Bruins Notes: ‘Frustration’ Not Complacency Leads To Collapse

BOSTON — There is plenty to blame for the Boston Bruins’ shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Complacency, however, is not one of those things.

The Bruins entered the third period of their matchup with the Kings with a two-goal lead. Slowly but surely, Los Angeles chipped away and eventually tied the game in the final three minutes, eventually leading to overtime and a shootout. Considering it had been dominant in the frame all season long, many wondered what hampered Boston in the third.

Was it complacency?

“No, I actually sensed frustration, to be honest,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame. “I think out first period was OK. I thought our second period started off really well. We started off doing a lot of really good things, then when we got up 2-0 we got away from those things that were giving us success.

“I just don’t think complacency is the right word. I just saw players not executing to their ability. Our play was sloppy, our passing was sloppy. On a 4-on-3 we should gain the blue line pretty easy, and we weren’t.”

So what exactly was the frustration Montgomery sensed?

“We’ve taken a lot of penalties through the course of the year, but tonight we took a lot of retaliatory penalties,” Montgomery said. “So that usually has some sort of frustration involved.”

The Bruins and Kings did play a lot of special teams Thursday. The two clubs combined for 13 penalties (seven for Los Angeles, six for Boston) with the majority of the game’s most crucial stretches coming on the power play. Perhaps the most critical was a pair of Boston penalties in the final four minutes of regulation. That allowed Los Angeles to go 6-on-4 and eventually tie the game up at two.

On a night they lost in a shootout, it’s tough not to look at that pair of penalties as the straw that broke the Bruins’ back.

Bruins Wrap: Disastrous Stretch Leads To Shootout Loss Vs. Kings

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Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Kings game:

— Prior to Thursday, the Bruins had not lost a game all season that they led entering the third period.

— The Bruins’ six trips to the penalty box were their most all season.

— Hampus Lindholm played despite not feeling well during morning skate. Montgomery didn’t seem to believe his play was effected, however.

“I thought he was good,” Montgomery said. “He seemed to be even better than good enough.”

— The Bruins will continue their season-long homestand Saturday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.