End of game: That will do it from the Garden. Rask gets his shutout and the Bruins get their second straight win.
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Third period, 17:05, Bruins 3-0: Hamill wins a faceoff in the neutral zone. I'd say he looks plenty comfortable back at center, wouldn't you?
Oh yeah, and Rask makes another good stop, this time on Brown, and covers up.
Third period, 15:40, Bruins 3-0: And the Bruins clamp down on another penalty kill. Easy as pie.
Third period, 13:25, Bruins 3-0: Another tough break for Steven Kampfer.
Kampfer gets two minutes for holding, giving the Kings their fifth power play opportunity. That's the second penalty on Kampfer, who was whistled for hooking in the second.
Third period, 9:49, Bruins 3-0: Rask appears to be intent on getting his first shutout of the season. He gobbles up a hard shot by Johnson, making the Bruins highly comfortable with this three-goal edge.
Third period, 5:35, Bruins 3-0: The combo of Bergeron and Marchand deliver again for the Bruins.
After assisting Marchand's second-period goal by winning a faceoff, Bergeron notches his second assist of the game as Marchand beats a sprawling Quick. Marchand, who has been a step faster than anyone in a white sweater, gets his 11th goal of the season and 22nd point of the season.
Third period, 4:51, Bruins 2-0: This is the most time the Kings have spent in the offensive zone in this game while not on a power play. Aside from a couple brief chances by Marchand, all the action has been around Rask, who has been lucky to block a couple blind shots from L.A.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins added another goal in the second to stretch their lead to 2-0. That could be enough, considering that Los Angeles hasn't scored more than two goals in eight straight games coming in.
Brad Marchand scored this goal, but the key was once again the Bruins' control of a faceoff. Patrice Bergeron won the offensive-zone draw back to Marchand for the quick snap shot at the top of the circle. The Bruins came into the game leading the NHL in faceoffs at 55 percent, and they've been even better in this one. The Bruins are 21-10 (68 percent) for the night. Even with Greg Campbell out, the Bruins have plenty of depth in that department, with Bergeron 8-3, David Krejci 6-1 and Rich Peverley 6-2.
The Bruins are also dominating on the penalty kill. They've given L.A. four power plays, including a 29-second stretch of 5-on-3 action, but killed all four while allowing just three shots. Daniel Paille's return has been a part of that. He's played 8:37 so far and looked solid in his return.
Zach Hamill continues to look at home in the NHL. He's got an assist and is plus-1 with two blocked shots in 6:35. It's been more of a mixed bag for Steven Kampfer in his first game in Boston since Nov. 17. The young defenseman has a pair of blocked shots and is a plus-1 in 7:41, but also took a hooking penalty in his limited ice time.
— Douglas Flynn
End of second period: The Kings anemic power play once again comes up small, and the Bruins enter the second intermission with a two-goal lead.
The Kings are 21st in the NHL on the power play, having scored just 19 goals in 113 attempts entering the game. In a funny twist, though, they are pretty good on the road; they have 10 goals in 47 power plays on the road, which is seventh in the league.
None of that matters this time, however. Here's Doug with some more interesting notes from the second period.
Second period, 17:04, Bruins 2-0: OK, now L.A. has to take this as a personal challenge.
Krejci is called for a delay of game, and this will truly test the Kings' offensive ineffectiveness.
Second period, 15:33, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins fared so well on that L.A. power play, they must have figured they'd try it again.
Kampfer is called for hooking, giving the Kings another two minutes on the power play. This isn't the ideal way to protect a two-goal lead.
Second period, 15:26, Bruins 2-0: Rask deserves that "Tuuuuuuk" cheer after stonewalling the Kings on that power play.
A dangerous scrum just outside the crease was tough to sort out from our vantage point, but it appeared the Kings had several chances at netting their first goal of the game. Rask and the penalty-kill unit wouldn't let it happen.
Second period, 13:03, Bruins 2-09: The Kings will get just their second chance on the power play in the game as Horton is called for slashing.
So far the Bruins have snuffed them out five-on-five, and the Kings will get a rare chance with the advantage.
