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Kings hope to bounce back in matinee clash with Bruins

Jan 20, 2014 - 3:45 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A controversial goal led to the Los Angeles Kings having a two-game win streak halted on Saturday, but the club will try to bounce back on Monday afternoon when they visit the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

The Kings had won two straight and three of four before dropping a 3-2 shootout decision in Detroit on Saturday. Los Angeles held a 2-1 lead over the Red Wings heading into the final minute of regulation, but the hosts received a bit of luck to even the score with 26.1 seconds left.

Niklas Kronwall was credited with the strange power-play goal, as his deflected shot bounced off the netting behind the Los Angeles goal and struck Kings netminder Jonathan Quick in the back before trickling in the net to even the score at 2-2.

The goal was upheld following a video review, with the NHL releasing a statement afterward explaining that the play was not reviewable. Needless to say, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was not pleased with the decision.

"That's embarrassing for the league," said Sutter. "It doesn't matter if we'd have scored, or if they had scored it. That's embarrassing."

Tomas Tatar eventually won the game for Detroit by scoring the lone goal of the shootout.

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter both scored on the power play for the Kings, while Quick stopped 33 shots in defeat. Carter's goal handed L.A. a 2-1 lead with 2:15 left in the third, a little less than two minutes before Kronwall's controversial equalizer.

The shootout loss dropped L.A. to 1-0-1 at the start of a five-game road trip. The Kings will continue the swing Tuesday against Columbus before capping it Thursday versus Anaheim in the opener of a home-and-home series.

The Bruins have lost two of three and four of their last six games to fall into a tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division. Boston has played two fewer games than the Lightning, however, and the Bruins will use one of those games in hand on Monday.

Boston was able to pick up a point in Sunday's shootout loss at Chicago, as the Bruins and Blackhawks met in a rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago, which won the playoff battle in six games, took Sunday's contest after last spring's Conn Smythe winner Patrick Kane scored the winner in the shootout.

On the final attempt of the shootout, Kane skated down the middle and slowed up before picking his shot and burying a wrister past Tuukka Rask for the win.

Brad Marchand scored both goals for the Bruins, while Rask made 35 stops in defeat.

"We played really well today," said Marchand. "There's a few opportunities we'd like to have back, for sure, but I thought we had a very good chance to win in a tough place to play against a great team."

Boston hopes to get back in the win column today on home ice, where it is 18-5-2 this season compared to a 12-10-1 record on the road.

The Kings have won six of the last eight meetings with Boston, although four of those wins came after regulation. L.A. had won four straight in Beantown before the Bruins posted a 3-0 victory on Dec. 13, 2011 in the last meeting between the clubs at TD Garden.