Sharks winger Timo Meier started Sunday’s game with Boston in a somewhat unpredictable fashion, dropping the gloves with Bruins defensemen Brandon Carlo just 27 seconds into the first period. It was only the third fight of Meier’s seven-year NHL career.
The rest of the game was slightly more foreseeable, as the Sharks managed just 11 shots on goal through two periods as their offense was suffocated in a 4-0 loss to the Bruins at TD Garden, marking the first time San Jose has been shut out this season.
One night after a 5-3 loss to the 32nd-place Columbus Blue Jackets, the Sharks gave up even-strength goals to Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and Nick Foligno in the first two periods. David Pastrnak then scored a power-play goal at the 2:40 mark of the third period to give the league-leading Bruins (36-5-4) a four-goal lead.
The Sharks (14-25-9) didn’t get their first shot until there was 9:59 left in the first period, and they didn’t get a shot on net in two power-play tries.
“There’s a variety of reasons why they’re as good as they are and they have the record they have,” Sharks coach David Quinn said Sunday morning of the Bruins. “But more than anything, they play true team hockey. There’s a consistent effort in what they do and that’s been happening for a long time in their organization. It’s why they’ve consistently been one of the teams at the top.”
Goalie James Reimer made 16 saves in the loss, the Sharks’ fifth in the last six games. San Jose continues their five-game road trip Tuesday in Detroit, followed by stops in Carolina on Friday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Just before the fight, Meier was knocked down as he slid into Carlo and Tomas Hertl.
After the pileup to the right of the Bruins’ net cleared up, Carlo grabbed Meier’s leg, and Meier gave Carlo a shot to the head before he started back up the ice. Carlo dropped his gloves and grabbed Meier, who obliged and started throwing punches in a brief but spirited fight.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Meier has only had two other fighting majors in his NHL career, with the last coming in Dec. 2018 when he had a scrap with Greg Pateryn, then of the Minnesota Wild. Meier’s other fight came in Sept, 2016, when he dropped the gloves with Tyler Morley in a preseason game between the Sharks and Anaheim Ducks.
LABANC SCRATCHED AGAIN: Sharks winger Kevin Labanc was scratched for the fourth straight game Sunday, as Quinn kept his forward lines intact from Saturday’s loss.
Labanc’s last game was on Jan. 13 when the Sharks were blasted 7-1 by the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center. After that, Labanc was replaced on the Sharks’ second line by Mikey Eyssimont, who made his presence felt in recent games with his relentless, energetic style. Eyssimont has also received time on the Sharks’ second power-play unit.
BENNING OUT: Defenseman Matt Benning was out of the Sharks lineup for just the second time this season. Although it was not immediately clear why Benning did not play Sunday, he was hobbled by a shot he blocked in Saturday’s game. Quinn mentioned before Sunday’s game that he had a couple of players battling injuries.
Nick Cicek entered the lineup for Benning and was paired with Scott Harrington, as Marc-Edouard Vlasic was paired with Mario Ferraro.
Among all Sharks defensemen, Benning is second in points (20) and third in average time on ice (19:24).