Need to Know: Bruins vs. Kings

BOSTON –– It is a familiar opponent for Marco Sturm on Tuesday at TD Garden.

The head coach and his Boston Bruins will host the Los Angeles Kings for a 7 p.m. puck drop, marking the second and final regular-season meeting between the teams.

​Sturm was an assistant coach for the Kings from 2018 to 2022 and the head coach of the Ontario Reign, the Kings' AHL affiliate, from 2022 to 2025, before taking over in Boston.

“It’s a good group,” Sturm said. “It’s a very good organization. I had a good time there.”

The B’s are looking to bounce back after falling 5-4 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

​“It was not a terrible game; it was a bad ending, but we did a lot of good things. For 40 minutes, we played pretty good hockey. Unfortunately, we made too many mistakes, and the third cost us the game,” Sturm said. “We talked about it this morning, because yesterday was a day off, and we’re going to continue to get better and focus on tonight.”

Pavel Zacha posted his second hat trick of the season on Sunday. He enters Tuesday’s matchup on a five-game point streak; he has four goals and four assists through that stretch. Zacha remains on the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson. The trio has been the Bruins' best 5-on-5 producer this year.

“Pav has been great. Plays every situation. Just contributing all over the ice. He’s having a great year, and we have to keep it going down the stretch,” Arvidsson said. “I think we just enjoy playing with each other and having fun. We all three work really hard, and we try to make plays for each other. I think that has been key. And personally, I love playing in the games where it is tight and we’ve got to win. It’s fun.”

Boston is holding onto the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. The group has won the last 12 consecutive games at TD Garden, and is looking to keep that run going.

“The standings are tight, and we’ve got to be ready to go,” Arvidsson said. “We’ve been good at home, so have to keep that going and stick to our game plan and structure.”

Wait, There’s More

• Jeremy Swayman will start in net for Boston. The 27-year-old goaltender last played on Saturday against the Washington Capitals and made 22 saves in the win. Swayman started in the B’s first game against the Kings this year and made 31 stops in the victory. He has a 2.80 goals against average and a .906 save percentage through 41 games.

• David Pastrnak broke his eight-game goal drought on Sunday with a tally against the Penguins; it was his 23rd of the season. The forward remains on the first line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Elias Lindholm. Pastrnak has tied his career-high in assists (63), too, and is on pace to surpass it.

• Tanner Jeannot spent the 2024-25 season with the Kings before signing his five-year contract with Boston in July. Joonas Korpisalo also played 11 games for Los Angeles in the 2022-23 campaign, and Mikey Eyssimont was a fifth-round draft pick of the Kings in 2016.

Opposing View

• The Kings are playing in the second game of a back-to-back; they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime on Monday at Nationwide Arena. Adrian Kempe had two goals, including the OT game-winner. Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Brian Dumoulin also scored. Netminder Anton Forsberg made 28 saves.

• Panarin, who was traded from the New York Rangers to Los Angeles on Feb. 5, leads the Kings with 65 points (21 goals, 44 assists) through 59 games this season; he has had seven games with his new team. The 34-year-old forward has been on the first line with Kempe and Anze Kopitar, and the first power-play unit.

• The Kings relieved former head coach Jim Hiller of his duties on March 2. Los Angeles named D.J. Smith the interim head coach for the remainder of this season. The Kings are in sixth place in the Pacific Division with 66 points, and one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.