BOSTON – The Bruins had been waiting all week to bounce back from last weekend’s dreadful collapse to the Buffalo Sabres, and they did just that with a strong, solid 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden.
The Bruins were powered by a couple of goals from rookie winger Danton Heinen, who picked the perfect time to score the first two goals of his NHL career. The Bruins did some special teams damage early as Heinen kicked the puck out in transition while shorthanded, watched David Backes fire a long distance shot at the San Jose net and then crashed hard where he was able to flip in a Martin Jones rebound for his first goal.
The Sharks responded in the second period with their own special teams’ magic as Jumbo Joe Thornton popped in a loose puck in front after Anton Khudobin couldn’t stop a Tim Heed tester through traffic. But Heinen and the Bruins came right back three minutes later with another score. This time it was Brandon Carlo that fired a long shot off the end boards, and Heinen took the long carom and stuffed it inside the post before Jones had a chance to recover on the play.
That made Heinen the clear offensive star of the game, and also made him the fourth Bruins player to score his first NHL goal this season to go along with Jake DeBrusk, Charlie McAvoy and Anders Bjork. The rest was up to Anton Khudobin and the Bruins defense late in the third period as the Bruins netminder didn’t let anything by him, and the Bruins penalty kill managed to burn off a Brandon Carlo slashing penalty in the closing minutes. Khudobin finished with 36 saves and a strong finish to the game as Tuukka Rask readies to take over No. 1 duties again Saturday night against the Kings.