The Bruins departed California with two losses in three stops after losing Sunday night to the Sharks, 3-1, in San Jose.
Morgan Geekie got the Bruins on the board at 10:02 of the third period with his 17th goal of the season, which tied Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead, past San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov. Geekie brought the Bruins to within 2-1, but the Sharks iced the game on an empty-netter by Collin Graf.
The Sharks carried a 2-0 lead into the second intermission, the second of the strikes provided by short-time Boston University skater Macklin Celebrini on a power play at 11:45 of the second period.
Only 26 seconds after Jonathan Aspirot was whistled off for a tripping minor, the dazzling Celebrini fired a wrister by Jeremy Swayman from the left faceoff circle. Celebrini is very light and nimble on his skates, an artful skater able to dart in and out and create good shooting positions. His goal came off a quick feed from former Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov and he fired the puck past Swayman’s glove hand.
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Aspirot’s penalty came only seconds after Orlov delivered a low, menacing hit on Sean Kuraly, a low-bridge, clip-like hit (one that certainly would have seen Brad Marchand to the penalty box in his days as a Bruin) that was not penalized.
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Later in the second, Aspirot (tripping) and Hampus Lindholm (roughing) were sent off only 11 seconds apart, setting up the Sharks to blow the game open. San Jose indeed pressured the Boston net, landing seven shots while on the attack, but Swayman turned them all back — the pressure finally relieved when William Eklund was tagged with a holding minor at 18:45.
The Bruins finally had their No. 1 center, Elias Lindholm, back in the lineup some three-plus weeks after he sustained a knee injury in a mid-ice collision.
Lindholm slotted between Alex Steeves and Morgan Geekie for even-strength duty and also worked on the No. 1 power-play unit with fellow forwards Pavel Zacha, David Pastrnak, and Geekie; Hampus Lindholm held down the quarterback/point position.
The Sharks, with renewed hope these days after some very lean years, had moved out to the lead with 4:07 left in the first, soon after failing to convert on a power play.
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Shakir Mukhamadullin connected for the opening goal, snapping home a wrister from the right wing circle that appeared to tick off Mikey Eyssimont’s stick before ramping up over Swayman’s shoulder.
It was the third time in the last four games the Bruins surrendered the opening goal and the 12th time in 24 games overall. Boston is 8-4-0 this season when connecting for the 1-0 lead (with Geekie’s name on three of the 12 goals).
A left-shooting Russian defenseman, the 23-year-old Mukhamadullin originally was a Devils draft pick (No. 20, 2020) and was dealt to the Sharks in February 2023 in the mass swap of bodies and draft picks that sent Timo Meier to the Devils.