Well, that got out of hand.
At the end of an extended road trip, the Sharks were in Boston to play one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The Sharks opened the scoring early in the first. The Bruins responded, and after twenty minutes, the score was tied at one.
Then things went off the rails for the Sharks. Less than five minutes into the second period, Erik Karlsson went down awkwardly and headed straight for the dressing room. He did return later, but, uh, he probably shouldn’t have done so. The Bruins scored three goals in just over three minutes to take a 4-1 lead.
Things went from bad to worse in the third. The Sharks have the offensive firepower to overcome a three goal deficit. But the game took a nasty turn. Zdeno Chara elbowed Evander Kane in the head. Kane got to his feet and traded punches with one of the strongest men in the league. Minutes later, while Kane was still sitting in the box, he was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. Shortly thereafter, Barclay Goodrow got in a fight. Then Micheal Haley fought noted tough guy David Backes. Boston went into run-out-the-clock mode, and the game got tedious and predictable. The Sharks pulled Martin Jones with over three minutes left, but could not close the score.
With this road trip behind them, the Sharks will fly back to San Jose where they’ll take on the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.
My name is Bryan Del Fava, and I will have at least a part of your liveblog tonight! The trade deadline is (thankfully) over, which means the boys are on the home stretch to the playoffs. Let’s get it, y’all!
20:00: Tip-off … I mean puck drop is underway from TD Garden!
19:08: Sharks getting chances early with a nice wrister from Timo Meier.
17:19: Logan Couture tips a nice feed from Brent Burns just over the net.
16:30: That pesky Bruins fourth line is out there. They’ve had their chances, but Jones has handled it well so far.
14:19: No penalty shot for the new Bruin, Charlie Coyle, but Justin Braun is sent to the box for a slash.
Their power play song is Brock Lesnar’s theme song. I like.
12:19: Sharks penalty kill staff does their job. Penalty killed.
11:51: Halak makes the save on Erik Karlsson that will send us to the first TV timeout.
11:40: Noel Acciari’s breakaway opportunity is stifled by Brent Burns. Good work by the Wookiee.
9:48: Great offensive pressure by the Sharks, not letting Boston get a change.
9:00: There have been a lot of scoring chances both ways so far. Sharks are earning their chances, but the Bruins have been pouncing on the Sharks’ turnovers.
8:02: Melker Karlsson draws a penalty and the Sharks are going on their first power play of the night!
7:13: SHARKS GOAL! Logan Couture somehow gets it past Jaro Halak in a weird scene of events, but he’ll take it! 1-0, good guys!
5:31: Timo Meier carelessly high-sticks Jake DeBrusk, he draws blood, 4-minute penalty kill coming up.
5:21: And the Bruins immediately capitalize. It’s David Krejci from the slot, and it’s a tied game. Still time on the Bruins power play, as it is a double minor.
3:12: Penalty is over.
2:06: Evander Kane has had his share of turnovers tonight.
:42: Little bit of a careless pass by Brenden Dillon that almost led to danger, but the shot was redirected.
:3– Draw is won by the Bruins and that’ll do it for the first period.
END FIRST: Sharks 1, Bruins 1
Second Period
My name is East Bay Ry, and I will be taking over live-blogging the rest of the way.
20:00: The pucks drops and the second period is underway.
17:30: Martin Jones makes a great save on David Krejci.
17:00: Sharks are spending too much time in their own end so far this period.
15:10: Erik Karlsson falls awkwardly and heads straight to the dressing room. He may have hit a rut in the ice. Not good.
11:50: In happier news, Logan Couture has a glorious scoring chance
11:16: Jones makes a great save on Brad Marchand to keep the score even.
10:51: Charlie McAvoy scores high on Jones’ stick side. 2-1, Boston.
10:14: Boston breaks in three-on-one, and Jake DeBrusk scores an easy tap in. 3-1, Boston.
9:45: With the fourth line is out after a goal against, Micheal Haley is down and slow to get up.
9:31: Haley is back on the bench.
9:18: Sharks are on a power play thanks to a tripping call against Sean Kuraly.
8:20: Kevin Labanc has a great chance in front of the goal, but he can’t get the puck over a sprawling Halak’s glove.
