The Bruins still have not won back-to-back games this year and fall to 3-5-0 on the season.
They'll have some time to work on their game before returning to the Garden for the front end of a home-and-home series with Montreal when the Canadiens pay their first visit of the season on Thursday.
Third Period, 17:47, Sharks 3-2: Tyler Seguin goes off in pain after appearing to take a stick somewhere in the midsection at the Sharks blue line. He remains on the Bruins bench though.
Third Period, 14:40, Sharks 3-2: Michal Handzus with a blast from the left wing has Thomas checking behind him, but the puck stays out and it remains a one-goal deficit for the Bruins.
Third Period, 11:21, Sharks 3-2: The Bruins with a designed play off of a draw just outside the San Jose zone gets the puck to Chara with a full head of steam entering the zone, but a big hit by Doug Murray stops Chara in his tracks and knocks the big guy down.
Third Period, 10:20, Sharks 3-2: The Bruins have a chance to tie it again with a 3-on-1 break, but Niemi makes the stop on Chris Kelly from the top of the crease.
Third Period, 8:48, Sharks 3-2: The Sharks answer back and retake the lead as Benn Ferriero scores on a rebound in front.
Jim Vandermeer sent in the original shot from the left point, and Ferriero cleaned up the rebound with Thomas down.
Third Period, 3:12, 2-2: The Bruins pull even less than a minute later. This time Lucic gets the helper as he breaks in down the left wing and passes it over to Tyler Seguin for the goal form the right slot.
Third Period, 2:43, Sharks 2-1: The Bruins finally get on the board as Milan Lucic bangs home a loose puck in front.
The puck slipped out from behind the net and Lucic was able to get a stick on it and drive it home as Brent Burns tries to clear it off the goal line.
Third Period, 0:41, Sharks 2-0: Brad Marchand took a heavy hit from Doug Murray and was slow to get up, but he stayed on to finish his shift and appears to be OK.
Third Period, 0:00, Sharks 2-0: The final frame is under way here at the Garden, where the Bruins are looking to dig out of a two-goal hole against the Sharks.
Second Intermission Notes: Other than a few shifts following Shawn Thornton's bout, the Bruins have looked relatively flat in this one and now find themselves trailing 2-0 after two periods.
Thornton is excellent at gauging when the Bruins need a spark and he did his best with a solid win against rugged defenseman Jim Vandermeer, but the momentum from the fight proved fleeting. The Bruins will need to find more ways to summon the energy and emotion needed if they want to rally in the third.
After beginning the year with no fights in their first four games, the Bruins have had at least one fight in each of the last four games.
Boston has been sloppy with the puck at times, committing 15 giveaways to San Jose's five. Tyler Seguin has been charged with four of those giveaways.
The Bruins' power play has gone dormant again. They are 0-for-2 in this one and 0-for-5 since snapping an 0-for-22 drought with three straight power-play conversions earlier this week.
End Second Period, Sharks 2-0: Forty minutes in the books at the Garden and the Bruins are still looking for their first goal. The Sharks added another in the second and the Bruins will face an uphill struggle to try to rally in the third.
Second Period, 17:29, Sharks 2-0: The Bruins come close to getting on the board as Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron work a give and go, but Paille's shot off the return pass goes just wide.
Second Period, 13:48, Sharks 2-0: The Sharks use their timeout with a faceoff coming in the San Jose end and the Bruins finally starting to muster some momentum following Thornton's bout.
Second Period, 13:19, Sharks 2-0: Benoit Pouliot has a bid in front, but his one-timer is turned aside by Niemi.
Second Period, 10:23, Sharks 2-0: Shawn Thornton tries to get the Bruins going as he drops the gloves with Sharks defenseman Jim Vandermeer.
They square off out of a faceoff in the Bruins zone and Thornton gets the better of the punches, going over and under with the rights, then switching to some lefts. The linesmen come in when Vandermeer's jersey comes off, but it was ruled to have been ripped off and Vandermeer is not given a game misconduct for not having it tied down.
