Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, left, and Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) grapple with one another in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, in Boston. The Bruins won 1-0. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, left, and Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) grapple with one another in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, in Boston. The Bruins won 1-0. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Credit: Steven Senne

Boston — Jimmy Hayes emerged as an unlikely source of offense for the Bruins.

Hayes scored the game’s only goal early in the first period and Tuukka Rask made 18 saves as Boston held on for a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.

Hayes’ goal was his first in seven games and only his second in 28 games this season.

“You try to help the team whenever you can, and today I got an opportunity so it’s nice to cash in on one,” Hayes said.

It was a much-needed boost with leading scorer David Pastrnak sidelined after having right elbow surgery on Friday. Pastrnak’s 19 goals rank second in the NHL behind Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (21).

“It’s going to be huge (for others to step up),” Hayes said. “A guy like that who’s been scoring for us, scoring some big time goals for us on a regular basis. You’re going to need other guys to step up and that’s going to have to be the mentality going forward.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien hopes Hayes’ performance serves as a spark after his sluggish start. Hayes ranked ninth on the team with 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) last season.

“He resembled probably the older Hayes that we had at times last year than the one we’ve seen this year,” Julien said.

Rask recorded his fourth shutout of the season for the Bruins, who improved to .500 at home (8-8-0) after losing two straight games and five of six coming in.

“It’s one of those games that you only need one bad bounce or one really good chance for them to tie it, and today we didn’t even give them that,” Rask said.

Rask tied Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk for the league lead in shutouts, and now has 34 for his career.

Peter Budaj had 29 saves for the Kings, who had won their previous two games. Los Angeles was outshot 30-18.

Jets 4, Avalanche 1

Winnipeg, Manitoba — Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice to lead Winnipeg over Colorado.

Patrik Laine had a goal and two assists and Blake Wheeler also scored for the Jets. Mark Scheifele had two assists and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots to improve to 12-10-1 this season.

Jarome Iginla had a power-play goal for Colorado, and Calvin Pickard had 26 saves while making his first career NHL start in his hometown.

Blue Jackets 4, Canucks 3

Vancouver, British Columbia — Seth Jones scored 46 seconds into overtime lead Columbus to a victory over Vancouver, giving the Blue Jackets their ninth straight win and coach John Tortorella the 500th of his career.

Brandon Saad had two goals and Cam Atkinson added a goal and an assist for Columbus, which has earned points in 11 straight games (10-0-1). Alexander Wennberg had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 14 saves for his league-leading 19th win.

Brandon Sutter, Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen scored for Vancouver, while Ryan Miller stopped 21 shots.

Jones scored his fifth of the season on a 2-on-1 break with Atkinson in the extra period after Vancouver’s Ben Hutton hit the post at the other end.

Blackhawks 4, Sharks 1

Chicago — Ryan Hartman, Vinnie Hinostroza and Patrick Kane scored in the third period, and the streaking Chicago beat San Jose for its fifth consecutive victory.

The division leaders in the Western Conference were tied at 1 when Hinostroza won a faceoff for Chicago and Hartman whipped the puck right by Martin Jones on the stick side at 6:59. It was Hartman’s first goal since Nov. 25 at Anaheim, ending an 11-game drought.

Senators 6, Islanders 2

New York — Mark Stone had a goal and two assists, Zack Smith scored twice and Ottawa beat New York.

Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard and Tom Pyatt also scored to help the Senators win their second straight.

Rangers 3, Devils 2 (so)

New York — Kevin Hayes scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lead New York over Ner Jesey.

Henrik Lundqvist then stopped Damon Severson to secure the Rangers’ sixth win in seven games and second against the Devils at home in eight days. Lundqvist finished with 29 saves through overtime.

Mats Zuccarello also scored in the shootout, and Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan had goals in regulation.

PA Parenteau and Miles Wood scored and Cory Schneider stopped 24 shots as the Devils lost their sixth straight. Michael Cammalleri had a shootout goal.