The Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings appeared to be on their way to a shootout Saturday night at TD Garden, but Tyler Toffoli had other plans.
In the waning moments of a back-and-forth overtime period, the Bruins iced the puck and granted the Kings one last faceoff with .9 seconds remaining. Anze Kopitar topped David Pastrnak on the draw and passed the puck back to Toffoli, whose second goal of the game gave L.A. a buzzer-beating, 2-1 win.
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, like many, was stunned by Toffoli’s strike. After the tough loss, Rask admitted he never saw the puck zip past him and lamented his positioning choice for the game’s final play.
“I didn’t see that one coming,” Rask said, as seen on NESN’s Bruins postgame coverage. “I didn’t see the shot. It’s tough, I guess I should have stood there. I was thinking about standing in the middle of the net in case that happened and I guess I would have been better off doing that. There’s always something new in this game.”
Rask, a 10-year NHL veteran, acknowledged he’s been a part of some tough losses over the course of his career, but he’d never suffered a defeat quite like this.
“We’ve had a couple late losses like this (in past years) but never with zeroes on the board.
“Well, off to the next one.”
The Kings’ game-winning goal should not take away from Rask’s overall play in the game. In his first game back after missing the past three with a concussion, Rask saved 21 of 23 shot attempts and kept Boston in a game during which its offense struggled to produce.
Saturday’s loss will leave a bad taste in the Bruins’ mouths, but as Rask said, it’s on to the next.
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Kings:
— Boston still has yet to post back-to-back wins this season.
— Brad Marchand notched his seventh goal of the campaign, moving him into a tie for the fifth-most goals in the NHL.
— Charlie McAvoy had two golden opportunities to end the game in overtime, but both of the 19-year-old defenseman’s one-timers were denied by Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. After the game, McAvoy praised Quick, but stressed the importance of converting on odd-man advantages.
“He’s a great goaltender, everyone knows that,” McAvoy said. “When you get chances like that, you have to score. I have to find a way to put those in there. Marchy (Marchand) makes two great plays there, two point-blank chances, I gotta score.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
