Locked at 1-1 after two periods, the Bruins again showed their mettle in the third, getting a winning goal from Marat Khusnutdinov and a couple of insurance tallies to put away the Kings (0-4-2).

Alex Laferriere put LA ahead, 1-0, just 31 ticks into this one as the Bruins — playing for the second straight night — came out with lead in their legs.

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That was all Jeremy Swayman allowed, however, as he stopped the next 25 shots to improve to 6-1 on the season and 7-1 lifetime against the Kings.

“We’ve been getting [great goaltending] the whole year from both [Swayman and Michael DiPietro,” said David Pastrnak. “They keep us in the game and Sway is obviously outstanding. We try to limit the shots that he sees, so it’s not too much on him, but he’s been outstanding and kept us in every game win or lose.”

Fittingly, Pastrnak tied with a wicked wrister, beating Anton Forsberg blocker side on National Pasta Day.

The Bruins got their legs going in the second and third, keeping pace with the rested Kings (who had three days off coming in) before the offensive explosion settled things.

Other observations from LA-LA Land:

Mixed emotions:

With top center Pavel Zacha (upper-body injury) out, Sturm had to rejigger his lines, but the combinations weren’t jelling to his likings. So, he threw the lines in a blender late in the second and third and came up with a winning recipe.

“I think in the first period [the Kings] were much better, no doubt. Second period, we thought there was a little bit of a change,” said Sturm. “And yeah, in the third period we just continued to play our game. That’s all. Yes, I mixed it up a little bit just to get a little bit more out of some of the guys and lines, but it was just a great team effort today.”

Stuck in neutral:

The Kings employ a 1-3-1 neutral zone trap to clog the middle of the ice, and it gave the Bruins problems early on. Speed and short passes help Boston become more connected allowing it to generate more chances.

It’s not an easy scheme to break because so few teams employ it, according to Pastrnak.

“It’s hard because you have to pick up a lot of speed every time and the timing has to be perfect by all five guys. And when sometimes you maybe fatigue or something and you start standing still, then there’s no answer,” he said. “So, it’s not easy because like I said, you’re not used to seeing that night in and night out. So, we battled with it a little bit. But yeah, I think the key is you have to play fast whether the puck is moving or like I said, pick up a lot of speed and try to break it with the speed.”

Filling in nicely:

With top 6 defenseman Nikita Zadorov (benched) and Zacha out, Jonathan Aspirot paired with Will Borgen on the back line and Sean Kuraly drew back into this fourth-line center role. Despite having been out of the lineup for a stretch, the two drew in seamlessly.

“Yeah, it’s not easy to be out that long, but I thought [Aspirot] was outstanding today. He was blocking shots, he was aggressive, he was mean, won a lot of battles, so he was excellent,” said Sturm.

As for Kuraly, who won 10 of 12 faceoffs, Sturm said, “he was a real pro the last week or so. He worked extremely hard in practice. He was positive and I’m very, very happy that he had a great game.”

Odds and ends:

Matt Poitras assisted on Khusnutdinov’s winner, giving him points in four of his last five games … Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm finished as plus-3s … Mason Lohrei took a deflected puck off the side of the face and though he sported a good-sized welt, didn’t miss a shift … Mark Kastelic handily won a first-period bout with Samuel Helenius.

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.