After beating the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, in overtime on Friday night, the Boston Bruins made their third and final stop in California against the San Jose Sharks. After splitting the first two games against the Kings and Anaheim Ducks, the Black and Gold were looking to head to Long Island with two straight wins.
Before the game, the Bruins got some great news with first-line center Elias Lindholm was activated off injured reserve and back in the lineup. He was rather non-existent in the game in what was a frustrating loss in Northern California. Here are three quick thoughts on the game.
Morgan Geekie stays hot
Is there anyone hotter in the NHL right now than Morgan Geekie? He scored two goals in their win over the Kings; he tallied both goals in the win in overtime. He had four goals in the first two games on the trip, and of course, he scored against San Jose.
Geekie tied Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for the league lead in goals with 17 on a third-period strike. It was a great offensive zone shift to his line with constant cycling that led to David Pastrnak setting him at the post for a tap-in. He has five goals on the trip with one game remaining against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.
Bruins parade to penalty box continued
It was another night of killing penalties for the Bruins' penalty killing unit. Once again, they were stuck killing a lengthy 5-on-3 in the second period when Jonathan Aspirot and Hampus Lindholm were whistled for penalties 10 seconds apart,
Aspirot got called for tripping, but Hampus Lindholm was called for roughing on the faceoff. Fortunately, the Bruins killed it off before a penalty was called for San Jose at the end. They weren't as lucky early in the second period when Aspirot took a penalty and Macklin Celebrini scored for a 2-0 lead.
Overall, the Bruins took six minors, which is just way too many. To make matters worse. The Sharks have struggled on the man-advantage, but not against the Black and Gold, supplying the game-winner in the second period on it.
Bruins frustrated by Yaroslav Askarow
It was another game where the Bruins outshot their opponent, but again, they were frustrated by the opposing goalie. This time, it was Yaroslav Askarow, who entered the game with a 2.97 goals against average with a .901 save percentage.
Askarow made 33 saves, including some big ones. He allowed Geekie's goal in the third period, and he had no chance on it, but he also got some help from his teammates. In the third period, Askarow made a save on a Pastrnak shot, and Marat Khusnutdinov had what appeared to be a lot of net, but the puck was cleared away with a poke-check before Boston's young forward could shoot it. It was one of those nights.
San Jose isn't as bad as they have been in the past, but they are not a playoff team either. This was another frustrating loss against a team that was playing on a back-to-back.