McAvoy scores in season debut, Bruins defeat Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Charlie McAvoy scored in his season debut for the Boston Bruins, a 6-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.

McAvoy returned from a six-game suspension he received for slashing Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round last season.

Fraser Minten scored twice for the Bruins (5-2-0), who have won three straight. Matthew Poitras and Pavel Zacha also scored, Morgan Geekie had two assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves.

"We'll definitely take the two points. It probably wasn't our best game," Boston coach Marco Sturm said. "Few too many turnovers, a little bit sloppy, but we found a way to win a hockey game. That is important too. That's what good teams do to close out on the road."

Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (3-3-0), who have lost two straight and three of four. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves.

"I thought it was a step in the right direction," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "I think you create your own luck and you create your own puck luck, and I thought we did some things that we've talked about the last couple of days. We've improved in some areas and some positives, but yeah, some things we have to clean up."

Minten put the Bruins up 1-0 at 12:55 of the first period. Casey Mittelstadt got his own rebound behind the net and passed up to Minten, who skated in off the bench and beat Askarov over his blocker with a shot from above the right circle.

"It's a shot from the slot. Traffic and coming off the bench, you're kind of lost, so I just tried to get it on and off the stick as quick as I could," Minten said.

Jacob Trouba tied the game 1-1 at 15:29. He one-timed a pass from Kiefer Sherwood past Swayman's blocker two seconds after a power play expired.

McAvoy put the Bruins back ahead 2-1 at 18:43. JJ Peterka found a loose puck to the left of Askarov and passed to McAvoy, who tapped it past Askarov's left pad as he was crashing the net.

"It was just fun to be playing again. That was nice (to score)," McAvoy said. "I thought that was a big boy shift, and we were trying to hold onto the puck. Just tried to break them down, and it was a great pass by JJ."

Stenberg tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal at 5:48 of the second period. Celebrini waited in the right face-off circle before finding Stenberg at the back post for a tap-in past Swayman's right leg.

It was the first career goal for Stenberg, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

"Just happy to get the first," Stenberg said. "Good play from Mack, and yeah, nice to score a goal."

Poitras gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 8:42. Mark Kastelic had the puck poked off his stick behind the Sharks' net, but it popped out to the left post, where Poitras jammed it past Askarov, who was looking the other way.

Zacha pushed the lead to 4-2 with three seconds left in the period. While skating in on a 2-on-1 rush, Geekie found Zacha in the left slot for a wrist shot that beat Askarov's blocker.

Celebrini scored a power-play goal at 5:04 of the third period to cut it to 4-3. Will Smith fed a pass to Stenberg down the left wing, and he sent it back across the ice to Celebrini at the right face-off dot for a one-timer.

"First couple power plays weren't as crisp as we would have liked, and we understood that and got the message," Celebrini said. "I think we executed a lot better."

Minten scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-3 at 11:47. Sharks defenseman Luca Cagnoni blocked a pass on a rush that went right to Marat Khusnutdinov, who found Minten at the top of the crease for the tap-in past Askarov's right pad.

Will Borgen banked the puck off the right boards from his own zone for an empty-net goal at 18:18 for the 6-3 final.

NOTES: Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse left the game in the third period after he fought Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Warsofsky did not provide an update on his status after the game.