The Lowly Kings Tie It Up Late In Regulation Then Shock The Bruins With Kopitar's Overtime Goal

One of Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy's favorite sayings about his team is "starting on time" which means getting off to a good start in the first period. Returning home from a rough four-game road trip (1-3), Boston (21-7-7) didn't do that as they allowed a goal 2:17 into the contest vs. the Kings (15-18-3) who began the night as the worst team in the Western Conference. The B's were able to overcome that though and rallied from a pair of deficits to lead 3-2 in the third period before blowing that lead and subsequent point as LA won 4-3 in overtime on Anze Kopitar's snipe.

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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Bruins Find A New Way to Lose, Falling 2-1 in OT to Kings w/0.4 Seconds Left In Extra Frame

Before I saw it with my own two eyes tonight, I probably wouldn't have believed that you could win a face-off and pass the puck back for a one-timer that goes in for a game-winning goal in under a second. That's what makes sports especially hockey so great though, the knowledge that you can watch a million games and yet always notice something unique. Los Angeles (9-1-1) beat Boston (4-3-2) 2-1 at TD Garden on an incredible tally by Tyler Toffoli with 0.4 seconds left in overtime.

It was a crazy way to lose for the B's and there were so many things that could have gone differently: Torey Krug iced the puck with four seconds left, LA called timeout but David Pastrnak was on the ice (remember 3-on-3 in OT) with Krug and Anders Bjork. Pastrnak tried to fall on the puck but Anze Kopitar (one of the best faceoff guys in the NHL) pulled it back to Toffoli for his second goal of the game and fifth of the season. The play was reviewed but the puck was already in the net with 0.4 seconds left. Finally, the refs had put half a second back on the clock so if they hadn't done that, it wouldn't have gotten off in time.

Bigger picture, the Bruins put together a pretty complete performance against one of the better teams in the league. For the third straight contest, the B's scored first as Brad Marchand (6 goals, 5 assists in his last 6 games) tapped in with his backhand a sweet cross ice feed from McAvoy (6 assists in his last 6 games) at 5:27 of the first period. Bjork had the second assist on Marchand's team-leading 7th goal of the season. LA was not daunted as Toffoli tied it up only 3:34 after Marchand's goal. He whipped a loose puck by Tuukka Rask (28 saves in his return from a concussion and a 3-game absence).

Not much happened in the second or third period, both teams went 0-for-2 on their respective power plays but they obviously saved up all the collective excitement for an absolutely insane extra frame. Each club had 26 shots on goal in regulation and four in overtime. Drew Doughty was called for goaltender interference just 13 seconds into overtime after he barreled into Rask but surrisingly, Patrice Bergeron (his Team Canada homie) was also nabbed for slashing on that play. By the way, how cheesy are slashing calls in the NHL nowadays?

Former UMass star Jonathan Quick (29 saves) is back to his old form as he was brilliant in overtime: stopping McAvoy twice and Bjork on a breakaway. Rask did his part to keep the game going with an earlier quality save on Toffoli. It's hard to blame Rask or anyone on the Bruins besides head coach Bruce Cassidy (how do you let Pastrnak take a key face-off) but then again, who could have predicted that once in a lifetime ending? The only recent similar play against the B's came a little over three years ago: Daniel Briere (back when he was on Colorado) helped beat them with a goal on October 13, 2014 with less than a second remaining in regulation.

Boston has played six home games already (3-1-2) so they go back on the road (where they are 1-2-0) for Monday's (7, NESN) meeting in Columbus (7-4-0). The Blue Jackets are one of the better squads in the Eastern Conference so the Bruins will have their hands full there. Somehow the Black and Gold return here for three more games at the Garden to kick off November: Thursday (7, NESN) vs. Vegas (8-1-0)-easily the surprise of the NHL, off to the best start ever for an expansion team; Saturday night (7, NESN) vs. struggling Washington (4-5-1) and Monday (7, NESN) vs. Minnesota (4-3-2). Any way you slice it, that's a tough week for the B's so they'll have to put this shocking loss behind them and soon.

