Athanasiou, Kings rally past Bruins in OT

BOSTON --Andreas Athanasiou scored at 1:53 of overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied for a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday.

Charlie Coyle turned the puck over in the Kings' zone to Athanasiou, who scored with a shot short side on Linus Ullmark on a partial breakaway.
The goal came after Trevor Moore tied it 2-2 with 25.2 seconds remaining in regulation, getting to a loose puck at the top of the crease after Arthur Kaliyev's one-timer from the right circle deflected to him.
"It was a competitive game, right from the drop of the puck to the bitter end, and it was contested very hard by both teams," said Kings coach Todd McLellan, who returned after missing six games in COVID-19 protocol. "A lot of heavy lifting for both teams. So good for our team to play in that. Really good for our team to play in it and stick with it. We found a way to get two in the last few minutes of the game and used every minute we had, which was important."
Blake Lizotte also scored, and Cal Petersen made 30 saves for Los Angeles (32-19-7), which was coming off a 3-0 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

The Kings lost 7-0 at home to the Bruins on Feb. 28.
"We're putting a lot of different tricks in our bag, I guess, to find ways to win, and I think that's only going to help us down the road," Petersen said. "[That loss on Feb. 28] was a huge thing coming into the game for us. Obviously, we got embarrassed at home. … I think we came in with something to prove to show that we can play with the big boys. … It's huge for our confidence. We were looking for some revenge."
Craig Smith had a goal and an assist, and Coyle had two assists for Boston (34-18-5), which had won two straight. Ullmark made 25 saves.
"You've got to value the puck. The play at the end was not a very good hockey play, let's face it. We gave up a breakaway. We got what we deserved," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I thought we were the better team until about 30 seconds left, and then it's even. I still thought we were the better team."
Trent Frederic put the Bruins ahead 1-0 at 14:02 of the first period. Coyle got the rebound of Smith's initial shot and passed to Frederic, who chipped the puck into an open net from the slot.

Lizotte scored 1:09 later to tie it 1-1, knocking in a loose puck near the crease after Olli Maatta's centering pass was blocked by David Pastrnak.
Smith put Boston back in front 2-1 at 19:05 of the second period with a wrist shot over Petersen's blocker from the low slot off a pass from Coyle.
"It's tough. I thought for the most part we did a lot of good things," Smith said. "There's only two things you can do, you can sit and be [mad] about it, which we are right now, but we've got to make the next step forward, make the corrections and make sure that we're tightening up. It's all things we can fix, and we have the people to do it."
NOTES:Athanasiou has scored three goals in his past two games after being a healthy scratch in the previous five. … Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson left the game with an upper-body injury. Anderson went to the locker room after a collision with Bruins forward Brad Marchand at 10:36 of the first, and although he returned for the end of the period, he did not play in the second or third. … Los Angeles has 71 points in 58 games this season. It is the fifth-fewest games needed to reach the mark in its history, behind 1974-75 (50 games), 1980-81 (54), 2009-10 (56) and 2015-16 (57). … Smith has scored five goals in his past three games.