BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Charlie Coyle scored the tying and winning goals in the third period as part of a three-point effort, helping the Bruins surge past the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Monday afternoon.
Coyle was the beneficiary of Matthew Poitras’ primary assists on both late-game goals, including the deciding tally at 14:11
David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm each registered a goal and an assist, while Vinni Lettieri also scored for Boston, which is 3-0-1 in its last four games.
Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.
Rookie Will Smith, a native of nearby Lexington, Mass., led the Sharks with a goal and an assist in his first NHL game in Boston.
Barclay Goodrow and Fabian Zetterlund also scored and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 27 shots for San Jose, which has lost three in a row and six of seven.
Performing well with new linemate Marchand, Coyle took a Poitras feed off the rush and banked the go-ahead goal off Askarov’s pads. The game-tying goal came several minutes earlier at 8:22 when Poitras fed Coyle a backhand pass, who sniped a shot past Askarov from the slot.
Marchand and Lindholm iced the game with empty-netters in the final 1:15.
The Sharks had scored twice in the second period to turn around a 2-1 deficit, with Smith bringing them back even at 8:52. The local native capitalized on a neutral-zone turnover by placing a perfect glove-side wrist shot off a give-and-go with Mikael Granlund.
Smith’s goal was his seventh and the 25th goal by Sharks rookies this season, the most in the NHL.
A successful penalty kill helped vault San Jose to its first lead when Zetterlund scored with 4:42 left before the second intermission. After Smith’s shot was blocked, Zetterlund picked up the puck, skated down the wing and buried his own rebound after a net drive.
Boston’s opening goal came as Vinni Lettieri tipped Jordan Oesterle’s shot from the right point five-hole on Askarov at 9:21 of the first. It was his second tally in as many games.
Goodrow evened the score for San Jose at 13:16, charging down the middle of the ice to snap home Nico Sturm’s centering pass from behind the end line.
The Bruins’ power play converted for the fourth time in as many games at 7:02 of the second. Pavel Zacha circled the cage and fed Pastrnak for a one-time goal from close range just below the right circle for a 2-1 Boston lead.
–Field Level Media