Bruins Notes: Boston ‘Added’ To Issues In OT Loss To Kings

BOSTON — Jim Montgomery sounded like a parent scolding his team after the Los Angeles Kings handed the Boston Bruins their fourth straight loss on home ice Saturday afternoon.

“I’m not frustrated,” Montgomery said following the 5-4 overtime defeat. “I’m just disappointed we’re not getting results when there’s people on the ice I know who have done the job plenty of times.”

Montgomery fully believes the Bruins played a larger role than usual in their skid continuing. The Bruins coughed up two leads in the third period and then failed to execute when given a power-play opportunity in overtime.

Montgomery really lamented a holding penalty in the offensive zone by Pavel Zacha late in the third period, which set the Kings up to level the score with 1:35 left in regulation when Anze Kopitar found himself all alone at the front of the net as the man advantage expired.

“We added to our problems,” Montgomery said. “We had breakdowns that shouldn’t be happening in our structure, and also just game management. You have to close out a game. You’re up twice in the third period and we don’t close it out. And then in overtime, our power play has got to put it away.”

Montgomery added: “You can’t take an offensive zone penalty. Can’t do it. We’re protecting the lead.”

The Bruins had a similar losing stretch in mid-December when they lost four consecutive games in a week’s span. They answered that losing streak by winning four straight.

The Bruins needed a similar response now, what exactly is needed to get them out of their funk? Montgomery has an idea.

“You come out of it together,” Montgomery said. “Whether it’s special teams or goaltender comes out and plays an incredible game for you, your power play goes 3-for-4, that’s how you come out. You come out of it as a team. You never come out of it individually.”

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

— Trent Frederic literally did a little bit of everything in the loss. Frederic notched a Gordie Howe hat trick by recording a goal, an assist and a fight. The sixth-year forward dropped the gloves with Andreas Englund in the first period. The two fought previously this season when the Bruins visited Los Angeles, but Frederic said there isn’t any bad blood between them.

— The Bruins sure are getting their money’s worth — and then some — when it comes to James van Riemsdyk, who signed a one-year deal worth $1 million in free agency. The veteran forward scored twice on the doorstep in the first period and is up to 11 goals on the season, which is one shy from his total all of last season.

“It’s always nice to pot a couple,” van Riemsdyk said. “Obviously, wish it was in a win. But felt like I was a little snake bit for a good chunk of the year. So, it’s nice to get rewarded with a couple.”

— It’s difficult to decipher what exactly constitutes goalie interference these days. David Pastrnak had a goal wiped away in the first period after the Kings challenged that Jake DeBrusk interfered with netminder David Rittich. DeBrusk and Rittich’s skate barely touched, but the officials deemed it was enough to impede Rittich’s ability to make a save.

— Linus Ullmark didn’t have his best performance against the Kings. He stopped 30 of 35 shots, but it’s tough to fault him on the game-winning goal by Brandt Clarke, who skated out of the penalty box and right into a breakaway.

— The Bruins close out a seven-game homestand Monday against the Dallas Stars, who sit atop the Western Conference’s Central Division. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.