BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy and Jake DeBrusk scored 37 seconds apart in the second period and the Boston Bruins beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Brad Marchand had a short-handed goal and two assists, David Krejci added a goal and an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves. The surging Bruins have won eight of nine and earned at least one point in 14 straight games.
Logan Couture scored for San Jose, and Martin Jones stopped 28 shots.
The Sharks, who lost to the Bruins for the second time in eight days, wrapped up a 2-2 Eastern Conference swing.
The Bruins, who had won seven straight before a 2-1 shootout loss at St. Louis on Saturday, broke the game open with a dominant second period, scoring three times and just missing on several more opportunities during a flurry late in the period.
McAvoy scored 9:09 into the second to put the Bruins up 2-1 on a wrist shot from the slot. DeBrusk scored 37 seconds later after forcing a turnover at the blue line and starting a 3-on-1.
Marchand made it 4-1 when he split a pair of defenders in the San Jose zone and got in alone on Jones for a short-handed goal 12:28 into the second.
Couture put San Jose up 1-0 on a power-play goal 12:47 into the game. Krejci tied it on a power play less than two minutes later with a one-timer from the left circle. Torey Krug and Marchand assisted.
Things got chippy early in the third period, when San Jose’s Evander Kane received a game misconduct after a fight with 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara. The 6-foot-2 Kane took an elbow from the Boston captain and went directly after him for a one-sided bout that left him bleeding from a facial cut.
Chara was called for elbowing, Kane for instigating and both received 10-minute misconducts and fighting majors. Kane spent 29 seconds in the penalty box before something he said got him tossed from the game 3:51 into the third. Boston’s David Backes and San Jose’s Michael Haley dropped the gloves five seconds later.
NOTES: Marchand has 25 career short-handed goals, tying him with Rick Middleton for the most in Bruins history. … Boston RW David Pastrnak missed his seventh consecutive game with a thumb injury. … Gustav Nyquist made his Sharks debut two days after a trade from Detroit.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
Bruins: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
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Doug Alden, The Associated Press