8:18: BAH GAWD THAT’S ERIK KARLSSON’S MUSIC. Karlsson is back on the ice!
7:32: Brad Marchand scores a short handed goal. Jones probably wants that one back. 4-1, Boston.
5:05: Sean Kuraly and Evander Kane drop the gloves and punch each other a couple times. Kane is given a double minor for roughing, while Kuraly only gets a single roughing minor. So Boston is on the power play.
3:54: Logan Couture has a shorthanded break away, but Halak turns it aside.
2:25: Jones has made two great saves in the last ten seconds.
2:06: Chris Wagner and Barclay Goodrow fight. While Haley was on the ice. What is the point of a Haley if he’s not doing the fights?
1:35: John Moore called for a crosscheck on Timo Meier. Sharks to the power play.
:02: Jones has to stop a shorthanded breakaway in the dying seconds of the period.
END SECOND: Sharks 1, Bruins 4
Not a great period from the Sharks. Per Natural Stat Trick, they had 49.05 percent of the 5-on-5 shot attempts (adjusted for score and venue), and only 41.07 percent of the 5-on-5 high danger scoring chances (again, adjusted for score and venue). Jones saw some tough chances, but so did Halak. Everybody in teal could be better in the third period.
Third Period
20:00: OK. Let’s do this. Sharks have a few seconds of power play time carrying over into the final frame.
16:40: Chara elbows Kane in the head. That should be a suspension. I don’t care how tall Chara is.
16:38: Kane fights Chara. Five each for fighting. Kane gets an extra two for instigating. Chara not called for his hit to the head. Referees blow that call.
16:09: Kane is yelling at a linesman and needs to be careful. Oh wait. He’s been ejected. Probably for the best, to be honest.
16:04: Hey look another fight! Haley fights David Backes. This game is spiraling.
14:41: I guess we’re still doing hockey. Couture with a shot on net.
13:42: Boston with a good chance, but the Sharks’ defense denies a cross seam pass that would have been an easy tap in.
11:27: Sharks have a good amount of time with the puck in the attacking zone, but the Bruins keep the puck to the outside and prevent any great chances.
10:06: Bruins in full run out the clock mode. We’ve got some bad hockey in front of us, fam.
5:38: I guess I haven’t updated in too long. Sorry. This game is at that unwatchable stage. And I don’t have much to add at this point.
3:45: Sharks with an empty net. YOLO.
2:12: Halak with a save on a shot through traffic.
1:00: Spoiler alert: Sharks aren’t winning this one.
FINAL SCORE: Sharks 1, Bruins 4
Pregame
Gearing up for round two, the final bout of the season between the San Jose Sharks and the Boston Bruins. The Bruins (36-17-9) sit in second in the Atlantic Division, 19 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and just one point up on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston last played on Saturday, when they lost to the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in a shootout.
Meanwhile, the Sharks (37-18-8) are coming off a come from behind win against the Detroit Red Wings. The 5-3 victory on Sunday saw Joe Pavelski net a hat trick.
Lines
When the Sharks left Detroit for Boston, they took more than their gear with them — they also picked up a new forward. Gustav Nyquist will make his debut in teal (or in this case white with a tinge of teal) tonight and we will likely see him line up on the third line with Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc.
More good news for the Sharks: fellow Swede Erik Karlsson is expected to be back on the second defensive pairing with Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Barring any changes, Martin Jones will get the nod in net.
The Bruins will also ice their deadline acquisitions tonight. Marcus Johansson will step onto the ice for the first time in a Bruins uniform. And former Sharks prospect Charlie Coyle will play his first home game for the Bruins. Coyle was picked up in a trade with the Minnesota Wild. He played his first game with the B’s on Saturday and picked up the team’s only goal in the shootout loss.
According to our friends at Stanley Cup of Chowder, this is how the team will deploy its new forwards.
Forwards
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Danton Heinen
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Marcus Johansson
Joakim Nordstrom — Charlie Coyle — David Backes
Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
Defense
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
John Moore — Matt Grzelcyk
Goaltenders
Where to Watch
Game time is at 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston. You can watch on NBCSCA or NESN if you’re in the Boston area. You can listen live on 98.5 KFOX or online at kfox.com.
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