BOSTON – David Pastrnak scored two power play goals, Patrice Bergeron notched four points, and the Bruins chased Sharks goalie Martin Jones after the first period in a 6-3 Bruins win at TD Garden on Thursday night.
San Jose lost its third straight (0-1-2), matching is longest stretch of the season without a win.
After the teams traded early scores, Bergeron gave Boston the lead for good at 15:52 of the opening frame. The perennial Selke Trophy candidate got to the front of the net where he was left alone by Patrick Marleau, and slipped in a redirected Brandon Carlo shot over the line for his 14th score. Seconds earlier, Marleau lost the puck while cutting to the net on a two-on-one.
Pastrnak’s first goal at 15:52 made it a 3-1 lead after the first period, as the rookie rocketed in a one-timer set up by Bergeron.
The Sharks responded quickly to the goalie change to start the second, after Aaron Dell entered the game. A shot by Justin Braun appeared to deflect off of Carlo at 1:08.
Dell made some nice stops, including gloving a Matt Beleskey wrist shot from the circle, but the Bruins eventually got to him. Tim Schaller found the rebound of a Riley Nash shot at 13:04 after Boston’s fourth line got the cycle going in San Jose’s end, and Pasternak scored his second of the night in the final minute of the middle frame on another slick feed from Bergeron.
Timo Meier’s third goal with 2:37 to go brought the Sharks back to within 5-3, but Brad Marchand’s empty netter with 29 seconds left sealed the Boston triumph.
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Boston, which was playing its first game since firing coach Claude Julien on Tuesday, made a winner out of interim coach Bruce Cassidy. The Sharks and Bruins meet for the second and final time at SAP Center on Feb. 19.
David Backes put the Bruins up early. Just 52 seconds into the game, his one-timer from the high slot opened the scoring on the first shot.
Joe Thornton’s wrist shot from the circle at 7:51 tied it on what was his fourth goal of the season, but his first in a manned net.
The crowd was sparse, as the Boston area dealt with significant snowfall. The Bruins wanted to postpone the game, but the NHL denied the request due to the difficulty of finding a makeup date.
