The Bruins’ first stop on a four-game road swing produced exactly the kind of road result teams want early in the season: a convincing win, a few useful reminders, and one decision that backfired fast.
Boston left San Jose with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday night, pushing its record to 5-2-0 and snapping the Sharks’ three-game run against the Black and Gold. The Bruins scored two goals in each period and handled a young Sharks club that came in at 3-2-0, with all three of its wins decided in overtime or a shootout.
Charlie McAvoy wasted no time making his presence felt in his first game of the season after serving a six-game suspension to start the year. He broke a 1-1 tie late in the opening period, burying a goal from the top of the Sharks’ crease at 18:43.
But the real value was everything else he brought with him. McAvoy logged 24:41, worked all situations, fired three shots on net and delivered four hits.
Skating alongside Hampus Lindholm, he looked right at home.
Jeremy Swayman also continued the strong start that has given Boston a steady hand in goal. Making his sixth appearance in seven games, he stopped 35 of 38 shots and didn’t have much chance on the goals that got through.
Two came on the power play, and another arrived seconds after a Boston penalty expired. Swayman was busy in the middle frame and late, too, after making seven saves in the first period, then 17 in the second and 12 in the third.
He moved to 5-1-0.
The one Bruins sequence that clearly went sideways came late in the first period. With seven seconds left on a Nikita Zadorov penalty, the faceoff was set outside Boston’s defensive zone, and Marco Sturm opted to send out David Pastrnak and Matthew Poitras to try to survive the final seconds.
It didn’t work. Poitras got waved out of the draw, Pastrnak took it, and the puck went straight back into the Boston end.
As Zadorov stepped out of the box, Jacob Trouba ripped a slap shot from the blue line to tie it 1-1. Given how often the Bruins are going to the penalty kill, that felt like a spot where just getting out cleanly mattered more than hunting for a quick offensive chance.
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Bruins Winning Streak Is Hiding A Problem This Road Trip Could Expose
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