Fraser Minten had a two-goal night and Charlie McAvoy scored in his season debut as the visiting Boston Bruins topped the San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Morgan Geekie tallied two assists and Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves for the Bruins, who have won three straight. McAvoy, who was suspended for the first six games of this season for a slash in last season’s playoffs, led all Bruins skaters with 24:41 of ice time.
Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg each had a goal and an assist and Dmitry Orlov collected two assists for the Sharks, who have lost two straight and three of four. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves.
Minten put the visitors on the board at 12:55 of the first period when Casey Mittelstadt set him up for a wrist shot.
Jacob Trouba tied the game at 15:29 when Kiefer Sherwood set him up for a slap shot through traffic from the blue line. It was his first goal for the Sharks since joining the team as an unrestricted free agent over the summer.
McAvoy put the Bruins back ahead 2-1 at 18:43. JJ Peterka collected the puck on a rebound and set McAvoy up for a wrist shot right in front of the net.
Stenberg’s first NHL goal tied the game at 5:48 of the second period. The Sharks were on the power play when Celebrini set Stenberg up with a cross-ice pass, and the rookie redirected the puck past Swayman’s skate.
Boston didn’t tally its first shot on goal until 7:30 of the second when James Hagens rang a shot off the post. Matthew Poitras’s shot broke through at 8:42 when he tipped in his own rebound to put the Bruins in front 3-2.
Three seconds before the second period ended, Pavel Zacha increased the Bruins’ lead to 4-2.
Celebrini closed the score gap to 4-3 at 5:04 of the third. The Bruins were called for too many men on the ice, and Stenberg set Celebrini up for a snap shot 11 seconds into the Sharks’ power play.
Minten scored his second of the night on a tip at 11:47 to increase Boston’s lead to 5-3. Teammate Will Borgen scored into an empty net with 1:42 remaining.