Second Period, 8:54, Sharks 2-0: There's a chance and the Sharks bury it as Logan Couture doubles the lead.
Couture fired in a shot in front, lifting it over Thomas top shelf off a feed from behind the net by Martin Havlat.
Second Period, 8:12, Sharks 1-0: Fast-moving game here with not a lot of whistles, though not a lot of real action either as neither team has mounted too many scoring threats so far in the second period.
Second Period, 4:48, Sharks 1-0: The Bruins fail to convert another power play as the sides are back to even strength.
Second Period, 2:48, Sharks 1-0: The Bruins will get another power-play chance as San Jose is called for too many men on the ice. Ryan Clowe is serving the penalty, and could be a threat coming out of the box if the Bruins don't convert.
Second Period, 2:21, Sharks 1-0: The Bergeron line with a couple of chances, first with Marchand showing a burst of speed down the left side to get around a defender and put shot on Niemi, then Bergeron with another bid off a drop pass from Horton.
Second Period, 0:00, Sharks 1-0: The middle frame is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins looking to pull even after falling behind by a goal in the first period.
First Intermission Notes: Some sloppy play early cost the Bruins as the Sharks struck quickly and maintained the 1-0 lead through the first 20 minutes.
Boston had its share of chances, but thus far Antti Niemi has been solid in net for the Sharks. He's stopped all 14 shots he's faced, including five from Joe Corvo.
Joe Thornton continues to haunt his old team, as he set up Joe Pavelski for the game's lone goal. Thornton is a plus-1 with an assist and is 5-1 on faceoffs in 6:37. It shouldn't come as a surprise to Bruins fans that he has no shots yet though.
Thanks in part to Thornton's strong work in the dot, the Bruins are just 7-12 on draws (37 percent). Patrice Bergeron, usually one of the best faceoff men in the league, is off to a 1-4 start.
Steven Kampfer continues to be eased back into action. In his second game of the season after a knee injury in camp, Kampfer has played just five shifts for 3:26. He has one shot, but has also been charged with a giveaway.
End First Period, Sharks 1-0: The first 20 minutes are in the books. It was a decent effort for the Bruins, who hold a 14-10 edge in shots, but they were unable to answer San Jose's early strike and go into the break down a goal.
First Period, 19:21, Sharks 1-0: Brad Marchand gets a huge cheer from the crowd after he levels Joe Thornton at the Boston blue line with a big hit.
First Period, 17:44, Sharks 1-0: Things get nasty around the Boston net as the Bruins take exception to Jamie McGinn crashing the crease. Chara gives him a good shot, but no penalties are called as things settle down quickly.
First Period, 13:40, Sharks 1-0: The Bruins with another chance to pull even as Nathan Horton leads a 2-on-1 break down the right wing. He had Pouliot with him on the left, but chose to take the shot himself. Niemi flashes out a pad to block the bid.
First Period, 13:12, Sharks 1-0: Strong penalty kill by the Bruins, with Gregory Campbell particularly impressive in hounding the Sharks in their own zone on the forecheck.
First Period, 11:12, Sharks 1-0: The Sharks get their first power-play chance of the night and the Bruins will be without their top penalty killer as it's Zdeno Chara going to the box for interference.
After the whistle, Brad Marchand and Joe Pavelski were nose-to-nose jawing at each other, but no further calls were made.
First Period, 9:48, Sharks 1-0: During a TV timeout, Joe Thornton is recognized for playing his 1,000th career game Friday night. The former Bruin receives a loud ovation from the Garden faithful.
First Period, 9:48, Sharks 1-0: Tyler Seguin comes within inches of tying it. He beats Niemi with a shot from the right slot, but it clangs off the near post and stays out.
First Period, 8:10, Sharks 1-0: After mixing up the lines a bit in the early going, the Bruins have gone back to their regular lines from warm-ups. The Pouliot-Krejci-Peverley combo created several good chances on one shift, with Krejci dropping a pass from a Seidenberg blast and Pouliot tipping one in front that had Niemi checking behind him.
