Bruins handle Sharks for 3-1 win in San Jose

It took until the 18:06 mark of the opening frame for the Bruins to finally beat the Sharks' Kaapo Kahkonen. And then it took them just 21 seconds to double that lead and truly take control of the contest in what finished as a road trip-opening 3-1 victory over the Sharks at San Jose's SAP Center.

On the board with a beautiful Brad Marchand snap through Kahkonen, it would be a net-front melee led by Trent Frederic and James van Riemsdyk that ultimately helped the Bruins jump out to their two-goal edge, with van Riemsdyk credited with his third goal of the year with a net-front shovel under and through Kahkonen.

Marchand's goal was good for both his first goal since becoming the Black and Gold's captain as well as the first point of Johnny Beecher's NHL career. And for JVR, the goal saw him hit the three-goal marker in a fraction of the time it took him with the Flyers in what was a forgettable 2022-23 campaign with the club.

Given the strong start put forth by the Sharks — but without the results to show for it through the opening 20 minutes — the two-goal deficit felt as close to a finishing punch as the Bruins could land on David Quinn's club.

And then came a downright silly David Pastrnak goal that made it 3-0 in an otherwise 'blah' middle frame.

It sure was that kind of night for the Sharks, really, and not even an own-goal off Hampus Lindholm and through the Bruins' Linus Ullmark could give the Sharks enough of a spark to truly push and make the Bruins sweat with a one-goal game kind of finish.

Ullmark was good when he needed to be in this contest, too, and finished with 26 saves on 27 shots faced.

And, sure, the season is still extremely young, but it's most certainly a good sign that the only goals that have beaten Ullmark this year have been from 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard and friendly fire. Ullmark's ability to hold his own in his net was also noteworthy considering that this was his first game action in over a week given the B's downright horrific schedule out of the gate this season.

The big story for the Bruins in this one was almost certainly the defensive activation put forth by the Boston blue line. (Listen, any time Derek Forbort decides to go full Bobby Orr in hunt of offensive production, it's going to be mentioned in this here space.) But Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery's new lines — both ones established before this game and changes made in-game Thursday night — came to the table in this one.

For starters, if first impressions mean anything, the Bruins may have something cooking with van Riemsdyk to the left of Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. Per NaturalStatTrick, the van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic line was together for 10:21 of five-on-five action, and finished the night with a 12-3 advantage in shot attempts, 10-2 edge in shots, and 1-0 scoring advantage.

Boston's new-look line with Jake DeBrusk to the left of Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak also had a strong showing, with a 16-8 edge in shot attempts and 10-2 edge in shots at five-on-five play.

With the win, the Bruins have now won six straight contests in San Jose.

That's the longest road unbeaten streak in the history of the Bruins-Sharks franchise head-to-head.

It was also Boston's 12th straight victory over the Sharks overall. It's now just one win behind matching the Wild and their 13 straight victories over the Ducks as the NHL's longest active winning streak against one franchise. The Bruins will have a chance to make it 13 in a row when the Sharks come to town on Nov. 30. 

The Bruins will now head to Los Angeles ahead of a Saturday night showdown with the Kings.