The Bruins came back from a 3-0 deficit for the second time this season, but unlike the first time in Washington, they grabbed a point in a 4-3 shootout loss. David Krejci made his return to the Bruins' lineup after it was unknown whether he would play.

After the Kings opened the scoring with three goals, Blake Wheeler, Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron all beat Kings goaltender and UMass product Jonathan Quick for tallies to even it up. From there, Quick and Thomas kept it tied through overtime and the first five rounds of the shootout, with Michal Handzus eventually beating Thomas to seal the King's victory and leave the Bruins with one point on the night. 

"The way I was approaching it was I was going to stop everything until they finally scored then one more because we shot first," Thomas said. "I had myself convinced we were going to win.  Then Handzus did a good job of changing up his speed compared to some of the other guys and not telegraphing where he was going to shoot the puck."

Here is the Hat Trick of storylines to emerge from the shootout loss, which marked the fourth time in as many games that a contest between the B's and Kings was decided outside of regulation:

HAPPY RETURNS FOR KREJCI

Well, not as happy as they could have been, as his attempt at going top shelf on Quick went awry in the shootout, but happy nonetheless. At the very least, his first game since returning from a concussion suffered back on Nov. 6 was surprising given that he wasn't exactly eased back in. 

Krejci's 22:21 of ice time was more than any other Bruins forward on Saturday, and the second-most minutes he's had this season. He was back on the power play, back on the penalty kill, and tied for the most shots (4) of any Bruins forward. 

"I don’t think I went into the game saying he was going to get over 20 minutes," Julien said following the gamin. "I went into the game saying 'we’ll see how he does and how he feels,' and you kind of gauge yourself on that, but he seemed to have lots of energy."

Krejci wasn't overly surprised that he returned in the fashion he did, saying that jumping right back into familiar scenarios is the quickest way to get him reacclimated. 

"I guess that the best way to get back in the game [is] to put me in the same situations I played before. I felt pretty good out there," Krejci said after the game. "Obviously, it wasn’t my best game, but as a team we battled hard. We got a good point, so that’s a positive thing. I just believe that I’ll be better every game now."

WILL SEGUIN STICK AT WING?

It was a no-brainer that Krejci would return to centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton when he came back from his concussion, but the big question was how the rest of the lines would take shape. Would they return to the way they were before Krejci went down? Yes and no. 

The energy line (Gregory Campbell between Brad Marchand and Shawn Thornton) that had been sweeping the nation is once again united, and it paid dividends. Campbell scored on a rebound from a Thornton shot on a delayed penalty to bring the B's within one goal. 

The most intriguing change to take place, though, was on the third line. Tyler Seguin, Blake Wheeler, and Michael Ryder had played together at points during the preseason and regular season, but it was always with Seguin in the middle. With Wheeler passing the test he faced while filling in as a second-line center for six games, the B's kept him in the middle when they returned him to the third line. 

"No, I didn't [expect it]," Wheeler said after the game. "I guess I didn't really think too much about it, but my assumption was I was going to go back to wing. He told us before the game that I'd be playing center, so that's the way it is. I don't mind it there.  our line did a pretty good job when we were out there a few times, but I guess we will see going forward what happens. I can't predict what he's going to do. Tomorrow I might be playing wing. Just hopefully not defense."

Meanwhile the move means that Seguin, as was widely assumed to happen at some point, hopped over to play the wing. Should he stick on the wing, it allows Seguin to focus on using his talents as a scorer to have an impact, rather than having to face the growing pains of a young NHL center still making adjustments. 

That isn't to say that the B's are completely sold on that being how things shake out. In fact, Julien said following the came that if he didn't like what he saw, it would have been back to center for the second overall pick. 

"I think we knew it was going to be an adjustment," Julien said, "and if it had been to the point where [Seguin] really struggled, I would have just switched him and Wheels, and it would have been an easy switch there.

"We knew at some point we had planned on using [Seguin at wing]," Julien added. "He's had quite a few games at center, so he understands that role. Now you need to gibe him a chance to maybe play the wing a little bit whenever he can, and tonight, I thought was a good night for that."

While it's doubtful the Bruins are actually that confident in Seguin as a center right now, it seems a good move to take advantage of his biggest asset while he continues to get comfortable in the league. Everyone's seen Seguin's skill, and it's scary. The Bruins are just being wise in developing the entire package carefully. 

BRUINS GET THE POINT

As tempting as it may be to go on a Seinfeldian "What's the deal with shootouts?" rant, it should instead be observed that the Bruins won the team battle on Saturday, outshooting the Kings, 41-26 and proving to be the superior club on special teams. They fell behind, dug themselves out of a 3-0 hole, and played better hockey, right up until the part where teams' time runs out and they end it with a bunch of penalty shots. 

This is twice now this season that the Bruins have come back to tie a Western Conference team at home, only to lose in a shootout. They got their point out of the deal, so the dressing room was by no means a hostile or gloomy environment. Rather than dwelling than what must be an odd feeling of losing a shootout, the B's looked to the positives, of which there were many Saturday. 

"Maybe [it's] a little bit [worse], but we're just trying to take the positives out of the games," Krejci said. "We were down 3-0, and we scored three goals to tie the game. We had a chance to win the game, so that's a positive thing. We got one point against an out-of-conference team, so that's a good point for us."

Still, for the guys who have a huge impact on the game but are left watching as a skills competition determines the game, there's no denying the negatives. The game's third star, Brad Marchand, who played 14:17 on Saturday, which was more than Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder, Jordan Caron, and Tyler Seguin, can see the downside of a game being determined by a shootout, but he's not complaining.

"It’s frustrating, especially when you come back like that, but it’s really a 50-50 chance for anyone," Marchand said. "That’s just how it goes. You’ve got to deal with it."