"It was great," Rask said after practice. "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear. I was pretty impressed, (Wednesday) was her first time wearing that, and she was skating around, stopping pucks. Its always fun to brighten up kids days." Its another very touching story from an NHL team. We saw last week that the San Jose Sharks allowed Sam Tageson, who has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, to fulfill his NHL dream through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and take the ice with the team. The Bruins also made Maddies wish come true. She suffers from stage IV sarcoma, a rare tissue cancer, today allowed her the dream of suiting up for her Boston Bruins and spent 15 minutes after practice in goal, with every Bruins player remaining on the ice to take their shots on the new netminder. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Lakers navigated the first 19 games of the season without star Kobe Bryant well enough to welcome him back with a winning record. Jodie Meeks made two huge 3-pointers in the final minutes to finish with 19 points, lifting the Lakers past the Sacramento Kings 106-100 Friday night in whats expected to be their last game before Bryant returns. "You know who he is, hes Kobe Bryant. But hes not going to be able to do it by himself," said Lakers centre Jordan Hill, who had seven points and nine rebounds. "Weve got to go out there and fight for him and carry him." So far this season, they have. Pau Gasol had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Steve Blake added 13 points and 10 assists for the Lakers (10-9), who held the Kings scoreless for nearly 3 1/2 minutes until Ben McLemores meaningless 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining. The Lakers are counting on an even bigger boost when he returns against Toronto on Sunday, nearly eight months since undergoing surgery on his torn left Achilles tendon. "We knew at the beginning of the season we were going to have to do it by committee," said Meeks, who shot 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. "We dont have any superstars. Our superstar is coming back Sunday, but 19 games we didnt, so we had to share the ball." DeMarcus Cousins and McLemore each scored 20 points, and Isaiah Thomas added 14 points and a season-high nine assists as Sacramento (4-13) lost its sixth straight game. The Lakers outshot the Kings 47.7 to 43 per cent but were outrebounded 51-36. Los Angeles forced 17 turnovers -- and committed only 12 -- to seize control in the final minutes. The Lakers outscored the Kings 25-13 in the fourth quarter. "The one major horror that jumps out at me with our team is discipline," first-year Kings coach Michael Malone said. "And right now, we have none." After going down by 10 points late in the third quarter, Lakers coach Mike DAntoni called a timeout. He waved his arms in the air and shouted at his players to improve defensively. "When Im out of my mind, I just go with it," DAntoni said. "I wanted to kill somebody at that pooint.dddddddddddd Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt." Los Angeles responded by scoring 11 straight, going ahead 88-87 on Blakes 3 early in the fourth. Meeks made another from long range before Gasols jumper gave the Lakers a 98-97 lead late. Meeks followed with his final 3-pointer to extend the Lakers lead with 1:09 to play. Wesley Johnson stole the ball from McLemore on the next possession. Then Nick Young hit a 20-foot jumper to send most of the announced sellout crowd of 17,317 -- most wearing white T-shirts as part of Sacramentos "white out" -- to the exits. "This is just ugly," Kings point guard Greivis Vasquez said. "Theres no other name. Theres no other adjective I could give to describe this." For the Lakers, though, the comeback capped a day of good news. Bryant announced his return in a dramatic video posted on his Facebook page in the afternoon. He didnt make the trip to Sacramento, and Los Angeles had only nine healthy players -- and one point guard -- after injuries to Steve Nash (back and hamstring), Jordan Farmar (left hamstring tear) and Chris Kaman (back spasms). Robert Sacre, who started at centre for the first time this season in place of Hill, helped the Lakers go ahead by eight points early in the first quarter. Thomas ignited the Kings with 14 points and seven assists in the first half as they took a 51-43 lead late in the second quarter. Cousins free throws with 3:35 remaining in the fourth gave Sacramento a 97-93 lead. But the Lakers held the Kings scoreless until McLemores 3-pointer in the closing seconds, showing the kind of defensive effort DAntoni hopes to get when Bryant returns. "We have to compete like we did tonight and understand that theres going to be some turbulence ahead," DAntoni said. "Just put your seatbelt on and well get through it." NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game for Nelson Mandela, the former South African president and anti-apartheid icon who died Thursday at age 95. ... Nash could return to the lineup next week, DAntoni said. ... The Kings assigned C Hamady Ndiaye to the Reno Bighorns, the teams NBA Development League affiliate. 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