credited with three shots on net in overtime but Boston absolutely dominated LA and should have ended it multiple times. Marchand barely missed the net, Quick made two saves on Charlie McAvoy (team-high 26:17 with a game-high 6 shots on goal), he stopped Anders Bjork's breakaway after Sean Kuraly stole the puck and fed it to him and finally, Bergeron shot over the net on his breakaway. LA made the Bruins pay for all their wasted opportunities as Doughty hit Kopitar with a long pass and let Bergeron's brother from a Slovenian mother do the rest. His 14th goal of the season came at 3:23 and it gave Anze 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 21 career games vs. Boston. The Kings improved to 4-2 in overtime this season while the Bruins dropped back under .500 (2-3) in them.
The Islanders are coming off of their most wretched performance of the season as they got blasted 8-3 by the Predators tonight on Long Island so you know that head coach Barry Trotz won't need much to fire up his team. The Isles are 9-5-1 on the road this season so expect a close, low-scoring game (New York has allowed an NHL-low 80 goals this season) on Thursday. Despite tonight's mess, Boston still has only lost once in regulation at TD Garden in 2019-20 (12-1-6) so there is that. The Rangers (16-13-4) have been mediocre for years and the Devils (10-17-5) are completely irrelevant, so if you want a Boston-New York rivalry in hockey, this is it. Sorry Buffalo (16-12-7), Upstate NY and New York City/Northern New Jersey are basically different planets.
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