Playing without their captain Zdeno Chara and coming off three difficult games, the Bruins needed someone to step up. Brad Marchand and Tukka Rask were more then up to the task for the Bruins Wednesday night. Marchand scored two goals and Rask earned his first shutout of the season making 41 stops in Boston's 3-0 win over the King
Rask was superb, making 33 saves in the second and third period, including facing many Grade A chances, as the team played their first game without Chara. The most brilliant may have been his second to last save, as Rask threw out the glove and made a stop on Kings captain Dustin Brown from just outside the crease. It was the ninth shutout of Rask's career and he tied his own mark for most saves in a game in his career.
"The team knows what I'm capable of they've seen me enough," Rask said. "So I don't have to prove that day in and day [anymore] to them than I have to prove to myself,."
Playing against a Kings team in the midst of turmoil after firing their coach Monday, Rich Peverley got the Bruins off to a good start with his fifth goal of the season at the 6:32 mark of the first period. Peverley received a pass from Zach Hamill across the goalmouth and tipped it into the net beating Kings goalie Mike Quick. Hamill and Benoit Pouliot earned assists on the play.
Boston continued to pressure the Kings throughout the period but failed to capitalize as Quick made 11 of his 20 saves in the first period, including several point blank stops. The Kings would pick up their game in the second and third periods, outshooting the Bruins by a wide margin but it wouldn't matter because of Marchand and Rask.
Marchand scored the first of his two tallies midway through the second period off a faceoff win by Patrice Bergeron, as his slapshot blew by the former UMass goalie.
"That first one we've tried it a couple times this year and it's pretty tough to do," Marchand said. "Everything's gotta go right, but when it works it feels good.
He added his second tally in the third period at the 4:25 mark off another Bergeron assist. The leftwinger took the puck across the goal-mouth, dangled the forehand and then put just enough elevation on his backhand shot to have it trickle over Quick's glove. Marchand was quick to credit Bergeron for making both plays possible.
"He's if not the best, one of the top in the league [on faceoffs], very consistent every night, very, very strong on draws," Marchand said. "It's huge for our team, the amount of times we start with the puck because of how well he does on draws. It's a big thing, you don't want to spend the whole night chasing the puck off faceoffs. When you win the way he does, it makes it very easy for us.
For the Kings, it was their fifth consecutive loss as the team continues to struggle offensively without forward Mike Richards. Interim head coach John Stevens dropped his first game as head coach despite the Kings taming the Bruins power play. Boston went 0-3 on the night, while the Kings squandered five chances.
The Bruins will be back in action tomorrow night as they travel to take on Buffalo at 7 p.m. Chara will travel with the team but his status is still uncertain.