Charlie McAvoy made his return count immediately, scoring in his season debut as the Boston Bruins skated out of SAP Center with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. Boston has now won three straight, improving to 5-2-0, while San Jose slipped to 3-3-0 after its second consecutive loss.
McAvoy returns with a goal
McAvoy was back in the lineup after serving a six-game suspension for slashing Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson in Game 6 of last season’s Eastern Conference First Round. He restored Boston’s lead late in the first period, finishing a net-front play for the 2-1 goal at 18:43.
JJ Peterka tracked down a loose puck to the right of Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov and slipped it into the crease for McAvoy, who drove to the net and pushed the puck beyond the goalie’s left pad.
- Fraser Minten scored twice for Boston.
- Matthew Poitras and Pavel Zacha supplied the other regulation goals.
- Morgan Geekie recorded two assists, including one on Zacha’s late second-period marker.
- Jeremy Swayman stopped 35 shots for the Bruins.
- Will Borgen sealed the result with an empty-net goal.
Boston builds a late-second-period cushion
Minten opened the scoring at 12:55 of the first. Casey Mittelstadt collected his own rebound behind the San Jose net and fed Minten, who had come off the bench and snapped a shot from above the right circle over Askarov’s blocker.
The Sharks drew even at 15:29 when Jacob Trouba hammered a one-timer past Swayman’s blocker just two seconds after a power play had expired. Kiefer Sherwood set up the tying goal.
San Jose answered again early in the second. Macklin Celebrini held the puck in the right faceoff circle on the power play before spotting Ivar Stenberg at the far post. Stenberg converted at 5:48 for his first NHL goal, tying the game 2-2. The forward was selected second overall in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Boston responded with the next two goals to take control before intermission.
- Poitras put the Bruins ahead 3-2 at 8:42. Mark Kastelic lost the puck behind the Sharks net, and it came free at the left post for Poitras to jam past an out-of-position Askarov.
- Zacha made it 4-2 with three seconds remaining in the period. On a 2-on-1, Geekie found him in the left slot, where Zacha beat Askarov with a wrist shot to the blocker side.
Sharks push back, but Minten closes the door
Celebrini gave San Jose life with a power-play one-timer at 5:04 of the third period. Will Smith moved the puck to Stenberg along the left wing, and Stenberg returned it across the ice to Celebrini at the right dot. Celebrini’s goal cut the Bruins lead to 4-3 and gave him a goal and an assist.
Stenberg also finished with a goal and an assist, but the Sharks could not find an equalizer against Swayman.
Minten delivered the answering goal at 11:47. Luca Cagnoni blocked a pass during a Boston rush, but the puck landed on Marat Khusnutdinov’s stick. Khusnutdinov found Minten at the top of the crease for a tap-in past Askarov’s right pad, restoring a two-goal margin at 5-3.
Borgen finished the scoring at 18:18, banking the puck off the right-side boards from inside Boston’s own zone into the empty San Jose net. Askarov made 20 saves in the loss.