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Lucic (1 goal, 1 assist) Returns to Boston and Helps the Kings Bludgeon the Bruins, 9-2

If you are Milan Lucic, in your wildest dreams I'm pretty sure that you couldn't come up with a more enjoyable experience that what happened for him tonight in his first game back at TD Garden since getting traded to Los Angeles over the summer. He had a goal, assist & was +2 as the Kings (32-17-3) neutered the Bruins (28-19-6) 9-2 at TD Garden.

It was the most goals given up by the B's in nearly eight years (10 at Washington on March 3, 2008) and the most shots on goal allowed by them (57) in almost 41 years (57 on March 18, 1965 vs. Detroit). The burly former Bruins left wing received a huge ovation during warmups, after a video tribute for him was shown on the Jumbotron in the first period and even after the beating as he took a victory lap to thank the few fans that remained (all to see him and boo the Bruins in the process).

For Boston, they have to hope that their consistent struggles at home (12-14-3) this season still don't carry over to the road as they get ready to head out on a season-long six-game road trip (16-5-3). The good news for them is that mighty LA is in the Western Conference so as ugly as this blowout loss was, it really doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. It was a bizarre game as the Bruins actually scored first on Brad Marchand's team-leading 25th goal of the season at 5:03 (a power play goal from Matt Beleskey and Zdeno Chara that was Marchand's 10th goal in his last 11) of the first period but then the Garden roof caved in. LA scored two goals late in the first period by Jeff Carter (on a power play that was deflected in by Kevan Miller) and a sick top-shelf backhander from Marian Gaborik.

After Marchand's goal, Boston hit three posts so despite being down 2-1 after the first, things didn't seem so bad. Miller's season-long horrorshow here continued as he literally handed another tally right to the Kings-his turnover went right to Andy Andreoff (great name!) who beat Tuukka Rask (27 saves) at 2:42 of the second period. How about Colin Miller plays home games and Kevan Miller plays road games, I wish that I was kidding but Kevan is somehow immune to being a healthy scratch. Drew Doughty added a power play goal (the Kings were 3 for 3 on them this evening), assisted by Lucic and Dwight King tapped in a rebound 33 seconds later for a 5-1 lead. Not that it was all his fault but Rask had to be pulled at that point for his own sanity and Jonas Gustavsson (21 saves) promptly gave up a goal to Trevor Lewis with 1:04 left in the second. At least Gustavsson was back in action after he left his last appearance (Jan. 26 vs. Anaheim) in an ambulance with worries about his heart condition.

The third period was the equivalent of garbage time in a preseason NHL game, it was that tedious. Tyler Randell had fought Kyle Clifford in the first and Beleskey dropped the gloves with Andreoff in the second but there would be no return bout for Lucic on this night. UMass product Jonathan Quick (35 saves) made his usual assortment of incredible saves and luckily seemed to avoid injury in the last seconds when Jimmy Hayes barreled into his left leg/knee. Lucic got a tap-in goal to cap off LA's absurd seven-goal run before Randell scored (his 5th goal of the season) in his first game in a month (he was a scratched for the past 12 contests). Luke Schenn potted the third power play goal for the Kings and Dustin Brown closed it out by padding his stats with a goal.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this trip could very well be a defining moment for the B's when it comes to whether they make the playoffs or not this spring. It isn't as daunting as you'd think though (at least on paper) since three of the six teams that they'll meet (Winnipeg, Minnesota and Columbus) currently are out of the playoff picture in their respective conferences. Of course, this is all assuming that the Bruins continue to defy reason as one of the best road teams in the league.

The fun starts on Thursday (8, NESN) in Winnipeg (24-26-3) where the Jets are playing out the string in a disappointing campaign (what up Jeb Bush?). Boston is at Minnesota (23-20-10) on Saturday for a rare afternoon tilt (2, NESN) then they complete a back-to-back in Detroit (27-18-8) on Valentine's Day (3:30, NBC). Can you think of more romantic spot than the Motor City? The Bruins are in Columbus (21-28-6) a week from tonight (7, NESN) then at Nashville (25-21-8) on Thursday (8, NESN) and things end in Dallas (34-15-5) against Tyler Seguin and the high-flying Stars a week from Saturday (8, NESN).

