Gameday Blog: Bruins vs. Kings

SECOND INTERMISSION

SCORE
LAK – 0
BOS – 2

SHOTS
LAK – 21
BOS – 19

Forty minutes down at the Garden where the Bruins have doubled their lead over the Kings and will head to the third up 2-0.

Brad Marchand buried his 10th goal of the campaign at 7:43. The goal came off a clean faceoff win for Patrice Bergeron over Colin Fraser. No. 37 won it right to No. 63, whose knuckling snap-shot beat Quick to make it 2-0.

Boston spent a good chunk of the middle frame in the box. Nathan Horton went for slashing, Steve Kampfer went for hooking and David Krejci went for delay of game.

Krejci’s penalty gave the Kings 29 ticks of 5-on-3 time, but L.A. did squat with their two-man advantage, putting zero shots on goal during that stretch.

The Kings upped their offensive pressure in the middle frame, forcing Rask to make a few quality stops, but overall their play has been fairly uninspired through two periods.

FIRST INTERMISSION

SCORE
LAK – 0
BOS – 1

SHOTS
LAK – 8
BOS – 12

Twenty minutes are in the books at TD Garden where the Bruins lead the Kings 1-0.

Rich Peverley got the B’s on the board and ended a lengthy goal drought at the 6:32 mark. No. 49 kick-started a stellar cycle, dishing to Benoit Pouliot who went down low to Zach Hamill, who was recalled on emergency basis with Greg Campbell out.

Hamill found Peverley busting to the net for an easy tap-in past Jon Quick, putting Boston ahead.

The Kings found themselves shorthanded on three occasions in the opening frame, but the B’s failed to capitalize on any of their power plays.

An unnecessary roughing penalty by Milan Lucic gave L.A. a brief man advantage midway through the period, but Los Angeles did little to test Tuukka Rask in the first twenty minutes.

The Kings best opportunity came on a 2-on-0 in tight after Adam McQuaid let Simon Gagne slip by him. Unfortunately for the visiting squad, struggling forward Dustin Penner somehow missed a wide-open net.

Los Angeles held a 12-7 advantage in hits in the first, while Boston won 7-of-12 at the dot.

PREGAME NOTES

STARTING GOALTENDERS: Rask (5-4-1, 2.02 GAA, .930 Save %) vs. Quick
(2-4-0, 2.70 GAA, .899 Save %). Rask has never faced Los Angeles. Quick
is 5-0-0 with a 1.88 GAA and .937 Save % with one shutout in five career
games against Boston.

CHARA, CAMPBELL MISS MORNING SKATE: B’s captain Zdeno Chara (lower
body) and forward Gregory Campbell (foot) did not participate in the
team’s morning skate today. Steve Kampfer and Zach Hamill will dress
tonight, with Hamill’s status dependent on that of Daniel Paille’s,
who suffered a mild concussion on Thursday, December 8 against Florida.
Since coming to Boston in 2006, Chara has missed only 12 games, and the
Bruins are 4-5-3 in those games.

THIRD ANNUAL NEELY SK8 STARTS FEB 12: Beginning in February the Boston
Bruins Foundation and the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care are
hosting the third Annual “Neely SK8 Challenge” skate-a-thon presented by
Liberty Mutual. The Neely SK8 Challenge fundraiser will help raise funds
for children battling cancer and their families. The first SK8 will take
place at Jim Roche Community Ice Arena in West Roxbury. For more
information on the SK8, visit neelysk8.com

SELLOUT STREAK: Tonight, the Bruins are anticipating their 102nd
consecutive sellout at the TD Garden, including regular season and
playoffs.

CONNECTIONS: Daniel Paille and Dustin Brown were teammates on the
OHL’s Guelph Storm for three seasons, from 2000 to 2003… Blueliners
Jack Johnson and Steve Kampfer were teammates at the University of
Michigan during the 2006-07 season… The Kings have three former Hockey
East players: Jonathan Quick (UMass), Dustin Penner (Maine) and Rob
Scuderi (Boston College).