The Bruins held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but the Kings got goals from Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar to force overtime. After a scoreless overtime period, the Kings prevailed in the shootout on goals from...you guessed it, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar.
Adam McQuaid and Brandon Segal got the action going 2:49 into the game when the two dropped the gloves. Both combatants landed a few punches before McQuaid wrestled Segal to the ice.
The Kings got on the board first with 8:18 left in the first period when Jarret Stoll jammed home a rebound that bounced off the side apron of the net.
Shawn Thornton and Raitis Ivanans squared off on the face-off immediately following Stoll's goal. The two exchanged punches in a lengthy, evenly fought bout as the "Rocky" theme song blared over the PA system at Staples Center.
Miroslav Satan knotted it up at 1-1 with 1:39 left in the first period. Milan Lucic carried the puck into the attacking zone and moved the puck to Satan on the right wing, who fired a wrsiter from the top of the right circle that beat Jonathan Quick for his 2nd goal as a member of the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins made it a 2-1 lead at 10:53 of the second period when Blake Wheeler's shot from the right circle was deflected in off of the stick of Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell in front of the net.
Michael Ryder found the back of the net just 11 seconds later when Blake Wheeler slid a centering pass from the left wing to Ryder at the right post.
Dustin Brown pulled the Kings to within one at 10:32 of the third period. Alexander Frolov gained possession of the puck behind the net and fed a pass out front to Brown in the slot, who found the back of the net for the 12th time this season.
The Kings got the equalizer 2:22 later when Wayne Simmonds carried the puck in deep behind the net and found Anze Kopitar in front for his team-leading 19th goal of the season.
Both teams had a few chances in the overtime session, but after 65 minutes of hockey, the game remained deadlocked at 3-3.
Shootout
LA's 1st Shooter: Kopitar faked forehand and got Tim Thomas to open up his pads and he slipped a backhander in. 1-0 Kings
Boston's 1st Shooter: David Krejci skated in and lost control of the puck.
LA's 2nd Shooter: Jack Johnson tried to tuck the puck past thomas on the backhand but lost control of the puck.
Boston's 2nd Shooter: Miroslav Satan skated in with no real move and shot a wrister that was easily handled by Jonathan Quick.
LA's 3rd Shooter: Dustin Brown got Thomas to bit on a shot fake and slid the puck past Thomas for the game-winner. 2-0 Kings
Notes:
- Mark Stuart returned to the lineup after missing the last month with a broken sternum. Stuart was pretty active in his 15:16 of ice time and recorded 3 hits and took two minor penalties.
- Marco Sturm missed the game with a leg injury. This was the first game that Sturm has missed this season.
- Dennis Wideman was also scratched from the lineup before tonight's game with an undisclosed injury. My guess is that it stems from the shot he took off the leg in the Anaheim game.
- Steve Begin left the game after 6:25 of ice time with an apparent injury.
- With the mounting injuries, the Bruins don't have a lot of options, but there has to be someone that is better in the face-off circle than Mark Recchi. Recchi won just 1 of the 11 draws he took this afternoon.
- Joe Haggerty of Comcast Sports New England is reporting that the Bruins were not too happy about the officiating in this game.
- The Bruins managed only 24 shots on goals compared to the Kings' 34.
- The Bruins blocked 15 shots, with Derek Morris (5 blocked shots) and Zdeno Chara (4 blocked shots) accounting for 9 blocked shots.
- The Bruins went 1-1-1 on the injury-ridden road trip.
- The Bruins are back in action on Monday afternoon when they return home to host the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden at 1:00.