The Bruins may still be down a skilled winger and may be that way until the trade deadline, but they did get an infusion of creativity and doggedness down the middle in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime victory over the Kings with the long-awaited return of Matt Poitras.

It was worth the wait.

Poitras might have been the best B’s player on the ice in 16:05 of icetime. He drew two penalties early in the game and helped set up David Pastrnak’s game-winner in overtime to cap a very nice comeback after a shoulder injury that required surgery ended his rookie season last January.

His focus all over the ice, whether he was going on the attack or coming back on defense, was noticeable. Poitras also won the three draws that he took, not a small consideration if he’s going to be playing center.

“Vastly improved,” said Jim Montgomery of Poitras’ attention to detail. “You can see how hard he’s worked in the offseason. You saw the strength in his skating through the whole shift.. That’s a significant difference from last year. When he has the stamina to stay on the ice longer, he’s going to be able to make plays. That was toward the end of a shift when he set up that final goal.”

Poitras felt good about his performance, though he did say he felt gassed at times during the game.

“It definitely builds the confidence,” said Poitras. “Hopefully I’ll get the conditioning back to be a bit better than it was tonight. But I’ll play whatever minutes are given to me and I’ll keep doing my thing.”

Poitras centered Justin Brazeau and Trent Frederic and, while they didn’t score, the trio was a going concern for the Kings.

“It’s three guys who can hold on to pucks and make plays. And Fred and Braz are big guys who can cycle behind the net. They’re going to come up with pucks and keep plays alive, it’s a nice fit playing with those guys,” said Poitras.

The 20-year-old forward showed good anticipation, both offensively and defensively.

“For me, it’s just getting in those habits of reloading and stopping on pucks and being in good spots. I tried to keep it simple, reload and play the right way tonight,” said Poitras.

The B’s are far from a finished product. But the return of Poitras opens up some possibilities for Montgomery.

“Offensively, it just makes us so much more dynamic,” said Montgomery. “When we have four lines that can overwhelm you, it gets you excited. It’s still early in the year. We still haven’t played a full 60-minute game as a team yet, so there are areas for growth, offensively and defensively. The first two games we struggled defensively, today I thought we struggled with our transition to offense. It’s early in the year. I have to tell myself all the time to be patient with our group, because there’s a lot of growth within our lineup and that’s what excites you about what we can be.”…

Jeremy Swayman was sharp in his second start of the season, turning aside 32-of—33 shots. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kings had an 8-2 advantage in high danger chances, but Swayman lauded the skaters in front of him.

“It just goes to show it’s what we’re doing as a game plan,” said Swayman. “We’re clearing bodies from in front, we’re clearing sticks and making sure I’m getting that first look and doing my job as well. I couldn’t be happier with the effort that my guys did in front of me today.”

With each start, the contentious contract battle Swayman went through gets smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.

“There’s new challenges every day that come,” said Swayman. “My mindset is to simplify my world and make my most important thing be talking to you right now, then the next thing will be to get my protein shake and go in the shower. It’s simple things that I’ve been working on and it’s been a good formula for me.”…

Both the Kings and B’s went 0-for-5 on the power play, though the Kings did score their only goal three seconds after after Nikita Zadorov get out of the box…

Johnny Beecher, who continues to play a heady game, had a game—high four blocks….

Ian Mitchell cleared waivers and he was sent to Providence.