First Period, 4:08, Sharks 1-0: The Bruins can't convert that chance despite some decent chances, the best of which was a rebound in the right slot by David Krejci, who fired his bid wide through the crease.
First Period, 2:08, Sharks 1-0: The Bruins will get a power-play chance to try to pull even as Andrew Desjardins is sent off for boarding.
First Period, 1:12, Sharks 1-0: The Sharks strike quickly as Joe Thornton sets up Joe Pavelski for an early 1-0 lead.
Thornton passed it out from the left boards to Pavelski, who picked the top right corner with a shot past Thomas from between the circles.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: We're under way here at the Garden, where the Bruins and sharks are each trying to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
7 p.m.: The Bruins will go with a bit of a hodgepodge line to start this one, with Patrice Bergeron opening between Rich Peverley and Benoit Pouliot. Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo start on defense and Tim Thomas in is goal.
The Sharks counter with a different line of their own, with Joe Thornton between Jamie McGinn and Benn Ferriero, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns on the blue line and Antti Niemi in net.
6:55 p.m.: Adam McQuaid and Jordan Caron are officially the scratches for the Bruins. Steven Kampfer will play his second game of the year on defense and Benoit Pouliot stays in on the third line up front.
Colin White and Jason Demers are out on defense for San Jose, with call-up Justin Braun and Jim Vandermeer getting in the lineup. Torrey Mitchell (upper body) is also out, with Andrew Desjardins returning to the lineup.
6:40 p.m.: There were no changes to the Bruins lines in the warm-up drills. Jordan Caron skated, but did not participate in the line rushes and appears to be the scratch up front again.
Here is the full line combinations from the warm-up:
Marchand-Bergeron-Horton
Lucic-Kelly-Seguin
Pouliot-Krejci-Peverley
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-Corvo
Ference-Kampfer
6:30 p.m.: The teams have taken the ice for warm-ups and Tim Thomas and Antti Niemi led their respective squads out.
That will be the goaltending matchup in this one as anticipated.
Adam McQuaid is not on the ice for warm-ups and it appears he will miss another game with his neck injury.
6 p.m.: The Bruins will host old friend Joe Thornton and the sharks in just about an hour.
Boston held just an optional skate in the morning and Tim Thomas did not participate, but he is expected to get the start in goal. Despite playing Friday night in New Jersey, Antti Niemi is expected to get the nod in net for San Jose.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins will look to build off Thursday's impressive 6-2 victory over Toronto and try to win back-to-back games for the first time this season when San Jose comes to the Garden on Saturday.
Like the Maple Leafs on Thursday, the Sharks will come in playing their second game in as many nights. And like Toronto in its 4-3 win over Winnipeg on Wednesday, San Jose had to go to a shootout to post a 4-3 win in New Jersey on Friday. Joe Pavelski scored with 32.4 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and Ryan Clowe scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
Pavelski and Clowe each had a goal and an assist as the Sharks offense finally showed some signs of life after scoring just four goals in their previous three games. San Jose lost all three of those games and is just 2-3-0 on the season.
Joe Thornton also had a goal and an assist on Friday, but the game in New Jersey was special for another reason. The former Bruins center played his 1,000th career game on Friday. The first 532 of those games were played with Boston before his infamous trade to San Jose for Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm in 2005. Thornton has played just five games against the Bruins since then, and only three have been in Boston. He has 2-1-3 totals in those five games, with the Sharks going 3-1-1 against his old club.
The Bruins have struggled themselves in the early going this season, and stand at just 3-4-0 after Thursday's win. Both teams are getting healthier but are still dealing with injuries. The Bruins got center David Krejci and defenseman Steven Kampfer back on Thursday, but defenseman Adam McQuaid remains day to day with a neck injury. McQuaid did return to practice on Friday.
The Sharks got forward Martin Havlat back on Friday, but Torrey Mitchell was injured on a hit in the first period and did not return. He is questionable for Saturday. San Jose is also without backup goalie Antero Niittymaki, who underwent hip surgery before the season. With Antti Niemi playing on Friday, Thomas Greiss could get the call in net for the Sharks.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action from the Garden.
