Bruins’ Comeback Attempt Falls Short; Sharks Win 4-2

By John in Bruins, Featured, Top Story ⋅ October 22, 2011 at 10:19pm ⋅ Post a comment

Shawn Thornton #22 of the Boston Bruins and Jim Vandermeer #2 of the San Jose Sharks fight in the second period on October 22, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

It was a sloppy game for a good chunk of the night for the Bruins, and it resulted in a 4-2 loss to San Jose. Boston has been getting off to sluggish starts in the season and in individual games lately, and they did it again, surrendering a goal just 1:12 into the game off a turnover and breakaway. Boston had several opportunities shortly thereafter on a power play and for several minutes afterwards, but squandered all of them. Antti Niemi deserves credit too for making all his saves, though Boston couldn’t get it through at any point then, including a shot off the post from Tyler Seguin. Tempers started to boil over, resulting in a shoving match in front of the Boston net with 2:16 left in the opening period.

The second period followed much of the same pattern. Boston couldn’t do anything with Niemi. San Jose even extended their lead a goal, beating Thomas high and in the middle of the net 8:54 in. And just 1:29 after that, desperate to get back in the game, Shawn Thornton threw down with fellow big guy Jim Vandermeer. Thornton got in many rapid blows before ripping off his opponent’s jersey in a close-fought victory. However, that didn’t produce the immediate morale results that Boston would have liked.

Knowing they needed to act fast, Boston kept their energy up. They created more scrambles in front of the San Jose net, but this time, Milan Lucic tapped in a fast-moving puck. Fresh off cracking Niemi, Seguin knocked in a pass from Lucic for the 2-2 tie 29 seconds later. Though they were back in it, Boston soon let San Jose take the momentum back. With 11:12 remaining, a sweeping wrist shot gave San Jose the lead back, and Boston returned to not being able to get offensive momentum goalie. With seconds remaining, Patrick Marleau of San Jose snuck behind enemy lines, received a pass and tucked the puck into the empty net to secure the victory.

JERRY!! JERRY!! Moment of the Game

There was just the one fight in the game, but it was a good one. Thornton’s beatdown was exciting to watch; after all, aren’t fights the only reason we watch hockey?

Coach’s Corner

“The effort is there… those mental lapses are hurting us on both ends of the ice.” – Claude Julien on Boston lack of ability to take advantage of opportunities.

Scoring Summary

1st Period
1:12	SJS	JOE PAVELSKI (4) WRIST – ASST: J. THORNTON (3)
2nd Period
8:54	SJS	LOGAN COUTURE (1) WRIST – ASST: M. HAVLAT (2) AND R. CLOWE (4)
3rd Period
2:43	BOS	MILAN LUCIC (2) WRIST – ASST: C. KELLY (2) AND P. BERGERON (3)
3:12	BOS	TYLER SEGUIN (3) WRIST – ASST: M. LUCIC (4) AND C. KELLY (3)
8:48	SJS	BENN FERRIERO (1) WRIST – ASST: J. MCGINN (1) AND J. VANDERMEER (1)
19:55SJSEN – PATRICK MARLEAU (1) WRIST – ASST: J. PAVELSKI (2)

Penalty Summary

1st Period
2:08	SJS	ANDREW DESJARDINS : BOARDING – 2 MIN
11:12	BOS	ZDENO CHARA : INTERFERENCE – 2 MIN
2nd Period
2:48	SJS	RYANE CLOWE : TOO MANY MEN/ICE – BENCH – 2 MIN
10:23	BOS	SHAWN THORNTON : FIGHTING (MAJ) – 5 MIN
10:23	SJS	JIM VANDERMEER : FIGHTING (MAJ) – 5 MIN
3rd Period
	NONE

Goalie Stats

	Goalie	Save Total	TOI
SJS	Antti Niemi	37/39	60:00
BOS	Tim Thomas	26/29	59:03

Shots on Goal

	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
SJS	10	11	9	30
BOS	14	9	16	39

Game Notes

Niemi is now 4-0-0 in his career against Boston.
Former Bruins’ 1st overall pick Joe Thornton played in his 1001st career game on the night. If he plays in every game, he will have played more games as a Shark than a Bruin on March 15.
Boston has allowed the first goal in six games in a row.
Boston is 1-3-0 on the season when trailing at the 1st Intermission.
Chara gave away his sixth power play to the opposition on the season.
Does it seem like in virtually every Bruins game that the team with the most shots loses?

Tags: Bruins, Chris Kelly, Claude Julien, Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron, San Jose Sharks, Shawn Thornton, Tim Thomas, Tyler Seguin, Zdeno Chara