Tightly knit after a long and successful road trip, the Boston Bruins aim to stay on the winning track as they host the San Jose Sharks in a Saturday matchup to complete the teams’ season series.
Boston took points out of four straight games (3-0-1) out west before dismantling the Nashville Predators in a 6-0 shutout in their return home on Thursday. David Pastrnak led the team’s five scorers with two goals and two assists, while Michael DiPietro made 28 saves in his first career shutout.
First games back from the road can often be difficult, but the travel seemed to have no bearing on the Atlantic Division leaders. The start-to-finish performance told a lot about where coach Marco Sturm’s team currently stands.
“What I liked about most, other than Mikey’s shutout, is that we came out with energy,” Sturm said of the Bruins’ first home game since Oct. 10.
The recent trip also coincided with defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s return from a six-game suspension, so Thursday marked his first skate on home ice this season. He assisted on Boston’s first three goals and four in total, giving him six points through his first five games.
Seventeen Bruins have scored goals this season, including Pastrnak with a team-leading six. Fraser Minten netted two of his four during a 6-3 win in San Jose back on Oct. 13.
Boston’s depth extends right through to the goal, where DiPietro has been outstanding (.941 save percentage) in three starts as Jeremy Swayman’s backup. The 27-year-old DiPietro, who has played in only seven NHL games since his 2019 debut, also earned his first career victory last Friday in Anaheim.
“Everybody’s pitching in right now,” McAvoy said. “It’s been a full team effort, and I was really proud of the guys and how they were able to not only keep it afloat, but a lot of guys to step up and really exceed while I was out. And then for me to come back, I just wanted to do anything I could to help the team.”
The Sharks carry back-to-back wins into Boston. They finally banked their first in regulation in a 6-2 triumph Thursday at the Ottawa Senators.
Despite a season-best offensive showing, San Jose was outshot 43-28 and relied on Yaroslav Askarov for a season-high, 41-save performance. Massachusetts native Collin Graf and Jacob Trouba both logged a goal and an assist.
“Maybe a little bit of a mixed bag (against Ottawa), but you know, good teams find ways to win,” Graf said. “There’s been some comments from people looking for regulation wins, so it’s nice to finally get that.”
Askarov broke a four-start winless skid with Thursday’s victory.
“Looked really confident, calm. If it’s not for him, we don’t win the hockey game,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Asky’s had a pretty good season, so let’s not downplay that. There’s a couple games we lost where he played pretty solid. … I’m glad he got the win (Thursday).”
The game did include a downer on the injury front, as Igor Chernyshov left late in the first period after blocking Ottawa defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo’s slap shot off his arm.
The top-line winger had recently been skating alongside Macklin Celebrini (team-leading five goals, 14 points in nine games) and Will Smith, who played at Boston University and Boston College, respectively.
Though Chernyshov was to be further evaluated on Friday, Warsofsky had an early diagnosis of the injury, which could give Adam Gaudette his first opportunity to crack the lineup this season. The former Northeastern University star has been a healthy scratch for seven games since being activated from injured reserve.
“I think he’s going to be out here a little bit,” Warsofsky said of Chernyshov. “It’s gonna hurt, but another opportunity for someone else.”