Bergeron’s OT goal wins it
Boston — The Boston Bruins honored Patrice Bergeron before the game. He made sure there was a celebration at the end.
Bergeron scored a power-play goal with 2:26 left in overtime, and the Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 Saturday after blowing a two-goal lead.
"The legend continues," Boston's Brad Marchand said. "It's great to see him have the game that he had. It was a great ceremony at the start. He deserves all the recognition that he's been getting, and he's gotten over the last few years."
The Bruins held a pregame ceremony for Bergeron, who earlier this week became the fifth player in team history to play 1,000 games with the club. During the first period, there was a video tribute that included congratulations from Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman and former Red Sox star David Ortiz.
"I had to kind of look away a few times," Bergeron said. "It was pretty special to hear from all these guys."
He had set up two other goals before beating goalie Jonathan Quick with a wrister from the right circle for the game-winner.
"To get the win was very special," he said. "That's what I said on the bench — 'We've got to find a way' — and we did."
Marchand, David Krejci and Danton Heinen each scored a goal in a 3:22 span early in the third period to give the Bruins a 4-2 edge before the Kings came back. Los Angeles tied it on Oscar Fantenberg's slap shot from the point with 4:47 left in regulation for his first goal of the season.
"The guys battled back," Kings coach Willie Desjardins said. "Was a little disappointing to start the third. We could have been better at the start of the third for sure."
Nate Thompson's goal cut it to 4-3 with 10:41 to play.
Charlie McAvoy had the other goal and Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots for Boston, including Adrian Kempe's breakaway in the first minute of OT. The Bruins have collected at least a point in eight of their last 10 games (4-2-4).
Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Quick made 28 saves.
Krejci gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead just 90 seconds after Heinen tied it early in the third. Skating in on rush, Torey Krug fired a shot off the right post before Krejci sent the rebound into the net.
Heinen had banged in a rebound from the edge of the crease 3:27 into the third.
The Bruins then took their twogoal lead when Marchand converted a perfect pass from Bergeron for a short-handed goal at the end of a 2-on-1 break.
Trailing 1-0 midway into the second period, the Kings scored twice in just under six minutes to move ahead. With Krejci in the penalty box for slashing, they tied it on Iafallo's power-play goal at 8:13, a shot from the right point that caromed in off Rask.
Kopitar made it 2-1 when he onetimed a pass from Dustin Brown from the bottom of the right circle at 14:02.
"We worked hard to get the 2-1 lead and we kind of feel asleep there," Los Angeles forward Brendan Leipsic said.
The Bruins had moved ahead 1-0 when Bergeron set up McAvoy's goal 4:38 into the second. Bergeron collected a pass down low, twisted his hands quickly and made an off-balance feed to McAvoy, who was coming hard down the middle toward the net.
Quick made a couple of nice stops late in the scoreless first. The best was when he came across the crease to block Peter Cehlarik's shot from the bottom of the right circle.
• Bergeron reached the 1,000-game milestone in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, scoring two goals . ... The others to play that many with the Bruins are Hall of Famers Ray Bourque and John Bucyk, current GM Don Sweeney and Wayne Cashman. ... Los Angeles played the fifth of a six-game trip; it was Boston's first of three straight at home before it heads west for a five-game trip . ... The teams meet again in Los Angeles on Feb. 16 . ... Bruins D Matt Grzelcyk was out with a lower-body injury . ... Los Angeles C Jeff Carter missed his third straight with a lower-body injury.
