Jake DeBrusk scored his first career National Hockey League hat trick to kick things off on a four-point night (three goals, one assist), while Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves en route to his third shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-0, Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Swayman (13-7-3, 1.95 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in 24 games played) turned aside all 34 shots that he faced for his fifth career shutout in the win for Boston.
Los Angeles netminder, Jonathan Quick (14-11-6, 2.67 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 31 games played) made 14 saves on 19 shots against in 32:40 time on ice before he was replaced by Cal Petersen in the loss.
Petersen (14-7-1, 2.68 goals-against average, .898 save percentage in 23 games played) stopped 11 out of 13 shots faced in relief of Quick for no decision.
The Bruins improved to 32-17-4 (68 points) on the season and remain 4th in the Atlantic Division, while in control of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Kings fell to 29-18-7 (65 points) overall and remain 2nd in the Pacific Division.
The B’s visited Los Angeles for the first time since the 2018-19 season (4-2 loss on Feb. 16, 2019) due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which also marked the first time Boston faced the Kings in general since the 2019-20 season (4-3 overtime loss on Dec. 17, 2019 at TD Garden).
Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 3-1, win in San Jose to Monday night’s action in Los Angeles.
As a result, Anton Blidh and Jack Ahcan remained healthy scratches for Boston, while Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) and Curtis Lazar (upper body) were out of the lineup due to injury.
After a quick entry into the attacking zone for the Kings, Brad Marchand took a hit to move the puck to DeBrusk as the Bruins forward made his way through the neutral zone with speed on the first rush of the game for Boston.
DeBrusk (12) flung a shot on net off of Quick’s glove side and into the twine to give the B’s a, 1-0, lead at 1:01 of the first period– extending his point streak to five games in the process.
By the end of the night, No. 74 in black and gold would amass seven goals and two assists (nine points) in his last five games.
Marchand (30) and Patrice Bergeron (25) tallied the assists on DeBrusk’s first goal of the night– giving Marchand six straight seasons with at least 30 assists in the process on Boston’s first shot of the game.
Midway through the opening frame, DeBrusk (13) sent an indirect catch and release shot from the slot off of Quick’s glove side and into the twine (again) for an unassisted goal that gave the Bruins a, 2-0, lead at 13:37 of the first period.
DeBrusk’s second goal of the game put him in sole possession of fourth places in goals scored this season on Boston’s roster, trailing David Pastrnak (28), Marchand (23) and Bergeron (15).
Less than a couple minutes later, Trent Frederic expressed frustrations with Brendan Lemieux in the exchange of fisticuffs at 15:12 and the two players received five-minute majors for fighting– sending each player to the dressing room early for the first intermission in the 17th fight this season for Boston.
A few minutes later, Blake Lizotte tripped Mike Reilly and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 18:16, but Boston failed to convert on the resulting skater advantage.
Heading into the first intermission, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 12-9, in shots on goal.
Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-3) and hits (17-13), while Los Angeles led in giveaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (59-41).
The Kings had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play.
DeBrusk (14) got things going again early in the middle frame as he deflected a shot from Bergeron just under the crossbar to give Boston a three-goal lead.
The call on the ice stood as the goal was reviewed but could not be conclusively overturned and DeBrusk earned his first career hat trick– a natural hat trick at that– in the process, while Bergeron (26) and Charlie McAvoy (26) tallied the assists 53 seconds into the second period.
McAvoy’s secondary assist gave him a new career-high in points in a season– surpassing his previous high (32 points) set in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
DeBrusk’s hat trick marked the first hat trick for Boston since Pastrnak recorded a hat trick in a, 3-2, win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 13th earlier this season.
Moments later, Jesper Frödén cut a rut to the penalty box for holding at 2:23 and Derek Forbort tripped Viktor Arvidsson at 3:02 of the second period– presenting Los Angeles with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:22 before an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play in the remainder.
The Kings, however, couldn’t convert on the skater advantage.
Midway through the period, Sean Durzi was assessed a holding infraction at 11:34.
It didn’t take Boston long to convert on the ensuing power play as Bergeron won the faceoff and the puck worked its way back to the point where Pastrnak unloaded on a blast that Bergeron (15) tipped in front of the net to give the Bruins a, 4-0, lead at 11:40 of the second period.
Pastrnak (24) and Marchand (31) had the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal as the B’s extended their lead to four goals.
A mere 62 seconds later, Pastrnak sent Taylor Hall (12) through center ice into the attacking zone on his off-wing before riffling a shot from the faceoff dot under Quick’s blocker into the far side of the net.
Pastrnak (25) and McAvoy (27) notched the assists on the goal as the Bruins took a, 5-0, lead at 12:42 of the second period at which point the Kings swapped goaltenders.
Quick left the ice and Petersen strolled over into the crease to hold the fort down for the remainder of the second period, though he would give up a pair of goals in the final frame.
Through 40 minutes of action, Boston led, 5-0, on the scoreboard and, 23-21, in shots on goal, despite trailing Los Angeles in shots on net in the second period alone, 12-11.
The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (9-8) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the Kings led in giveaways (5-3).
Both teams had one takeaway each and recorded 23 hits aside, while Los Angeles was 0/2 on the power play and Boston was 1/2 heading into the third period.
Drew Doughty slashed Marchand at 8:12 of the third period and the Bruins cashed in on the resulting power play with one second to spare.
Erik Haula (6) notched his 100th career NHL goal on a shot pass redirection goal from the doorstep courtesy of Charlie Coyle, who recorded his 200th career NHL assist in the process.
Acutally, both Coyle (14) and Craig Smith (13) recorded their 200th career NHL assists on Haula’s 100th career goal in a strange aligning of the universe on one play as the B’s took a, 6-0, lead courtesy of Haula’s power-play goal at 10:11 of the third period.
A few minutes later, Haula (7) scored his second goal of the game on yet another quick shot from the slot as DeBrusk sent the puck to Hall before Hall feigned a give-and-go opportunity for a clearer passing lane to Haula in front of the net.
Hall (27) and DeBrusk (10) tallied the assists as the Bruins took a, 7-0, lead at 13:39 of the third period– marking DeBrusk’s first career four-point night on Haula’s first multi-goal game in a Boston uniform.
There were no more goals and no penalties after Haula scored his second of the game as the Bruins cruised to a, 7-0, shutout in their largest margin of victory this season– scoring seven goals for just the second time this year (previous, 7-3, win on Jan. 10th in Washington, D.C.), while Swayman turned aside every shot he faced.
Boston left Crypto.com Arena with the, 7-0, win despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 34-32, as Los Angeles rallied to a, 13-9, advantage in shots on net in the third period alone.
The Kings left their own ice leading in blocked shots (13-12) and giveaways (9-4), while the Bruins finished the night leading in hits (33-30).
Both teams wrapped up Monday night’s action, 50-50, in faceoff win%, while Los Angeles went 0/2 and Boston went 2/3 on the power play.
The Bruins improved to 22-7-1 (12-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 20-2-1 (11-1-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 22-1-2 (14-0-2 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.
The Kings fell to 14-13-4 (6-9-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 6-10-2 (1-7-0 at home) when trailing after one and 4-12-2 (2-8-1 at home) when trailing through the second period in 2021-22.
The Bruins visit the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night to close out the month of February as their six-game road trip continues (3-0-0).
Boston kicks off March Thursday night in Vegas and wraps up their road trip in Columbus Saturday before returning home to host the Kings next Monday.
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