Dec 17, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) and Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) eye a loose puck during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
A return to Boston came with a mixed bag from the Bruins on Tuesday night, and ultimately was not enough for two points, as the Bruins dropped a 4-3 overtime final to Anze Kopitar and the Kings on TD Garden ice.
Battling through what appeared to be another sleepy start, the Bruins took a too many men penalty just one minute into the first period, and surrendered the first goal of the evening just 1:17 later behind Blake Lizotte’s fourth goal of the season, scored on a soft chip through Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask.
And struggling to find their offensive footing throughout the period, Danton Heinen got his foot on a puck and put the B’s on the board at the 19:01 mark of the period for his sixth goal of the season, and first since Nov. 26 against the Canadiens.
With the goal, Heinen moved into a three-way tie with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand for the second-most power-play goals on the roster (with three), and the Bruins and Kings were knotted up at 1-1 through one period of action.
But the Bruins failed to build on that momentum, and instead squandered it when Adrian Kempe found himself with a shorthanded breakaway on and through Rask for LA’s second goal of the night, scored 2:45 into the second frame.
The Bruins would once again respond, however, as Patrice Bergeron came through with a long-range snipe through Jonathan Quick for the equalizing strike off the post and in just eight minutes after Kempe’s tally.
And with momentum on their side once again heading into an intermission, the Bruins jumped out to their first lead of the evening on Brandon Carlo’s shot through traffic at the 1:24 mark of the third period.
Boston turned the pressure up on Quick and the Kings for the remainder of the evening, too, and displayed a tremendous cycling game that simply wore the Kings down and pinned them in their own end for countless d-zone faceoffs.
But the Kings would not go quietly into the night as they have countless times this season, and instead found the game-tying marker on Matt Roy’s fourth goal of the year, scored with just 2:01 remaining in regulation.
And in the overtime, as misses on looks from Anders Bjork and Bergeron, Kopitar stormed towards Rask and scored the game-winning strike with an upstairs snipe over Rask’s right shoulder for the L.A. win.
Quick finished with 37 saves in the victory, while Rask was saddled with the overtime loss on a 23-of-27 night.
The Bruins will continue this homestand when they play host to the Islanders on Thursday night.