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Kessel records hat trick as Bruins crown Kings

Oct 13, 2007 - 6:29 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- After scoring just five times in their first three games, the Boston Bruins' offense finally came alive Friday.

Phil Kessel registered his first career hat trick and added an assist and Marc Savard tallied the game-winning goal and set up four others as the Bruins posted an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Kings, who have yet to win in North America after opening the season with a victory over the Anaheim Ducks in London, England.

Kessel's first goal of the season opened the scoring. David Krejci kept the puck in the offensive zone and sent a pass to Kessel, who corralled it and fired a snap shot past rookie goaltender Jonathan Bernier to give the Bruins a 1-0 edge with 3:06 left in the opening session.

Kessel added another goal at 8:56 of the middle period. He received a perfect cross-ice pass from Savard and tapped the puck into a vacant net to give Boston a 4-1 advantage.

"Savard hit me with a perfect pass," Kessel said. "I didn't even have to move my stick, I just tipped it in. It was nice."

Early in the third period, Kessel completed his hat trick when he capitalized on traffic in front of the net and slapped the puck past Bernier to extend the Bruins' lead to 5-3 just 87 seconds into the session.

"I was fortunate tonight," Kessel said of his hat trick. "(I had) some good bounces, but I'm happy about it. It's pretty exciting."

Los Angeles answered at 4:37 of the period when Mike Cammalleri scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

After Bruins goalie Manny Fernandez was shaken up by a shot to the head, Anze Kopitar tied the game with his second goal of the night on a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 8:19.

Savard put Boston back on top just 83 seconds later, beating Bernier to the glove side with a wrist shot while on the power play for his first goal of the season.

"We finally capitalized on every chance we had," Savard said. "Hopefully, we can to it again tomorrow night (at San Jose)."

Milan Lucic added an insurance tally - the first of his career - as he capitalized on a 2-on-1 rush, converting a pass from Krejci for a 7-5 edge.

"We weren't good enough tonight and everyone has to take responsibility, including me as the coach," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "The types of chances we're giving up and the way we're playing in our own defensive zone is not acceptable."

Bernier, who was making his third career start, stopped just 23 of the 30 shots he faced.

"You just have to turn the page and get ready for the next game," Bernier said. "You are going to have games like this in the season. What makes the difference between a good and bad goalie is bouncing back, and that's what I'm going to try to do now."

The Kings got on the scoreboard with just 12 ticks remaining in the first period. On the power play, defenseman Brad Stuart blasted a slap shot from the point that went between the pads of Fernandez to tie the game at 1-1.

Glen Murray netted his first goal of the season to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 4:05 of the second period. During a power play, Murray blasted a shot from the slot that beat Bernier to the glove side.

Savard picked up the assist on the play for his 500th career point.

Blue-liner Aaron Ward gave Boston a 3-1 advantage less than two minutes later with a slap shot to the stick side of Bernier. Lucic was credited with an assist on the goal for his first career point.

Trailing, 4-1, Los Angeles scored a pair of quick goals late in the middle session to remain in the game.

Rookie Brady Murray capitalized on Savard's turnover behind the net and scored his first career goal at 17:45. The 19-year-old center was held pointless in his first three NHL contests.

Kopitar tallied just 87 seconds later, cutting the deficit to 4-3 by tipping the puck past Fernandez for a power-play goal.

Fernandez made 25 saves for the Bruins, who went 3-for-7 on the power play.

"When you're on the road, you'll take it and get on the plane," Boston coach Claude Julien said.