Second period, 12:27, Bruins 2-0: Mere minutes after reaching double digits in goals, Marchand comes dangerously close to netting No. 11. He muscles past the Kings defensemen for a breakaway, but his backhand pops over the crossbar.
Second period, 7:43, Bruins 2-0: Finally, the Bruins capitalize.
After Bergeron wins the faceoff in L.A.'s zone, Marchand receives and slaps it past Quick for his 10th goal of the year.
Bergeron is credited with his 16th assist of the season.
Second period, 6:50, Bruins 1-0: Eventually, all these near-misses are going to start falling the Bruins' way, and the B's will break this game open.
Either that, or allowing the Kings to stay in it will catch up to them.
Kelly got an excellent look on a two-on-one from the left side, but the shot hit the post.
Second period, 5:43, Bruins 1-0: Lucic gets a shot on the doorstep off a feed from Horton, but Lucic can't get a good handle on the puck. The Bruins seem to be stuck in the Kings' style of hockey.
Second period, 1:32, Bruins 1-0: Rask makes a pretty glove save on a shot by Gagne, then swallows up a shot by Jarret Stoll.
The Kings don't score a ton of goals, but when they do, this is when they usually do it. L.A. has outscored its opponents 31-23 in second periods this season. They entered this game being outscored 64-65 overall.
First Intermission Notes: The Kings are the team that should be fired up after a coaching change, but the Bruins got the early jump in this one.
Boston had the only goal in the first as Rich Peverley scored off a beautiful feed from Zach Hamill, but the Bruins could have had more with some golden chances. Boston had a 12-8 edge in shots, led by Peverley's three.
Hamill turned in a very strong opening period. Playing just 3:38 over five shifts, he created several good scoring chances with linemates Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille, while also playing a post-power play shift with Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand. Hamill did pass one too many times on one play, sending the puck back to Thornton at the left post instead of taking the shot from the slot himself, but even that produced a power play as Thornton was tripped up. Hamill now has two assists and is a plus-4 in three games with Boston this year and 0-4-4 and plus-6 in seven career games.
Paille is showing no signs of rust in his return from a mild concussion. He played 4:10 in the first and had a hit. He also took a good hit without any ill effects. That fourth line has been among the Bruins' most effective so far, but the Bruins will need to continue the pressure to make sure the failure to cash in on more of those early chances doesn't come back to haunt them.
— Douglas Flynn
End of first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period ends with Peverley's goal as the only scoring so far. Sit tight for some first-intermission analysis by Doug.
First period, 17:01, Bruins 1-0: Lucic lays a mean hit on Brown near the blue line, sending the Kings' ring wing to the ice skates-up.
That's really all there is to report, but figured you might like to know that.
First period, 13:52, Bruins 1-0: The Garden faithful desperately wanted that to read "2-0."
With Quick on his stomach, Horton couldn't finagle the puck past the Kings goalie, despite a supportive roar from the crowd.
As a result, nothing comes of the latest Boston power play.
First period, 12:18, Bruins 1-0: Thornton gets tripped up by Voynov in front of the L.A. net and the Bruins will have another man advantage. Voynov makes his second trip to the penalty box.
First period, 10:28, Bruins 1-0: Paille, who was a game-time decision, clears the puck and helps the Bruins kill the penalty. Gagne got a point-blank shot off during the power play, though, which Rask kicked away.
The crowd honored the nice save with its customary "Tuuuuuuuuuk" cheer.
First period, 8:01, Bruins 1-0: Four-on-four hockey coming up. Matt Greene is sent to the box for slashing, and exactly one minute later Lucic is whistled for roughing.
First period 6:32, Bruins 1-0: Welcome back, Zach Hammill.
The just-called-up center was given an assist on Rich Peverley's goal, which gives the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Benoit Pouliot also was credited with an assist.
That's Peverley's fifth goal and 19th point this season, and Pouliot's sixth point. Hammill now has two assists on the year.
First period, 15:44, 0-0: The Kings kill the penalty, as they do better than all but six teams in the league, but then show off the offensive inadequacies that cause their second-to-last-place position in the standings.
On a two-on-one, Simon Gagne slides a perfect pass to Dustin Penner, but Penner's shot sails high and to the right of the goal.