Clippers 123, Celtics 112
Montrezl Harrell forced two turnovers in the final two minutes and Patrick Beverly hit a pair of 3-pointers in front of the Boston bench Saturday night to help the retooled Los Angeles Clippers overcome a 28-point, first-half deficit and beat the Celtics. One game after the Lakers rallied from 18 points down to win in Boston on Rajon Rondo's buzzer-beater — and six days after the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl — the Clippers turned the "Beat L.A.! chants" to boos. The Celtics collapse corresponded to the loss of Kyrie Irving, who left with a sprained knee in the second quarter, when the game seemed comfortably in hand. Harrell scored 21 points, Danilo Gallinari had 19 points and 10 rebounds and trade deadline acquisition Landry Shamet scored 17 points. Gordon Hayward scored 19 points and Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier had 16 apiece for Boston. The Celtics followed their highest-scoring half of the season with their lowest-scoring quarter and lost at home to a team from Los Angeles for the second straight time. Boston scored 15 straight points and finished the first quarter with a 23-point lead, then extended it to 6840 in the second. The Celtics led 74-53 at halftime, but the Clippers outscored them 28-12 in the third. Los Angeles finally tied it 100-all, bringing boos from the crowd that expected an easy victory against a team that traded away leading scorer Tobias Harris at the deadline and added five new players. Gallinari followed with a jumper to give the Clippers their first lead. The Celtics were down by a point when Marcus Smart missed a 3-pointer, then tried to take a charge on Harrell but didn't get the call. The Boston guard was on the floor, hoping for a call, when Beverly hit his first 3. Harrell followed by stealing the ball from Hayward, then bounding down the court with a Celtic on either side before going in for a two-handed dunk that made it 114-107. After Tatum hit a 3, Beverly answered, and then Harrell poked another ball free to preserve the lead.
Raptors 104, Knicks 99
Marc Gasol had seven points and six rebounds in his Toronto debut and the Raptors sent New York to its 16th straight loss. Acquired from Memphis before Thursday's trade deadline, Gasol played 19 minutes. The three-time All-Star entered late in the first quarter and made a hook shot on his first try. Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and Serge Ibaka added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors. New York closed to 91-90 on a 3-pointer from rookie Kadeem Allen with 5 minutes left. Danny Green hit back-toback 3s to extend the lead 97-90. Mario Hezonja's 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go pulled the Knicks within 102-99. A pair of free throws from Lowry sealed it with eight seconds left. Green and Norman Powell each had 14 points for the Raptors, who have won their last three games, all on the road. Rookie Kevin Knox had 20 points and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 18 rebounds for a Knicks team that has not won a game since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 4. New York has lost 29 of its last 31 games. The Knicks took a 14-3 lead on Jordan's put-back dunk before the Raptors called a timeout.
Hornets 129, Hawks 120
Former UConn star Kemba Walker hit nine 3-pointers and scored 37 points, Marvin Williams added 27 points and Charlotte beat Atlanta to snap a two-game skid. Jeremy Lamb, another former UConn star, had 24 points to help the Hornets win for the eighth time in their last 13 games. Walker, a three-time All-Star guard, is averaging 34 points and eight assists in his last four games. John Collins had 21 points and Trae Young added 20 for the Hawks. They have lost four of six. Williams and Lamb were a combined 12 for 12 from the field and 6 for 6 on 3s to begin the game. The two and Walker scored 51 points in the first half. Miles Bridges' jumper, his sixth consecutive point, gave the Hornets their biggest lead at 19 in the final minute of the third before Devonte Graham's free throw made it 106-86. The Hornets got off to quick start, going up 23-13 after hitting their first eight field-goal attempts, including five from 3. It was big turnaround from the end of the loss at Dallas earlier in the week when they scored just seven points on their last 14 possessions. Charlotte led 41-25 when Bridges blocked DeAndre' Bembry's dunk attempt, dribbled up the court and passed to Batum, who assisted on Zeller's layup. The Hornets' biggest advantage in the first half was 17 on Walker's 3, but the Hawks pulled within five in the final minute on Taurean Prince's 3. Charlotte stayed in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Wizards 134, Bulls 125
Bradley Beal scored 31 points to help Washington beat Chicago in the first meeting between the teams since they swapped three forwards in a multiplayer trade. The Wizards got Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis and a protected 2023 second-round pick from the Bulls on Wednesday for Otto Porter Jr. Parker scored 20 points and Portis had 10 points and 12 rebounds against their former team, helping Washington to a 64-38 advantage in bench points. Parker and Portis hugged after they were pulled from the game in the final minute. Washington shot 58 percent (55 for 95) from the field and placed seven players in double figures in the opener of a four-game road trip. Chassan Randle also scored 20 points, and Trevor Ariza finished with 19. Zach LaVine scored 26 points for Chicago, which kicked off a three-game homestand with its seventh loss in nine games. Lauri Markkanen had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Porter finished with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Former New London High School star Kris Dunn had six points and eight assists for the Bulls.