Patrice Bergeron, Bruins topple Kings in overtime, 5-4

Patrice Bergeron made sure a day that began with a ceremony honoring him ended with cheers for the whole team, as the Bruins beat the numbers to pull off a third-period comeback and down the Los Angeles Kings by a 5-4 overtime final.

And after a scoreless first period, Bergeron made sure the start to the second period was enough for the Bruins, too, as he came through with the slick dish to Charlie McAvoy for the Black and Gold's first goal, 4:38 into the frame.

The rest of the second period saw this game flipped on its head, though, as the Kings straight-up dominated and outworked the Bruins in all three zones. On the board by way of an Alex Iafallo strike at the 8:13 mark of the period, Anze Kopitar scored just 5:49 later to give Los Angeles a 2-1 edge after 40 minutes by way of a 16-7 advantage in the middle frame.

Despite the Kings' status as the Western Conference's worst team, that score was an ugly one for the Bruins.

See, the Bruins entered today's game with a 1-14-2 mark on the year when trailing after two periods (the seventh-worst mark in the NHL), while the Kings were a stellar 16-1-1 in such scenarios (the seventh-best figure in the league). Given the way the Bruins looked completely lost following the Iafallo game-tying goal, and with d-zone mistakes galore, their chances hardly seemed promising, especially when you consider Boston's bizarre struggles against subpar competition.

And though the aforementioned numbers were damning, the Bruins opened the third period like a team possessed, with three goals in 3:29, and suddenly found themselves protecting a two-goal edge.

But the Kings stormed back with goals from Nate Thompson and Oscar Fantenburg, with some brutal d-zone play from Torey Krug and Kevan Miller along the way, and forced the B's to overtime for the second straight game.

Put to work on the power play following Ilya Kovalchuk's trip against David Pastrnak, it was Krug that broke through into the offensive zone, drew multiple L.A. skaters his way, and then fed Bergeron for the game-winning strike.

The Bruins conclude the rare home back-to-back with a Sunday visit from the Colorado Avalanche.