The stars were out in Los Angeles on Monday night as the Boston Bruins pummeled the host Kings en route to a 7-0 victory, but it was first-line winger Jake DeBrusk who shined the brightest.
DeBrusk, who was playing his third game since being promoted to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, scored the game's first three goals to record his first-ever hat trick. DeBrusk, after later tacking on a third-period assist, now has nine points on seven goals in the last five games including seven points on five goals since joining the top line.
DeBrusk's individual performance has been and continues to be incredibly noteworthy, but his energy and overall play has clearly helped the greater group.
After all, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy put DeBrusk on the top line to keep others like Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak together, all while wanting to add depth with Boston's third line. That certainly has paid dividends during the first three games of the road trip, best depicted during their rout of the Kings.
"He's scored in different ways, shooting the puck, going to the net, nice play going to the game late. I think he's doing some good things on the wall, too, on his off side there's some advantage to taking pucks there. He's been good at that as well," Cassidy said after Monday's win, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "I think he's working above pucks, trying to play the right way. So I'm happy for him.
"It's made us a more dangerous lineup, obviously, when he's going and contributing on that line," Cassidy added.
Boston's first line was responsible for four goals (Bergeron on power play) while the second line was responsible for three goals behind two from Erik Haula and one from Hall.
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Kings:
-- The seven-goal margin of victory was Boston's largest of the season and the second time on the campaign the Bruins have scored seven goals.
-- Jeremy Swayman earned his third shutout of the season behind a 34-save performance. Swayman now is 5-0-1 in his last six starts with two shoutouts, a .971 save percentage and a 0.82 goals against average.
"That's a great team win," Swayman said after the game, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "We're definitely enjoying this road trip so far. ... Guys are playing for the crest and it's fun to be apart of."
-- The Bruins finally found some success on the power play after recording a brutal stretch of 0-for-19 on the man-advantage entering Monday. Boston's previous power-play goal came Feb. 15 before Bergeron scored on a second-period advantage to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.
-- The final verdict may not depict it, but Boston had its three-goal lead threatened two minutes into the second period after back-to-back penalties gave the Kings a 5-on-3 situation. Boston killed off that two-man disadvantage before killing off the ensuing 5-on-4. Things may have played out differently if LA was able to put anything together in that situation.
-- Haula's first goal of the game at 10:11 of the third period earned three different Boston players milestones. First, it marked Haula's 100th goal of his career and it also was the 200th career assist by both Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith.
-- The Washington Capitals lost to Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday allowing Boston to maintain its wild-card advantage.
-- The Bruins will play the fourth game of their six-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, the second night of a back-to-back. Puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET, and you can watch it on NESN after a full hour of pregame coverage.
