The San Jose Sharks lost a lead over the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday, then fell easily to the top-ranked Boston Bruins Sunday to start the team’s eastern road trip 0-2. The Sharks were outscored 9-3 overall and allowed seven consecutive goals across the two games.
Timo Meier and Nick Bonino scored the first two goals against the Blue Jackets. That was the largest lead the Sharks ever had, and it disappeared before the end of the second period. Nico Sturm scored at the beginning of the third period, but Columbus finished the game with three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 win.
The Sharks had 15 shots on goal to start the game but took only ten combined in the last 40 minutes. Sturm assisted Bonino’s goal and was the only Shark to record multiple points. Five different skaters scored for the Blue Jackets, and their top line recorded five combined points. Gustav Nyquist reached his 10th goal of the year for his ninth straight season. Five players had two-point games for Columbus.
In Sunday’s game, the Bruins took the lead before the Sharks had even managed a shot on goal. The Sharks recorded their first of five shots on net over two minutes later. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm pulled the puck through traffic to the center of the ice and scored with 12:44 left in the period. He was one of three defensemen to mark the scoresheet for the Bruins.
Charlie McAvoy and Nick Folino scored in the second period to extend the lead to 3-0. Michael Eyssimont took a trio of penalties on the Sharks’ side in the middle of the game. Partly due to the multiple penalties, the Sharks couldn’t record a shot on goal until after the midway point of the period.
The Bruins coasted to victory in the third period, boosted by an early power-play goal from David Pastrnak. San Jose recorded its 15th shot of the game with 11:14 remaining to play. Boston goalie Linus Ullmark lost a skate blade and had to briefly leave the game. Jeremy Swayman came in and saw only one shot before Ullmark returned and completed the shutout with 18 combined saves.
The Sharks will travel to Detroit to face the Red Wings on January 24th at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific. The Red Wings are 24th in the League and most recently played on Saturday, a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
