Young talent makes a big difference early on

BOSTON – The Bruins have a really good young core, and there's rarely a game that better illustrates their impact than Saturday's win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Matthew Poitras, for example, may have had the best game of his young career after missing significant action for nearly eight months. Mason Lohrei scored the game-winning assist just one game after being declared a healthy player. John Beecher led the team with four blocked shots, including one on a near-empty goal.

The B's bring performance out of the children.

“It’s nice,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “It’s – these kids are special young players who are learning to be really good hockey players in this league. I liked Lohrei's reaction after not playing the last game.

“Matty Poitras, his first game in eight months, was special,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “I thought that was the best game he played as an NHL player, including some two-goal games last year. You can see how hard he worked in the offseason and you can see his strength skating full shifts. This is a significant difference from last year. So if he has the stamina to stay on the ice for a long time, he’ll have a chance to make plays.”

Not bad.

Lohrei, Beecher and Poitras were actually the three most influential players in the win, according to HockeyStatCards. David Pastrnak, who we all seem to forget, is only 28 years old and scored the game-winning goal. Jeremy Swayman, happy with that eight-year extension, made 33 saves.

The Bruins are in pretty good shape.

Bruins-Kings produced some other notable products on Saturday:

– Pastrnak's overtime tally moved him into fifth place (61) on the club's all-time winning goals list, behind Johnny Bucyk (88), Patrice Bergeron (81), Phil Esposito (77) and Brad Marchand (77). ).

— Poitras scored his first assist of the season on the winning goal and earned praise from throughout the locker room after the game.

— Bruins center Elias Lindholm scored his second goal and fifth point in the first three games of the season on Saturday, cleaning up a rebound off a drive by Brad Marchand.

“He had a really good career,” Lindholm said after the game. “He’s one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever seen, whether it’s practice, games or whatever. It's huge that people see this. He wears the 'C' for a reason, and I couldn't think of a better man to do it.”

– The Bruins will wrap up their first home game of the season on Monday when they play a highly anticipated return game against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. This is a matinee matchup with puck drop scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.