Bruins Falter in Third, Fall to Kings in Shootout

BOSTON - Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand scored in the second period to build a two-goal lead, but the Bruins faltered during the final frame en route to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden on Thursday night.
"I actually sensed frustration, to be honest," said coach Jim Montgomery, whose club fell to 15-0-2 at TD Garden this season. "I thought our first period was OK, I thought our second period started off really well, we started doing a lot of really good things. And then when we got up 2-0, we got away from those things that were giving us success."

The loss was Boston's first of the season when leading after two periods (16-0-1). Los Angeles cut the Bruins' lead in half at 8:29 of the third on Adrian Kempe's first tally of the night, before Kempe struck again with 2:10 remaining in regulation to tie things up during a 5-on-3 man advantage.
"We've taken a lot of penalties, but I think tonight we took a lot of retaliatory penalties," said Montgomery. "That usually is some sort of frustration involved, whether it's the game…in the first period, it was eight minutes of special teams so there's a lot of guys not getting the minutes they are used to. It creeps into your game and you're waiting for things to get going and you're not getting into the flow of the game as you usually do."
The Bruins, meanwhile, let their own power-play chances slip away. Boston went 1-for-6 on the man advantage, but none of the failed power plays were more costly than the final one of the night, which came with 40 seconds remaining in regulation after Drew Doughty cross-checked Marchand.
Boston couldn't strike in regulation and had 1:20 of power-play time left over to begin the extra session but was unable to execute smoothly enough to connect for the deciding tally.
"I don't think complacency is the right word," said Montgomery. "I saw players not executing to their ability. Our play was sloppy, our passing was sloppy. On the 4-on-3, we should gain the blue line pretty easily - and we weren't."
"Those are ones that you do have to capitalize on. When you get a late one there, especially in overtime, we kind of squandered that one away," added Marchand. "So, that one was frustrating."

The Black & Gold also had two power plays within a three-plus minute span earlier in the third (9:49 and 13:17 of the frame) - after the Kings had cut the Boston lead to 2-1 - during which they were unable to regain a two-goal lead and put the game away.
"I actually said it to [assistant coach] Chris Kelly on the bench…if we don't score on this second power play, we're going to end up in a tight ball game," said Montgomery.
Boston's bench boss also noted that he sensed a growing frustration on the bench as the Kings - who had allowed six goals in a shutout loss to Buffalo on Tuesday night - smothered the Bruins' offensive attack.
"I thought the Kings did a great job checking tonight," said Montgomery. "They really checked us well and it was hard for us to have any kind of speed on entries or speed on breakouts. So, you give them credit. They're a well-coached team and Todd McLellan has been an elite coach in this league for a long time."
"They have a lot of water bugs, they can play in the corners, they play fast and play hard, and they made it tough on us all night," added Hall. "A team that's had a loss like that going to come out and play hard, try to get a win on the road - and seeing their excitement after the game, they really needed that, they wanted that.
"At the end of the day, that third period, I don't know if they wanted it more or whatever it was, but you're up 2-0 on home ice, it's gotta be a win."
Marchand felt that the Bruins, who slugged out a 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders on Tuesday night, were still trying to find their jump after the long road trip out West and a lack of practice time of late.
"I think we're recovering a bit from that, it's a tough trip to come back from. For all you married [reporters] with kids, it's not easy coming home and taking over, so you kind of get more rest on the road," Marchand said with a smirk.
"It's one of those ones we're going to have to look at and improve upon and get ready for the next one."