Sharks lose to Boston Bruins as road woes start to approach record territory

NHL: San Jose Sharks allow two second period goals to Boston Bruins, drop to 0-10-0 on the road this season

The San Jose Sharks may have played their best hockey of the season during their recent homestand, but that meant nothing on Thursday because their road woes are far from over.

The Sharks gave up two goals in the second period and never recovered in a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden, dropping San Jose’s road record to an unappealing 0-10-0.

After an even first period, the Sharks fell behind 2-0 after allowing even-strength goals to Bruins forwards Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk. San Jose was shut out for the fourth time this season, all on the road, and was unable to mount a comeback.

Mackenzie Blackwood, the Sharks’ goalie, made 32 saves, including 16 in the second period when the team was plagued by turnovers. For the Bruins (15-4-3), goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves.

“In the second period, we got loose.” “Turnovers harmed us and energized their game,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “I thought (the Bruins) brought to another level once that period got going and we weren’t able to control it.”

The Sharks’ inability to score during a 5-on-3 power play near the end of the second period exemplified their offensive frustrations. When the third period began, with 1:35 of man-advantage time remaining, the Sharks (5-16-2) turned the puck over twice and were unable to get a shot on Swayman.

The Sharks went 0 for 5 on the power play and now have an 0-111-2 record against the Bruins since the start of the 2016-17 season. Their last victory over Boston was on March 15, 2016.

“We were giving it to them on the 5-on-3 and that just can’t happen,” Quinn went on to say. “You’ve got a full minute and a half to get one in, and suddenly it’s 2-1 and it’s a hockey game.”

“You could feel the whole bench kind of get deflated a little bit.”

San Jose has now been outscored 42-6 in ten away games.

With their season-long six-game road trip just getting started, the Sharks could break the franchise record for most road losses to begin a season, which is held by the 1991-1992 team, which lost its first 13 games away from the Cow Palace.

The Sharks will play New Jersey on Friday, then the New York Rangers and New York Islanders on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. The Sharks’ road trip concludes with games against Detroit on December 7 and Vegas on December 10.

Tomas Hertl, who revealed after Thursday’s game that he needed surgery on Monday to remove a kidney stone, surprised everyone by showing up for pregame warmups and later being inserted into the Sharks’ lineup. Hertl did not play in Monday’s game against the Washington Capitals, did not practice on Tuesday, and did not participate in Thursday’s morning skate.

“It was a pretty (crappy) situation,” Hertl admitted. “It was pretty painful, but I felt good for tonight, so I jumped in.”

His turnover in the Sharks’ zone, however, led to Boston’s first goal, as his attempted clear was batted down by Matthew Poitras, who passed the puck to Heinen, who beat Blackwood with a shot.

The Bruins scored their second goal after entering the San Jose zone. Cali Addison shifted too far to his left, allowing DeBrusk to get to the net after a pass from Pavel Zacha.

Zacha rounded out the scoring with a power-play goal at 6:37 of the third period.

Blackwood made his second consecutive start after stopping 33 of 34 shots in the Sharks’ 2-1 win over Washington on Monday, as San Jose finished a three-game homestand 2-0-1.

Prior to Thursday, Blackwood had a 3-3-1 record with a.924 save percentage in his previous eight games. Among those eight appearances were road losses to Anaheim, Vancouver, and Seattle, bringing the Sharks’ record away from home to 0-9-0 this season.