McAvoy scores in OT, Bruins get past Kings

BOSTON -- Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden on Tuesday.

David Pastrnak took a stretch pass from Mark Kastelic at the blue line and quickly fed a streaking McAvoy, who beat Darcy Kuemper with a backhand deke.

"Kastelic had great awareness to skate himself into a good lane, and 'Pasta’s' always doing a good job there and he reads overtime really well,” McAvoy said. “He stretched out, opened up a lot of space for us, and just led me perfectly.”

McAvoy, who needed facial surgery after being hit by a puck in November, exited the game late in the second period but returned for the third, sporting two bloody lips and missing more teeth.

“I thought he wouldn’t come back,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said. “He’s not getting prettier, that’s for sure. For some reason he’s had a tough go this year. ... He’s a competitor and he knew he wasn’t at his best (tonight), but he played a very good third period and scored a beauty of a goal in OT. It was nice to see.”

After the game, McAvoy stood at his locker and said he would only take two questions because the team dentist, Dr. Edwin Riley, was waiting to fix the damage.

“I wish the hits would stop coming, honestly,” he said. “It’s tiring. I honestly can’t feel worse, but I’ll get some work, and we have a really good dentist here who is great. I’m just happy we got two points.”

Defenseman Mason Lohrei also scored for the Bruins (36-22-6), who have won 13 straight on home ice. Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for his 25th win of the season, tying an NHL career high.

“He’s tough as nails,” Swayman said of McAvoy. “You always know he’s going to respond with whatever comes his way. That’s a special individual on our team, and I’m so happy he’s getting the success he deserves right now.”

Drew Doughty tied it late in the third period for the Kings (26-23-15), who were coming off a 5-4 overtime win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Kuemper made 21 saves.

“It obviously wasn’t a high-scoring game. It was tight-checking and both teams were competing really hard," Doughty said. "We would’ve liked to have come out with two points, but we can take a lot of good things from that game."

Lohrei gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 8:22 of the third period. He received a pass from Hampus Lindholm and scored with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that beat Kuemper blocker side off the post.

“Obviously, it feels good when it comes at a big moment in the third,” Lohrei said. “It’s about sticking with our game for 60 minutes, and we’re perfectly fine winning 1-0 or 2-1 games.”

Doughty tied it 1-1 at 14:00. He skated in off the bench and had his one-timer from the right point deflect in off Bruins forward Elias Lindholm’s skate.

“It was a good play by (Trevor Moore). Playing with him over the years, I know he’s good at pulling up and giving me that shot,” Doughty said. “He’s got more than a couple of assists on my goals from that, so just get to the blue line and let one rip.”

Doughty thought the Kings gained momentum after that goal, but they couldn’t finish the job.

“We showed resilience and heart tonight,” he said. “We played hard. We got a point against a really good team and can take some positives, but clearly we need to look at the negatives and fix those things.”

NOTE: Doughty scored his 30th career game-tying goal, tying Rob Blake for the most by a defenseman in Kings history.