BOSTON — It was a hard-fought battle, but the Bruins couldn’t pull out the win Tuesday night.
Boston tied the game up twice before taking the lead in the third. But the Kings knotted it at 3-3 with two minutes to go before Los Angeles won 4-3 in overtime.
Danton Heinen, Patrice Bergeron and Brandon Carlo all scored for the Bruins, while Blake Lizotte, Adrian Kempe, Matt Roy and Anze Kopitar accounted for Los Angeles’ tallies.
Tuukka Rask stopped 23 shots on the night, while Jonathan Quick denied 37.
With the loss, the Bruins fell to 21-7-7, while the Kings moved to 15-18-3.
Here’s how it all went down:
TIED AFTER 20
The B’s were whistled for too many men on the ice just one minute into the opening period and the Kings were able to quickly take advantage. Lizotte from the slot redirected Jeff Carter’s blast to beat Rask to make it 1-0 just 2:17 in.
? A PPG to kick things off in Boston ?@JeffCarter_77's shot tipped in by @BLizotte46@LAKings | #GoKingsGo | #PuckPickEm pic.twitter.com/W3eEVUzx5l
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 18, 2019
Boston had prime scoring chances, but Sean Kuraly missed a wide-open net and Charlie Coyle just narrowly missed his 100th career goal on a beautiful net-drive dangle.
The Black and Gold got their first power play with 1:46 left in the first when Kyle Clifford was whistled for interference. And before the period was over, we had ourselves a tie game. Brad Marchand sent the puck toward the net and was redirected off Heinen’s skate and into the net. LA challenged the call but a quick review showed Heinen’s skate already was moving forward and the puck was not kicked in.
?@DHeinz43 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mFZ8NE0P51
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 18, 2019
The B’s held an 11-5 edge in shots after 20.
TWO APIECE
Boston found itself back on the power play just 1:59 into the second when Trevor Lewis went off for hooking, but it wasn’t so lucky this time around. Somehow, some way, Kempe got around the B’s penalty kill unit for a breakaway opportunity and went five-hole on Rask’s doorstep to give the Kings a 2-1 edge.
Absolutely disgusting ??@AdrianKempe with a coast to coast shorty @LAKings | #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/O5ol7EGOkb
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 18, 2019
But much like the first, the Bruins weren’t about to remain down by a goal when Torey Krug fed Bergeron the puck and found twine with a shot from quite a distance to make it a 2-2 game with 9:16 left in the second.
?ALL ?TIED ?UP ? pic.twitter.com/ULMazg4NYd
— NESN (@NESN) December 18, 2019
37 from distance.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/VUlhByfW28
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 18, 2019
The second period also ended in a tie with the B’s outshooting LA 20-17.
KINGS RALLY LATE
The Bruins took their first lead of the night not even two minutes into the final stanza when David Krejci and Heinen were battling it out for the puck before it found its way to Carlo, who fired it from distance past Quick for the 3-2 advantage.
Throw it on net and good things happen.@1996_Carlo | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/6EjR8AeVdm
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 18, 2019
Boston had some incredible zone time in the final six minutes with Marchand’s line was all over LA’s defense while Coyle also was not allowing anyone on the visiting team a chance at the puck.
But with just over two minutes to go and an empty net, the Kings fought back and tied it up when Roy blasted the puck from the blueline through traffic and past Rask.
This one needed overtime to decide the winner.
KINGS STEAL W
After Anders Bjork and Bergeron nearly netted the game-winning goals, it was the Kings who ended it with 1:37 left in OT when Kopitar potted the game-ending tally.
UP NEXT
The B’s continue their homestand when they welcome the New York Islanders to Boston. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET.
