San Jose Sharks Start Eastern Trip With a Loss at the Boston Bruins 3-0
By Conor Power
It started well, but eventually, it was proven to be too much when tasked with taking on the might of the Bruins. It started to unravel as the game went on as the Sharks fall to 0-10 on the road and now have the rest of the six-game road trip to try and a way to get in the win column away from the SAP Center.
It felt like the Sharks could potentially claim a large scalp in this game early in the first period as they started to find success and continued to progress. Outshooting the Bruins severely, San Jose had the better opening frame of the two teams despite no goals being scored. Jeremy Swayman saw to that as he closed the door to the Shark forwards.
In the second period, the ruthlessness of the Bruins prevailed to make the Sharks regret being so wasteful in front of goal. A turnover leaves the Bruins in a strong attacking position. Eventually, Danton Heinen is able to stuff the puck home and give the Bruins the lead. It was a back-breaking. The Sharks were doing the little things right, and not getting rewarded seemed to create a snowball effect.
It would be worse before long, as the Sharks love to inflict pain on their fanbase. The Bruins enter the zone cleanly, and blown coverage on the right side of the blueline leaves Jake DeBrusk all alone as he beats MacKenzie Blackwood on the left pad side, and the Sharks found themselves behind the game as they were getting outplayed in the second frame.
Towards the end of the second, the Sharks would get a powerplay. In fact, it would be a five-on-three. A boarding call on Charlie McAvoy joined a roughing penalty on Brad Marchand, and the Sharks were gifted a path back into this game, but they were unable to capitalize or even create any momentum on the goal to try and get themselves back into the game.
Boston would put the Sharks to the sword in this one, as David Pastrnak found a wide-open Pavel Zacha cruising through the slot. He tipped the puck home on the powerplay to make it a 3-0 game and effectively put the result beyond all doubt. It was just a question of trying to get on the board and break the shutout attempt from Jeremy Swayman.