Bruins continue to roll under Cassidy with win in LA
LOS ANGELES -- David Pastrnak scored the decisive goal and Anton Khudobin made 27 saves as the Boston Bruins defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Thursday.
The Bruins (31-24-6) won for the fifth time in six games under interim coach Bruce Cassidy and moved into third place in the Atlantic Division.
Los Angeles (29-27-4) lost for the sixth time in its last eight games, scoring only six goals in the defeats. Peter Budaj stopped 21 Boston shots.
Dominic Moore and David Krejci added empty goals at 18:58 and 19:52 of the third period for the final margin.
Boston opened the scoring on Brad Marchand's 26th goal of the season at 3:16 of the first period. The unassisted goal was the result of a turnover by Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin inside the Boston defensive zone.
The Kings tied the game at 1 on Kevin Gravel's first NHL goal on the power play at 18:12 of the first period. Adrian Kempe won a puck battle and threaded a pass to Gravel. Alec Martinez drew the secondary assist.
Boston took a 2-1 lead on Pastrnak's power-play goal, his 26th of the season at 4:43 of the second period. Pastrnak one-timed a cross-ice pass from Ryan Spooner, and despite breaking his stick, his shot eluded Budaj.
The Bruins appeared to have a goal by Peter Cehlarik at 18:52 of the first period, but it was overturned after a video review ruled the play offside.
NOTES: Boston scratched C Riley Nash, D John-Michael Liles and D Joe Morrow. ... The Bruins conclude their four-game road trip in Dallas on Sunday. They return home Tuesday to face Arizona to start a stretch of five home games out of six contests. ... Los Angeles did not dress C Andy Andreoff and D Paul LaDue. ... Kings coach Darryl Sutter (1,263) surpassed Jacques Lemaire for 13th on the all-time games coached list. ... Kings G Jeff Zatkoff cleared waivers but has not yet been assigned to the Kings AHL Ontario affiliate, a move further signaling the return of injured starter Jonathan Quick. The team has 30 days to assign him to their minor-league club or they must pass him through waivers again.