Boston @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Nov 18, 2017 ) Boston 3, San Jose 1
The Boston Bruins have ascended into second place in the Atlantic Division on the strength of recording five straight victories and at least a point in each of their last 10 contests (7-0-3). The red-hot Bruins bid to set a season-high win streak and defeat the host San Jose Sharks for the fifth straight time when the teams meet at SAP Center on Monday night.
Speaking of streaks, Tuukka Rask secured a point in his 13th straight decision (11-0-2) after highlighting his 23-save performance with an acrobatic two-pad stop on Alex Iafallo during the second period of Saturday's 4-2 win over Los Angeles. "There's a reason why he's been a Vezina winner. He was the biggest reason why we won the game (against the Kings)," forward Jake DeBrusk said of the 31-year-old Rask, who sports a 5-3-0 mark with one shutout in eight career encounters with San Jose. The Sharks are receiving quality goaltending as well, with Martin Jones turning aside 32 shots in Saturday's 3-2 victory versus Vancouver. Jones has won 14 of his last 17 starts for San Jose, which has benefited from a 7-1-0 run to match Calgary with 77 points atop the Pacific Division.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (34-17-8): DeBrusk has answered a 13-game goal drought by scoring in each of his last three games to push his season total to a career-high 17. The 22-year-old matched his performance with the Kings by scoring a goal and setting up Peter Cehlarik's first career tally in Boston's last trip to San Jose, helping his team post a 3-1 win on Nov. 18, 2017. Patrice Bergeron also collected a goal and an assist against Los Angeles, boosting his point total to 16 (seven goals, nine assists) in his last dozen contests.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (35-17-7): Two-time Norris Trophy Erik Karlsson picked up where he left off in his return from a nine-game absence due to a groin injury, setting up Timo Meier's power-play goal on Saturday to give him an assist in 17 of his last 19 appearances (one goal, 27 assists). Meier, whose 21st tally matched his total from 2017-18, registered his 14th multi-point performance this season by joining captain Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture with a goal and an assist versus the Canucks. Pavelski, who has a club-best 31 tallies, has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last four encounters with Boston.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose D Brent Burns has 10 of his team-leading 53 assists and 12 of his club-best 64 points in the last nine games.
2. Boston is 5-1-1 in its last seven road games to improve to 13-10-5 away from TD Garden.
3. Sharks LW Evander Kane has five goals and three assists in his last five contests.
PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Sharks 2