San Jose Sharks Fall to Boston Bruins 6-3 Despite Stenberg's First Goal

The San Jose Sharks hosted the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night as the "main event" of the NHL's annual Frozen Frenzy. For just one night, Sharks fans were wishing for the 7:30 PM start of years' past, but instead the puck didn't drop until 8. Yaroslav Askarov was back between the pipes for the Sharks, while Jeremy Swayman stood directly across from him at the other end of the ice.

Boston's new captain David Pastrnak was sent to the penalty box at 4:44 in the first period for high-sticking the Sharks' new captain Macklin Celebrini. Although the Sharks sustained some pressure in the offensive zone with the man advantage, the Bruins were able to kill off the penalty successfully. 

Roughly eight minutes into the period, Igor Chernyshov had a tremendous individual effort to force a turnover at the blue line, complete a spinning pass to Will Smith and nearly got the Sharks on the board but whiffed on his one-timer attempt. Less than a minute later, it seemed like the Bruins had taken a 1-0 lead with a shot from Mason Lohrei, but the referee immediately signaled no goal and disallowed it. At 12:55 in the first period, the Bruins did get their lead though as Fraser Minten fired a shot from distance that beat Askarov to make it 1-0. 

The Sharks' power play got another chance with 6:33 remaining in the period, as veteran defenseman Nikita Zadorov was penalized for hooking. Two seconds after the penalty expired, Jacob Trouba scored with a rocket of a one-timer from the point that sailed past Swayman and into the nylon.

Charlie McAvoy restored the Bruins' lead after a broken play in front of the Sharks' net led to a mad scramble. The Sharks had a couple of opportunities to get the puck out of a dangerous area, but instead kept the puck right in front of the net where the Bruins could capitalize.

Zadorov went back to the penalty box early in the second period after he tripped up Macklin Celebrini. That power play ultimately led to a special moment, as Ivar Stenberg scored his first career goal on a deflection to tie things up at 2-2. Watch the goal here:

Matthew Poitras then restored the Bruins' lead, making it a 3-2 game right before the halfway point. 

Stenberg took a hooking penalty at 12:01 of the second period, sending the Bruins to their first power play of the night. During the penalty kill, Jacob Trouba and Fraser Minton took offsetting penalties for their part in a scrum.

Moments after the Sharks' penalty expired, Mark Kastelic laid a heavy hit on Celebrini at the blue line. In retaliation, Will Smith cross-checked Kastelic from behind and sent the Sharks back to the penalty kill. While it's great to see a player stand up for their captain, taking a bad penalty in retaliation for a clean hit while behind by a goal likely wasn't the best decision. Ultimately, all it meant was two minutes of defensive hockey as the Sharks killed off Smith's penalty as well.

With three seconds remaining in the second period, Pavel Zacha scored his second of the season to make it a 4-2 lead for the Bruins.

Boston gave the Sharks an opportunity to get momentum back on their side as they took a bench minor for too many men, and they did just that. At 5:04 in the third period, just 11 seconds into the power play, Macklin Celebrini scored his second of the season to bring the Sharks within a single goal. 

Darnell Nurse dropped the gloves with Nikita Zadorov to try to spark some momentum, but instead Nurse went down the tunnel after he appeared to hit his head on Zadorov's takedown. Nurse skated to the penalty box momentarily during a TV timeout before once again heading to the Sharks' locker room.

Will Borgen sealed the game for Boston with an empty net goal to make it a 6-3 game, ending the Sharks' slim chances of a comeback.