Sharks fall to Boston Bruins, lose another defenseman to injury
Brad Marchand scored twice, including a goal at the 3:18 mark of the third period that gave the Boston Bruins a 2-1 lead
SAN JOSE – The Sharks lost another game at home Saturday and lost another defenseman to injury in the process.
Goalie James Reimer finished with 34 saves but the Sharks only managed a second-period power-play goal from Timo Meier in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins before a season-high announced crowd of 17,260 at SAP Center.
Brad Marchand scored twice for the Bruins, including a goal at the 3:18 mark of the third period that gave his team a 2-1 lead. Patrice Bergeron scored with 40 seconds left in regulation to seal the win for the Bruins.
The Sharks, who were outshot 37-16, are now 1-4-1 in home games since Jan. 22.
“There was a lot of shot volume against but there wasn’t necessarily a ton of high-end chances against,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “The problem was we couldn’t spend enough time in their end and we couldn’t produce some possession time down there.”
Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro suffered what looked like a lower-body injury in the second period.
Ferraro was chasing a puck deep in the Sharks’ zone when he was hit by Bruins winger Taylor Hall, causing Ferraro to fall feet first into the end boards. Ferraro’s left skate first hit the boards, and he appeared to be favoring that leg as he was helped off the ice by Sharks head athletic trainer Ray Tufts.
The Sharks announced early in the third period that Ferraro would not return. Boughner said after the game that he didn’t have an update on Ferraro’s health.
“I was on the ice. I saw him go down and I heard him scream,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said of Ferraro. “I didn’t actually see what happened. The ref said (Hall) pushed him from behind.”
Hall received an interference penalty for the play, and the Sharks scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game 1-1. Timo Meier one-timed a pass from Brent Burns past Jeremy Swayman for his team-leading 24th goal of the season.
The Sharks can ill afford to lose another defenseman for any period of time, let alone Ferraro, who is second on the team in average time on ice. Ferraro is averaging 23:33 in average time on ice this season, behind only Burns (26:22).
The Sharks (23-23-6) are already without defensemen Erik Karlsson, Jaycob Megna, and Nicolas Meloche, and are now nine points out of a playoff spot with 30 games left to play.
Meloche (undisclosed) is still considered day-to-day, but Karlsson (forearm) and Megna (foot) are at least two weeks or more from returning.
“It’s just one after another,” Boughner said of the injuries. “We’ve got eight regulars out of our lineup right if you start considering Meloche, Megna, Karlsson, (Kevin) Labanc, (Nikolai) Knyzhov, Rudy Balcers. I mean, the list goes on and on. It’s tough to keep plugging holes every night.”
The Sharks were looking to win consecutive games for the first time since early January but had a hard time generating many quality scoring chances in the first period when they allowed the first goal.
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy hit Jonathan Dahlen in the Boston zone and Erik Haula moved the loose puck up to Jake DeBrusk past Ryan Merkley to create a 2 on 1. DeBrusk passed it over to Marchand, who one-timed it past Reimer for his 22nd goal of the season.
It was the eighth straight game that the Sharks allowed the first goal.
The Sharks received a four-minute power play just 1:44 into the first period as Bruins forward Erik Haula was called for high-sticking Tomas Hertl. But San Jose managed just two shots on that man advantage.
“It’s tough to get a power play early in the game,” Burns said. “It’s no excuse. It was awful. Not good enough. It’s tough at the start to get one, but you’ve got to be better. Four minutes, you got to get in the zone. Get some flow. Our entries were just off.”
Boughner implored his team to get off to a fast start Saturday, issuing some choice words to the group after he saw sluggish moments during the team’s morning skate.
“We’ve got to be ready,” Boughner said Saturday morning. “I know when you play a lot of hockey games, it’s easy to come to the rink and try and save all your energy for at night. But for me, it’s tough to flip the switch and it’s got to start when you walk in the doors in the morning. So that was a message this morning.”
Reimer was making his 11th straight start Saturday and faced nine shots in the first period. Adin Hill is still rehabbing a lower-body injury that’s bothered him since late January, and Reimer had a 2-3-4 record since Jan. 26.
Boughner indicated earlier this week that he was going to start Reimer on Sunday against Seattle.
Forward Andrew Cogliano was an unexpected scratch Saturday, as the Sharks said just before the game began that he was tending to a personal matter and unavailable. Jonathan Dahlen, who was slated to be scratched against the Bruins, took Cogliano’s spot on the third line and finished with 11:31 of ice time.
Boughner said he didn’t know the situation and was unsure if Cogliano would be available to play Sunday.