San Jose Sharks Edge Bruins In See-Saw Affair

Three down, three to go.

The San Jose Sharks continued their six-game road trip with a stop in Boston to take on the Bruins on Tuesday night. In a highly entertaining affair which saw both teams light up the scoreboard, it was the Sharks who emerged victorious with a 5-4 win over the Bruins to make it three consecutive victories for the boys in teal to begin their longest trek of the season.

It was a back-and-forth contest that saw both teams create plenty of high quality scoring chances. San Jose drew first blood less than a minute into the game as Melker Karlsson ringed one of the post behind Tuukka Rask before Joe Pavelski deposited the rebound into the wide open net to give the Sharks the early 1-0 lead. It would be a precursor of things to come as San Jose’s top line dominated this one.

The Bruins would respond with a pair of goals, the first coming off a deflection in front by Tyler Randell following a Sharks turnover. Boston would take the lead behind their league-leading power play as Brad Marchand found a loose puck at the side of the net and slid one behind the sprawling Martin Jones to give the Bruins a 2-1 advantage.

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This time it was the Sharks turn to answer as Joonas Donskoi tipped home a Paul Martin shot from the left point to even things back up after one period of play. Boston would grab hold of the lead yet again just under two minutes into the second when Loui Eriksson wired one past Jones on the short side following a feed by David Krejci from behind the net. This was one that Jones probably should’ve done better on, but it’s not like his defensive unit was helping him out for much of the night.

Despite facing their second deficit of the evening, the Sharks would respond yet again, this time assuming the lead for good. First, it was Karlsson who one-timed a perfect feed from Joe Thornton past Rask to even the score at three.

Then, it was time for San Jose’s struggling power play to go to work against the NHL’s worst penalty killing unit. The Sharks would use a pair of power play goals 25 seconds apart to take control of the game. Patrick Marleau found a rebound in front and buried one past Rask for his 999th career point to give San Jose a 4-3 lead, before Thornton would finish off a perfect passing play by one-timing his third goal of the season past the Boston netminder to give either side their first two-goal advantage of the game.

However, Boston would have one last response as Patrice Bergeron fired one far side, top-corner on Jones for the Bruins second power play goal of the game to cut the deficit back to one at 5-4. But Jones would stand tall, finishing the night with 25 saves and none bigger than a game-saving stop of Brett Connolly with only five seconds remaining.

This was a very exciting hockey game that saw two evenly matched teams go at one another. While both goaltenders were beaten fairly often, they also made some highlight reel saves that prevented the scoreline from being even more lopsided.

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Both power play units took advantage of some suspect penalty killing as the Sharks finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage while the Bruins finished 2-for-3.

All-in-all, this was probably one of San Jose’s most potent offensive nights of the year. Their top line led the way combining for three goals and five assists and a plus-six rating on the night as each member of the line found the back of the net. When your best players are dominating the game like the top unit was, you’re going to win a lot of hockey games.

After faltering on their previous home stand in some close games, it’s been great to see the Sharks head out on the road and win in a variety of ways. Each game hasn’t been perfect, but San Jose has secured all six points which is all you can ask for from a group that appears to be gaining confidence.