“I was telling Mase, the crowd pop on that first goal is pretty insane,” Fraser Minten said. “Just waiting all game for one. We love playing here.”
Viktor Arvidsson picked up the secondary assist on the play, extending his point streak to four games. The 32-year-old forward has two goals and four assists through that stretch.
Drew Doughty found the 1-1 equalizer at 14:00 with a slapshot, but McAvoy soon took care of business in overtime. Boston held the Kings to 15 shots on goal, with Jeremy Swayman making 14 saves in his 25th win of the year. The Bruins also got both of their tallies from defensemen.
“It starts with just everybody defending first. And then, yeah, lucky enough, we got the puck in some opportunistic spots, and we were able to put it in the back of the net,” Lohrei said. “It’s just about us sticking to our game for 60 minutes. We’re perfectly fine winning 1-0 and 2-1 games.”
Swayman appreciated the effort from his end of the ice.
“We were playing such structured defense, and guys were working so hard,” he said. “That was a really well-played defensive game by us. I’m really proud of the boys.”
Tuesday’s win keeps the Bruins in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference as the tightly-contested playoff race pushes on. The believability has continued to grow for the Black & Gold.
“Every day we show up to work, and we’re ready to go,” Lohrei said. “We’re a confident group, for sure. Even since the beginning, when a lot of people were doubting us, we show up, and we go to work. We let the results speak for themselves.”
It helps, too, when you have a guy like McAvoy leading the charge, no matter the circumstance.
“Those are the guys you need in the locker room,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “He’s a good example.”