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Bruins 4, Sharks 3: Encouraging — and concerning — signs in season’s first loss

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Bruins 4, Sharks 3: Encouraging — and concerning — signs in season’s first loss

The San Jose Sharks lost their first game Sunday – 4-3 to the Boston Bruins — but the way it went down helped to illustrate one of the main differences between this season and last season.

The Sharks allowed three goals in the first period and trailed the Bruins by three midway through the third. But instead of packing it in or trying to do too much individually, the Sharks regrouped and nearly came back to earn an improbable point.

Down 4-1 in the third, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier both scored in a span of 1:49 to draw the Sharks within one goal with 4:52 left in regulation time. But the Sharks couldn’t get the equalizer as they suffered their first loss in five games this season.

The Bruins deserved the win, but the Sharks have some positives they can carry into Tuesday’s game with the Nashville Predators that will conclude the five-game trip.

“We talked between the second and third (periods) about trying to get back to a little bit of our identity, so we can at least take that into the Nashville game,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “We talked if we get the second goal, we can make it a game. I think we just got it too late in the period.”

The Sharks came from behind to earn wins over Winnipeg and Ottawa in the first week of the season, and maybe put a bit of a scare into the Bruins in a matinee at TD Garden.

“We’d like real victories over moral ones,” Sharks center Nick Bonino said, “but I think the fight we’ve shown in the first game (vs. the Jets), coming back from 2-0 and then tonight shows that we’re never out of a game.”

The Sharks had a combined record of 5-51-1 over the last two seasons when they trailed after two periods. Who knows how that record will shake out this season, but Sunday’s game provided some evidence that it might not be as ugly as 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

“Last year in a game like that, everybody goes separate ways. Try and make a play (yourself) and we’ll see what happens, and we actually give up more,” Sharks center Tomas Hertl said. “But this year we just stick together and fight for everybody.”

Some other takeaways from Sunday’s game.

RALLYING POINTS: Bonino tangled with Connor Clifton late in the second period after Clifton leveled Andrew Cogliano with a clean check at center ice. Then in the third period, Jake Middleton dropped the gloves with Trent Frederic, who gave a little poke to a puck that had been frozen by James Reimer.

The Middleton fight at the 3:02 mark of the third period, along with Reimer’s solid play, gave a spark to a Sharks team that at times looked tired – physically and mentally – in their fourth game in six days.

That sort of response to certain incidents has been part of the Sharks’ DNA since the start of the preseason. The fact that they’ve kept it up for five regular-season games probably indicates that it’ll be a habit they carry all year.

“I would’ve loved to get the gloves off and had a fight, but we kind of just fell down,” Bonino said. “All year we’ve had each other’s backs. I think if I get laid out, someone will be there for me. That’s the kind of mentality we’ve had so far.”

San Jose Sharks’ Adin Hill (33) leaves the ice to be replaced by James Reimer (47) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) 

REIMER SHINES: Adin Hill had his toughest game with the Sharks as he allowed four goals on 14 shots before he was replaced by Reimer, who made 20 saves.

Hill had no chance on Brad Marchand’s goal 28 seconds into the first period. Marchand found some space in the slot, took a pass from Patrice Bergeron, and fired it past Hill for his fourth goal of the year. On the second goal, though, Hill couldn’t track Forbort’s shot from a few feet inside the blue line and it went under his blocker.

Reimer also stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Sharks’ 2-1 win over Ottawa on Thursday and might be in a position now to get the start in Nashville.

SHARKS’ SECOND LINE: Hertl’s goal snapped a three-game pointless streak, but overall, he and his linemates — Alexander Barabanov and Rudolfs Balcers — had a tough time generating chances. Balcers continues to be an effective checking forward and has made his mark on the penalty kill, but has now gone four games without a point.

By the third period, Boughner had Hertl and Barabanov with Kevin Labanc, moving Balcers with Bonino and Jonah Gadjovich. Barabanov assisted on Hertl’s goal for his first point of the season.

“The Hertl line wasn’t really producing much offensive zone time,” Boughner said, “at that point being down 4-1, we were looking to shake it up.”

SEASON DEBUTS: Barabanov and Gadjovich played their first games of the season Sunday. Gadjovich made an impact while Barabanov missed a mostly open net on a first-period power-play shot.

Jonathan Dahlen also had a good look at a power-play goal as the Sharks were 0-for-2 with the man advantage, which is 1-for-8 in the last three games.

“It looked like it was going fast for him,” Boughner said of Barabanov. “He hasn’t seen that pace for a while. The game could have been different. We had two power plays where we had two great looks on an empty net, and one of those goes in — and Barbanov’s (shot) being one of those – it could be a different game.”

Gadjovich assisted on Jasper Weatherby’s first-period goal as the Sharks’ fourth line, with Cogliano, might have been their best in the first half of the game.

With Barabanov and Gadjovich going in, rookies Lane Pederson and William Eklund were scratched.

Eklund, 19, had three assists in his first three NHL games but played just over 11 minutes and did not have a point in the Sharks’ 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

“He’s, I don’t want to say hit a wall, but he played four games in seven nights, and he played almost every preseason game. He’s played a lot of hockey,” Boughner said, “so it’s just time to let him watch a game. I think I’d be good for him, actually, to watch from (the press box).”

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