You won't see the Bruins at the Garden for almost two entire weeks-their next game in town is Monday, February 22 vs. Columbus-which is probably a good thing. It's easy to forget given the way that things played out in tonight's nightmare but Boston had quietly been playing pretty well lately (7-2-1 coming into this debacle). It shouldn't take long to get a feel for the trip as they play three games in four days to kick it all off. Get some rest everybody!

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Bruins Close Out January On a High Note With 3-1 Win vs. Kings

Remember a month or two ago when we were all legitimately worried about the Bruins? That seems pretty silly now as Boston closed out January 8-1-3 overall and 8-1-1 in their last 10 games thanks to a playoff-like 3-1 win over Los Angeles tonight at TD Garden. The Kings (21-16-12), the defending Stanley Cup champs, are in serious danger of missing out on the playoffs entirely while the Bruins (27-16-7) have climbed up to sixth-place in the Eastern Conference (3 points behind Pittsburgh).

These teams play such a similar physical style with deep rosters and great goaltending so it's no wonder that the few times that they play, they usually result in very entertaining contests. LA had won 2-0 on Dec. 2 at Staples Center when the Bruins were allergic to scoring goals. It was scoreless until 17:20 of the second period when Brad Marchand was able to snipe a shot past UMass' Jonathan Quick (30 saves). Marchand's team-leading 14th goal of the season was assisted by Zdeno Chara and Gregory Campbell.

It was ironic that Marchand scored the opening goal since he thought he had one at the end of the first period except for the fact that the highlight reel sequence came a good two seconds after the final buzzer had sounded. It looked like 1-0 might hold up but Jordan Nolan of all people tied it up with seven minutes left in regulation. His shot deflected off Dougie Hamilton's stick past Tuukka Rask (30 saves). Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin assisted on Nolan's second goal of the season.

Just like the other night in Long Island, where the Bruins shook off a blown two-goal lead, they rallied quickly tonight to ensure this didn't go to overtime or the dreaded shootout. Chris Kelly had a beautiful tip-in of Carl Soderberg's shot at 14:33. Kelly's sixth goal of the season was reviewed since it went high up in the net then came out fast. It stood with Torey Krug picking up the second assist.

LA put pressure on Rask at the end, pulling Quick and regrouping when Boston head coach Claude Julien called his timeout. However, Marchand ended it with a weird empty-netter with 17 seconds left that appeared to go in slow motion after he tried to pass it ahead to either himself or Patrice Bergeron.

The Bruins are off until Wednesday (8, NBCSN) when they travel to Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers (28-15-4). Their next home game isn't until next Saturday (7, NESN) vs. Islanders (32-16-1) then the Canadiens (32-13-3) are in town the following evening (7:30, NBCSN). It should be an interesting week against three other contending Eastern Conference teams that will be in the postseason.

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Bruins Get Some Payback vs. Kings, Thanks to Marchand

Savor this moment because it won't happen too often: Brad Marchand is the hottest player (settle down ladies) in the NHL with six goals in his last four games and four in his last two. Boston beat Los Angeles 3-2 this afternoon at TD Garden thanks to his continued excellent play and Chad Johnson's more than serviceable start (21 saves).

The Bruins (31-15-3) had lost 4-2 to the Kings (29-15-6) on January 9 in LA so they were more than happy to repay them with some home cooking of their own in their only other matchup of the season. Since LA had been in Boston waiting for the B's while the Black and Gold were in Chicago on Sunday battling the Blackhawks, this was a particularly impressive victory.

I was surprised that Johnson got the start opposite UMass alum Jonathan Quick (20 saves) but he performed well and won in Dallas on Thursday so he deserved another opportunity instead of waiting nearly a month between starts (yes, that really happened).

Marchand scored at 12:07 in the first period on a shorthanded bid. First, his breakaway was stopped by Quick but by some stroke of good luck the puck returned to his stick through four Kings and he was able to put it in the net. His 15th goal of the season was assisted by Patrice Bergeron.

