McAvoy Scores in Return as Bruins Take Down Sharks

The Boston Bruins opened their four-game road trip with their third straight win.

The Bruins (5-2-0) beat the San Jose Sharks (3-3-0) 6-3 on Tuesday night at SAP Center in San Jose and snapped a three-game losing streak against the Sharks. Charlie McAvoy (1), in his return from suspension, scored his first of the season. Fraser Minten (4) scored twice, while Matt Poitras (2), Pavel Zacha (2), and Will Borgen (1) each added one.

Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves on 38 shots in his third straight win.

Mason Lohrei appeared to open the scoring at the 8:56 mark of the first period off a feed from Marat Khusnutdinov. However, Khusnutdinov bumped into Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. Khusnutdinov appeared to be outside of the goal crease, but Marco Sturm opted not to challenge the play. 

The Bruins did not need much longer to open the scoring. And this one counted. Casey Mittelstadt found Fraser Minten entering the offensive zone and played it to the 23-year-old forward. Minten uncorked a shot from 47 feet out and beat Askarov with help from a James Hagens screen. 

Just as the Sharks’ second power play expired, Jacob Trouba scored his first goal as a member of the San Jose Sharks. Marco Sturm deployed Matt Poitras and David Pastrnak in the dying seconds of the kill, and the Sharks won the faceoff and set up in the offensive zone. Trouba beat Swayman with a shot from the point. 

In the last two minutes of the first period, the Bruins’ second line was pushing. They forced Barclay Goodrow to play the puck off Askarov’s pad, and JJ Peterka scooped up the rebound. He turned it to Charlie McAvoy, who crashed the net front and beat Askarov to his left to reclaim the Bruins’ lead late in the first. 

The Sharks started the second period all over the black and gold. Macklin Celebrini drew a minor penalty on Nikita Zadorov, which sent the Sharks to their third power play of the night. Celebrini, from the left circle, set up Ivar Stenberg cross-crease for the 19-year-old’s first NHL goal. 

The Sharks drafted Stenberg second overall at the NHL Draft this summer. 

The Sharks also outshot the Bruins 10-0 in the first seven minutes of the second period. Hampus Lindholm recorded the Bruins’ first shot of the second period at the 7:35 mark.

The Bruins’ second shot of the period had some more juice behind it. Mark Kastelic, from behind the net, dropped a pass to Matt Poitras. Poitras parked to the right of Askarov and beat him glove-side to give the Bruins another lead. 

The game became more physical. Goal scorers Fraser Minten and Jacob Trouba exchanged a few cross-checks after a whistle, and both were sent to the box for roughing minors. Mark Kastelic knocked Macklin Celebrini to the ice, and Will Smith followed up with a cross-check to Kastelic and sat for two minutes. 

Celebrini then got tied up with Charlie McAvoy in the last 10 seconds of the second period. The Bruins went the other way, with Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie leading a 2-on-1. Geekie played it to Zacha, who fired, beat Askarov, and gave the Bruins a 4-2 lead with three seconds left in the second period.

The Bruins took a too-many-men minor at the 4:53 mark of the third period. Macklin Celebrini wasted no time, scoring 11 seconds into the man advantage. He connected on a rocket set up by Ivar Stenberg to make it a one-goal game.

Nikita Zadorov and Darnell Nurse dropped their gloves 96 seconds after the goal for a spirited bout. Zadorov connected with multiple right crosses and got the takedown on the Sharks defenseman.

Fraser Minten’s night was not over. As the Sharks pushed for offense, the Bruins broke out for a 4-on-2 with the second line, and Mason Lohrei was trailing. Lohrei, who scored on a similar play Saturday afternoon, played the puck off Luca Cagnoni, and it fell to Marat Khusnutdinov, who set Minten up for his second goal of the night with 8:13 to go in the third.

Will Borgen added his first goal in a black and gold sweater. He sent the puck 167 feet down the ice and into the empty net to make it 6-3.

The Bruins continue their road trip on Friday with a 10:00 PM ET start against the Anaheim Ducks, then a 9:00 PM ET start against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. They will travel to Anaheim on Wednesday and practice Thursday at the Ducks’ practice facility.

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