Boston Bruins Top San Jose Sharks in Heavyweight Bout

Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins were forced to overcome a third-period deficit in order to emerge as victors in what was a rough and rugged 60-minute affair with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Final frame goals from rookie Seth Griffin, veteran grinder Gregory Campbell and David Krejci, along with a thoroughly impressive penalty killing effort, propelled the black and gold to a 5-3 win over their Western Conference foe at TD Garden.

Boston jumped out to an early lead on a goal by Brad Marchand. Marchand corralled the puck on the power play, fired it through traffic and banked it off the post and in. The score marked his first of the season. The Sharks would respond minutes later with a power play strike of their own.

Tied at 1-1 in the second, Torey Krug added another power play goal to regain the lead. He’s now scored in back-to-back games. It wouldn’t last long though. Despite Boston controlling the play, the Sharks regained the lead with two goals in 37 seconds, including one from former Bruins center Joe Thornton. The Sharks would take the momentum into third.

Boston’s determination and confidence wasn’t diminished in any way. They came out firing away over the final 20 minutes, showing tremendous character and composure in sticking to the game-plan. Seth Griffin tied the game after Milan Lucic was able to work the puck deep into the Sharks end. Campbell stuffed home the go-ahead goal after Daniel Paille whipped the biscuit in front. Krejci potted an empty-netter at the tail-end of the third.

Down 4-3, the Sharks took to a four-minute power play with the hopes of tying the tilt. Patrice Bergeron was whistled for a double-minor at 15:51. A complete group effort, led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, held the Sharks down in the waining minutes. In victory, the Bruins improved to 4-4 on the season and 3-1 in their last four games.

Milan Lucic added three assists. He now has five on the season. Seidenberg registered a team-high seven shots on goal.

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5 Key Takeaways:

1. The Bruins took the confidence they gained from beating Buffalo, built upon it, and raised their games to a level we haven’t seen in some time. They were both mentally and physically engaged and it showed.

2. Milan Lucic had a breakout performance. The big winger skated hard, dished out the hits, handled the puck with confidence and racked up the points. Lucic assisted on three Boston goals.

3. The power play was excellent. On both power play goals the Bruins established themselves in San Jose’s end, cycled the puck around and generated a solid net front presence.

4. Tuukka Rask bounced back from a woeful showing in Montreal last Thursday by steering aside 31 shots against one of the NHL’s top attacking squads.

5. Seth Griffin appeared very comfortable and seems to be settling into a role on Boston’s top line. He scored his first career NHL goal in the win.