Torey Krug made it 2-0 at 17:51 with one of his patented power play lasers. His 11th goal of the season (tied for 2nd in the NHL for defensemen) was assisted by David Krejci and Ryan Spooner.

The Kings have trouble scoring, go figure with all their offensive talent, but that's why they have Willie Mitchell. Wait, what? The scrub defenseman scored his first goal of the season at 4:09 of the second period to cut it to 2-1. His one-timer was courtesy of Mike Richards.

Former Flyer Jeff Carter tied it at two at 8:35 in the third period with his 19th goal of the season. His one-timer was on the power play, from Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar (ever hear of them?). Marchand and the B's would not be denied though as he potted the winning goal just 18 seconds after that. It was a sweet one-timer from Reilly Smith and Bergeron.

Milan Lucic made his presence felt in the first when he fought Jordan Nolan (who had tagged Krug with a questionable hit). Boston finally gets a little break as they don't play another game until Saturday (1, NESN) in Philadelphia (25-19-6, 3rd in Metropolitan Division)-their first meeting of the season.

UPDATE 1/21: The Bruins assigned defenseman Zach Trotman back to Providence. After yesterday's game, Boston head coach Claude Julien said Adam McQuaid was day-to-day with a leg injury but that was good news. I guess he'll be fine for Saturday in Philly.

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Boston Ends LA's 6-Game Win Streak

There is no way to overlook the fact that Tim Thomas was awful for a long stretch of this season but it feels like right about now, with the playoffs starting in a few weeks, he's starting to find his game again.

Thomas (32-19-0) made 40 saves tonight as the Bruins (43-28-3) went into the Staples Center and broke the Kings' (37-26-12) six-game win streak, 4-2.

Zdeno Chara played in his 1000th NHL game so it must have been even sweeter since his team came out on top.

Boston freed themselves of a 1-1 deadlock entering the third period by scoring three goals in the final frame.

Former UMass-Amherst star Jonathan Quick (22 saves) did not play as well as the guy that he started over in the 2010 Olympics for the United States.

For once on the road, the B's benefited from some good bounces. Namely, a pass that went off Chris Kelly's (19th of the season) skate and into the net. That made it 3-1 and it held up after a review. Benoit Pouliot and Brian Rolston assisted on that one.

Earlier in the third, Milan Lucic (24th of the season) scored at 4:37 on a shot that trickled through Quick's five-hole. David Krejci and Jordan Caron had the assists.

Los Angeles didn't fold after Boston made it 3-1, Slava Voynov (7th of the season) put one past Thomas thanks to some traffic at 14:46. Thomas made some big saves though to keep the Bruins ahead and Brad Marchand (25th of the season) scored an empty-netter with one second left in regulation.

Kelly and Trevor Lewis fought in the first period, a very rare occurrence for Kelly although you wouldn't know that by the way he wailed on Lewis.

After a scoreless first, Patrice Bergeron (20th of the season) opened the scoring with a short-handed tally at 5:18 in the second. Brad Marchand intercepted a bad breakout pass and went in on Quick, who made the initial stop but Bergeron was there for the rebound.

At 13:17 something named Colin Fraser (2nd of the season) knotted it at 1 all thanks to Drew Doughty's impressive shot fake and pass. All Fraser had to do was redirect it in. Kyle Clifford had the second assist.

The effort wasn't there on Thursday in San Jose so it was nice to see the Bruins bounce back tonight against a solid team (sweeping the season series 2-0), that is fighting for every point since they are on the fringe of making or missing the Western Conference playoffs.

This three-game swing in California concludes tomorrow night with a visit to the Anaheim Ducks. It's the only meeting for the two teams this season and Anaheim is not going to make the playoffs so you can look at that two ways: 1) they have nothing to lose or 2) they're playing out the string and they'll pack it in if Boston can grab an early lead. All I know is that two more points particularly in a back-to-back game would be a wonderful result for the Bruins. Maybe Marty Turco will get another start?

