Bruins win 11th straight against Sharks with shutout

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins extended their winning streak against the San Jose Sharks to 11 games with a 4-0 win at TD Garden on Sunday.

The Sharks have not defeated the Bruins since March 15, 2016, a 3-2 win in San Jose. The Bruins' streak against the Sharks is their longest active against any opponent.
"It's a lot of fun to show up for work every night, and really feel like you can win every night," Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. "I think everybody just brings out the best in each other. It's something you just want to savor, right? Because it's really special what we got going here."
Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman combined for an 18-save shutout for Boston (37-5-4), which has won five in a row. Ullmark made 17 saves in 57:32. Swayman entered at 8:01 of the third period after Ullmark lost a skate blade and made one save in 2:28.
"I have no clue [how the blade came out]," Ullmark said. "I had some skate issues before the game, but we took care of that. … I was just happy they didn't shoot [before the change]."

Hampus Lindholm and McAvoy each had a goal and an assist. Brad Marchand had two assists.
"I thought our best defense was our [offensive] zone possession game," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "Our defensemen kept a lot of pucks alive being really aggressive, and all I know is it's great to have an elite [defensive] core like we do led by Lindholm and McAvoy -- who scored two unbelievable goals to get us going -- and I thought they led us tonight with our intensity and puck possession game."
James Reimer made 18 saves for San Jose (14-25-9).
"No mystery why they have the record they have," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "Obviously, I didn't think we were on our game in a lot of areas. [We] hung around a little bit, but you know, just two goals to get beat 1-on-1, and just didn't get much going tonight."
Lindholm gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 7:16 of the first period, dangling his way into the slot before scoring with a wrist shot.
"If you could put it in the back of the net every game, you would," Lindholm said. "It's a league with good players and good goalies, so it's not as easy as it looks, but it's fun that we can create some offense and take some load off [David] Pastrnak and Marchand, so they can get a little night off."

The Sharks did not have a shot on goal until 10:00 of the first when defenseman Jaycob Megna's slap shot from the blue line was saved by Ullmark.
"We didn't have a lot of energy," Quinn said.
McAvoy made it 2-0 at 4:08 of the second period with a highlight-reel goal of his own. McAvoy deked past Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier, dangled across the crease to evade Mario Ferraro and slid the puck past Reimer.
"It bounced off [McAvoy's] skate, [he] gets it right back on his blade," Meier said. "I should have played the body. It's a mistake that cost us a goal."

Nick Foligno pushed it to 3-0 at 7:46, tipping in Lindholm's point shot. Joona Koppanen had the secondary assist for his first career point in his third NHL game.
"I was laughing because there were four guys that were kind of angry that I scored; they all thought [Koppanen] tipped it," Foligno said. "So I was kind of sad when I went in the huddle with everybody, but he got the assist, so everyone was happy after that."
Pastrnak scored a power-play goal to make it 4-0 at 2:40 of the third period.
"The calmness that we compete with on this team. There's not really much that rattles this group," Foligno said. "The way we handle ourselves every night, every day at practice, and there's just such a hunger to get better in here. That's maybe the biggest thing I see: Every guy wants to get better."
NOTES:Sharks defenseman Matt Benning did not play on Sunday due to an illness, according to Quinn. He did not provide a timetable for his return. … A Bruins defenseman has scored in five straight games dating to Jan. 14. The last time Boston had a streak that long in the regular season was March 8-15, 2014 (five games). … Pastrnak scored his 14th power-play goal, trailing only Connor McDavid (16) and Leon Draisaitl (16) of the Edmonton Oilers for the most in the NHL this season.