Going into the second night of a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, the writing was on the wall for what might happen. Before the game, head coach Marco Sturm said that Nikita Zadorov was a healthy scratch and Pavel Zacha was out with an upper-body injury.
Missing two key players and playing on a back-to-back while the Kings were rested, it was a recipe for disaster for the Black and Gold, who had wins over the San Jose Sharks and Ducks to begin their four-game road trip. Oh, did we mention that Los Angeles was one of two winless teams in the NHL entering Saturday? The other, the Philadelphia Flyers, beat the Ottawa Senators earlier in the night.
However, tied 1-1 entering the third period and on a back-to-back, the Bruins erupted for three goals for a 4-1 win. Here are three takeaways after the Black and Gold improved to 7-2-0.
Bruins dig themselves into an early hole again
Stop me if you've heard this before: the Boston Bruins fall into an early hole on the scoreboard. I know, shocking. Against the Ducks, they allowed two goals in the final minute of the first period but were able to recover with a goal in the second period and three in the third for the win.
Against Los Angeles, it didn't take long for the Black and Gold to be facing a deficit. Alex Laferriere scored 31 seconds into the game. Talk about a disastrous start on a back-to-back against a winless team that has trouble scoring goals. They came into the game averaging just two goals a game, 29th in the NHL. Not ideal.
Bruins failed to take advantage of the Kings dreadful penalty kill
It seems like the Bruins only like to score power-play goals in threes. The Kings entered the game with the NHL's worst penalty kill early in the season. You would have never known it watching it against the Bruins.
They killed both of Boston's chances without any high-danger chances as the Black and Gold were missing Zacha on the top unit. It was a night to have more success on the man advantage and gain even more momentum, but they didn't. Imagine how much better Boston could be if they had a little more consistency on the power play.
The kids do it again
The youth movement is getting more and more real with each passing game. Tied 1-1 in the third period, the Bruins broke it with kids setting each other up for the game-winning goal, which was a garbage goal. Matthew Poitras was able to shove a loose puck to the right of the net, where Marat Khusnutdinov was able to flip it into an open net.
Then, with just under two minutes remaining, Khusnutdinov made a nice play at the defensive blueline to dive and pass the puck to Elias Lindholm, who scored into an open net. Boston will close out the trip against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in Texas after sweeping all three games in California.
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