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Tuukka Rask Picks Up His First Shutout Of The Season With 3-0 Win Over Kings

For many teams in the NHL or sports in general, they would understandably struggle when their two best players don't play in a game.

Apparently the Boston Bruins aren't most teams as they didn't need either the best goaltender in the NHL-Tim Thomas-or best defensemen in the NHL-Zdeno Chara-as they dispatched the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 tonight at TD Garden without the services of either superstar.

Everybody's favorite Finn-Tuukka Rask (41 saves, 6-4-1)-proved why he's the best backup goalie in the league and probably better than half of the starters with his first shutout of the season and ninth of his career.

Brad Marchand (2 goals) and Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) were the two foremost offensive stars for Boston (19-9-1), who scored a goal in each frame.

Los Angeles (13-13-4) fired its head coach Terry Murray last night but interim coach John Stevens didn't change the tide at all as the Kings dropped their fifth straight contest.

Rich Peverley (6th of the season) scored at 6:32 of the first period thanks to some great work from his makeshift linemates Zach Hammil and Benoit Pouliot. It all started with a nice forecheck behind LA's goal and goaltender Jonathan Quick (19 saves).

Hammil stole the puck, fed Pouliot on the halfboards who gave it back to the recently promoted Hammil. He might never be a great player for the B's but Hammil has already proven in a few games this season that he can put a pass with as much sauce on it as you like. He fired it on Peverley's stick and Pevs one-timed it past Quick.

In the second period, Marchand's (10th of the season) goal at 7:43 made it 2-0 and Jack Edwards noted that the Bruins are 13-0-0 with two-goal leads so far this season. Bergeron won the face-off back to Marchand who snapped it past a possibly screened Quick.

He had an earlier chance on a breakaway to pot his second tally but Marchand erased that bad memory by lifting a backhander over Quick at 5:35 of the third period, again from Bergeron.

Rask had to work for his clean sheet as he helped Boston kill off three consecutive penalties in the second and one in the third.

It will be a late night for the B's as they fly to Ottawa but the flight should feel much better thanks to this solid win. Boston is back at it tomorrow night as they meet the Senators for the second of six times this season.

Boston's 5-3 win over Ottawa, their Northeast Division rival, back on Nov. 1 kicked off the 10-game winning streak and nearly perfect November.

Gregory Campbell will miss his second straight game but Chara is making the trip so he could play and Thomas is expected to get the start.

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Boston Bruins blanked in LA-LA land by enigmatic Kings

The Boston Bruins very rarely play on the West Coast so obviously they treated last night's game late-night action in Los Angeles like an exhibition game, losing 2-0 to the Kings at the Staples Center.

It's hard to believe or explain but Los Angeles has now beat Boston five straight times. It was also the first time in more than a month that the Bruins were shut out.

Despite being in last-place in their stacked division, the Kings (26-22-1) should be better with their talented roster of scorers, young stud defenseman and a quality goalie.

It looked like a game from last season, with minor differences. Tim Thomas (32 saves; 23-5-6) was in goal instead of Tuukka Rask but the Bruins (27-15-7) struggled to get any pucks past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (34 saves; 5th shutout; 21-14-1).

Ryan Smyth gave LA a 1-0 lead at 10:50 of the first period with a power play goal (his 18th of the season) from Jarrett Stoll and Drew Doughty. Smyth was in the right place at the right time, banging in a rebound from just outside the crease.

Shawn Thornton got into his 11th fight of the season, later in the first period. He traded bombs with Kyle Clifford but unfortunately it didn't seem to fire up the Bruins.

Rookie Andrei Lokitonov scored his second goal of the season at 3:30 in the third period. It was another juicy rebound that fell right to Los Angeles. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar assisted on the goal.

Boston finally woke up in the third period, outshooting LA 14-9 but it was too late to salvage anything on their two-game road trip.

The Bs come home to face the Florida Panthers tomorrow night. It's the last game before the All-Star festivities this weekend. A dream scenario for Boston is to get Rask a win while also seeing some of their struggling forwards like Nathan Horton or Tyler Seguin get on the scoresheet, giving them some confidence heading into the break.