The B's will finish the trip in Los Angeles against the Kings on Saturday.
WHEN AND WHERE
Thursday, Jan. 14, 10:30 p.m.
HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.
RECORDS
Bruins (22-16-7, 51 points, second place in Northeast Division, tied for fifth place in Eastern Conference)
Sharks (30-10-7, 67 points, first place in Pacific Division, first place in Western Conference)
HEAD TO HEAD
This is the first and only meeting of the season between the Bruins and Sharks. Last season, the Sharks beat the Bruins 5-2 in their only meeting. The Bruins lead the all-time series 13-6-5.
SKINNY
Joe Thornton has gone on to prosper since being traded from the Bruins on Nov. 30, 2005, and he leads the NHL in assists and is second in points. But Thornton isn’t the only worry the Bruins and all of the Sharks’ opponents have, as his linemates Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau are having monster seasons. With 149 combined points, the three combine to form the NHL’s most lethal line.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Bruins
Forwards
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Marco Sturm–Mark Recchi–Miroslav Satan
Milan Lucic–Steve Begin–Byron Bitz
Daniel Paille–Vladimir Sobotka–Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Dennis Wideman
Adam McQuaid–Johnny Boychuck
Matt Hunwick–Derek Morris
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Sharks
Forwards
Patrick Marleau–Joe Thornton–Dany Heatley
Ryane Clowe–Joe Pavelski–Devin Setoguchi
John McCarthy–Torrey Mitchell–Jed Ortmeyer
Jody Shelley–Scott Nichol–Brad Staubitz
Defensemen
Rob Blake–Dan Boyle
Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Douglas Murray
Kent Huskins–Jason Demers
Goaltenders
Evgeni Nabokov
Thomas Greiss
GOALTENDER MATCHUP
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 12-11-5 with a 2.44 GAA and .918 save percentage. Thomas has four shutouts.
Tuukka Rask is 10-5-2 with a 2.04 GAA, .930 save percentage and is second in the NHL in both categories. Rask has two shutouts.
Sharks
Evgeni Nabokov is 26-7-7 with a 2.29 GAA and .924 save percentage. Nabokov has two shutouts.
Thomas Greiss is 4-3-0 with a 2.66 GAA and .913 save percentage.
STAT SHEET
Bruins
Patrice Bergeron leads the team in points (11 goals, 20 assists) with 31.
Zdeno Chara scored the Bruins’ first goal on Wednesday and is tied for second in points on the Bruins with 27. He leads the team in assists with 23.
Mark Recchi set up two goals on Wednesday and now has 18 assists and 27 points. He is tied for second in points with Chara. With those two assists, Recchi moved into sole possession of 13th place on the NHL all-time points list with 1,469 points.
David Krejci had an assist last night and has one helper in each of his last two games. He has 17 assists this season and 25 points.
Marco Sturm broke a four-game scoreless streak with a goal on Wednesday and leads the Bruins with 15 lamplighters. He has 24 points.
The Bruins killed off three of the four Anaheim power plays last night. They’ve allowed only 20 goals on 161 power plays faced and lead the NHL with an 87.6 percent success rate.
The Bruins' power play was 0-for-2 last night and is now 28-for-155 with an 18.1 percent success rate.
Sharks
Former Bruins captain Joe Thornton is second in the NHL in scoring with 60 points and first in assists with 49.
Former Northeast Division foe Dany Heatley (27 goals, 24 assists) is second on the Sharks in points with 51. He has a four-game point streak going with five points during that span.
Patrick Marleau leads the NHL with 31 goals and is third in points on his team with 49. Marleau had two goals and an assist Tuesday night and has six points in his last five games.
Dan Boyle leads the Sharks' blue line in assists with 28 and points with 37. Boyle has a four-game point streak going with five points during that span.
The Sharks have the second-best penalty kill in the NHL with an 87.1 percent success rate. They have allowed only 25 goals on 194 power plays faced.
The Sharks have the NHL’s eighth-best power play with a 20.4 success rate. They’re 37-for-181.
BLACK AND BLUE
Bruins
Marc Savard is out a minimum of two to three more weeks with a knee injury.
Andrew Ference is out for at least five more weeks with an injured groin.
Patrice Bergeron (broken thumb) has been practicing with the team and could return next Monday at the TD Garden against the Senators.
Mark Stuart (broken sternum) is on injured reserve but could come back during this road trip.
Sharks
Manny Malholtra is questionable with a lower-body injury.
THIS DATE IN BRUINS HISTORY
On Jan. 14, 1973, Phil Esposito scores four goals (two shorthanded) and has five points in a 6-0 win over Buffalo.
OVERHEARD
“That’s what we need: A little bit of anger, guys getting mad and wanting to do something about it. If we can get that same kind of effort and cut down on the mistakes, I think we’ll be on the right track. The effort was there. That’s what’s frustrating. Mistakes ended up costing us in the end, but at the other end we really challenged them.”
–Head coach Claude Julien on the Bruins' anger and frustration after their 4-3 loss at Anaheim
PRESS BOX
Bruins
The Bruins battled hard but couldn’t come away with a point in Anaheim.
Bruins forward Milan Lucic still holds hope he will play for gold in his hometown of Vancouver next month.
Can the Bruins learn from Conan O’Brien?
Sharks
Here’s the game story from the Sharks’ 3-1 win at Phoenix on Tuesday night.
Red Sox second baseman and 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia paid Joe Thornton and the Sharks a visit after their win in Phoenix Tuesday night.
The Sharks' second line of Joe Pavelski, Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi has gone cold.
NHL
The NHL fined Canucks forward Alex Burrows for his claims that referee Stephane Auger was out to get him on Monday night.
Could the coveted Thrashers sniper Ilya Kovalchuk and reigning, two-time Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin be headed home to Russia next season to play in the KHL?
Ducks forward Teemu Selanne broke his jaw against the Bruins on Wednesday and is out indefinitely.
OUTLOOK
The Bruins deserve credit for a spirited effort in their 4-3 loss at Anaheim, but they did veer away from their game plan of a defensive, puck-possession game, and it cost them. The Bruins are in no position to get caught up in a run-and-gun type game in San Jose, and if they do it against the high-powered Sharks offense, whoever is in net for Boston will have a long evening.
The Bruins need to do their best to remain within the confines of their game and not let the Sharks' offensive weapons like Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and company distract them. This will be a tough game coming off a loss and travel, but if the Bruins can jump out early and set the tempo, they may have a chance in the Shark Tank.