First period, 0:18, 0-0: Slava Voynov is called for interference, and the Bruins go on the power play right off the bat.
The Kings are known for being playing a physical, defensive — alright, we'll just say it, ugly — style, and the Bruins get a good look at that early.
7 p.m.: The Bruins have officially scratched Jordan Caron. Daniel Paille returns after missing just one game with a mild concussion.
Greg Campbell (foot) and Zdeno Chara (lower body) are officially out as well.
The Kings scratch defensemen Willie Mitchell and Alec Martinez and forward Trevor Lewis.
I'll be back for between periods analysis, but I'll hand the play-by-play duties in the blog over to my capable colleague Ben Watanabe. Be kind to the rook.
6:45 p.m.: Zach Hamill centered the fourth line with Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton on the wings in the line rushes in the Bruins' warm-up. Scratches haven't been announced yet, but it appears that Jordan Caron will be the odd man out and Paille will return to the lineup.
Here are the full lines from the warm-up:
Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Peverley
Paille-Hamill-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Seidenberg-Corvo
Ference-McQuaid
Kampfer-Boychuk
6:30 p.m.: No surprises with the goalies, as Tuukka Rask and Jonathan Quick lead the teams out for warm-ups. That will be the goalie matchup for this one.
Daniel Paille, Jordan Caron and Zach Hamill are all on the ice for the Bruins, so no decision yet on who will be scratched up front.
6 p.m.: It's been a busy day at the Garden.
The Kings are getting accustomed to the change behind their bench with interim coach John Stevens making his debut in this game after Los Angeles fired Terry Murray on Monday.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are expecting to be without captain Zdeno Chara. he did not participate in the morning skate, but coach Claude Julien did say that Chara would travel with the team to Ottawa for Wednesday game.
Julien wasn't sure if Gregory Campbell would make that trip, but the fourth-line center will definitely miss Tuesday's game. Julien revealed that Campbell has a fracture in his foot suffered when hit by a shot on Saturday in Columbus.
Daniel Paille could return, but was waiting for results from his final test before being cleared to return after suffering a mild concussion last Thursday. Even if Paille can play, the Bruins are expected to dress call-up Zach Hamill to give the fourth line an experienced center to replace Campbell. Jordan Caron will likely come out of the lineup if Paille plays.
Julien broke from his usual routine of keeping his starter in goal under wraps by stating that Tuukka Rask would get the start in this game, allowing Tim Thomas to go Wednesday in Ottawa, where he's had plenty of past success.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins expect to be without their captain on Tuesday after Zdeno Chara suffered a leg injury Saturday in Columbus.
The Kings will definitely be without their coach, as Terry Murray was fired on Monday. John Stevens takes over behind the Los Angeles bench on an interim basis and the former Flyers bench boss will coach his first game for the Kings Tuesday night against the Bruins at the Garden.
The Bruins snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Blue Jackets. The Kings are looking to end a slide of their own, having lost four straight. The coaching change may give them a spark, but it won't matter who is behind the bench if their offense doesn't start producing.
Los Angeles has scored just 65 goals all season, the second-lowest total in the league ahead of only the Islanders' 62 goals. They've score two or less in 21 of their 29 games, including each of their last eight. They are still over .500 at 13-12-4 because they've also allowed just 67 goals, thanks largely to UMass product Jonathan Quick in goal. Quick is 11-8-4 with a 2.10 GAA, .931 save percentage and four shutouts.
In addition to Chara, the Bruins may also be without forwards Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell. Both are day to day and questionable for this game. Paille has been out since suffered a mild concussion last Thursday, but did return to practice on Monday. Campbell did not practice and was wearing a protective walking boot on Monday after taking a shot off his foot in Columbus. Zach Hamill was recalled from Providence on an emergency basis on Monday night and will play if both Paille and Campbell are unable to go.
The Kings have some injury problems of their own, most notably with Mike Richards on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The former Flyers captain was one of the prize offseason acquisitions for the Kings this summer, and had 11-9-20 totals in 25 games before being sidelined. The Kings also added former Flyers and Lightning forward Simon Gagne, a Bruins killer in recent postseason who has 7-8-15 totals in 27 games with Los Angeles.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action from the Garden.
