Bruins Fall 3-1 to Sharks, ‘Unfortunate to Leave Points Here’

SAN JOSE –– The Boston Bruins fell 3-1 to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday at SAP Center.

While the B’s found their footing in the latter half of the matchup, penalties prevented them from completing a comeback.

​“We have to find a way. [Six] penalties a night, it is going to be a hard season. Players are too good, too skilled to be on the power play,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “The guys that played, they tried everything they possibly [could], we just found ourselves down a couple goals against a hot goalie, too. Probably didn’t do a good enough job in front of him. It was just unfortunate to leave points here.”

​The Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the third period. Shakir Mukhamadullin put San Jose up 1-0 at 15:53 of the opening frame with a wrist shot from the right circle before Macklin Celebrini’s power-play goal made it 2-0 at 11:45 of the second.

Morgan Geekie logged his fifth goal in three games to get the B’s on the board in the third. David Pastrnak looped the puck behind the net and dished it over to Geekie on the left doorstep, who knocked it past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov at 10:02.

​“We had a good shift going before that. I thought we kind of built on it,” Geekie said. “I saw Dave go around the net, just tried to get in a spot for him, and he put it in a good spot. Just tried to get a piece of it and put it in.”

Geekie now has 17 goals on the year, which ties Nathan MacKinnon for most in the NHL.

An empty-net goal from Collin Graf at 18:53, though, sealed the 3-1 loss.

“It’s the California trip. It is always low-scoring games,” David Pastrnak said. “It’s one of the toughest trips. We prepare, bury down on your chances when you can.”​

Elias Lindholm made his return to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 after dealing with a lower-body injury. The forward finished the night with 15:41 of total ice time.

“It was good to be back. It was one of those games where you just try to get the rhythm going and do the best you can. Happy to get one out of the way for sure,” Lindholm said. “We just took too many penalties. I thought we played well in the second there, had all the momentum, and then took too many penalties…It is hard to win games in this league when you’re in the box that much.”

Jeremy Swayman was in net for the second consecutive game and made 28 saves on 30 shots.

The Bruins close out their four-game road trip on Wednesday when they face the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.