Sharks at Bruins
After slogging through a four-game homestand in which they won only once, the San Jose Sharks have posted a pair of one-goal victories as they prepare to make the third stop on a six-game road trip against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. San Jose will be looking to win three in a row for the first time since opening the season with four straight victories.
Goaltender Martin Jones, who was acquired by the Bruins in June and traded away four days later, will make his third straight start for the Sharks. “Yeah, it’ll be exciting to come back to the old building,” Jones said jokingly. “It happened pretty quickly, so I don’t think it’s going to be too tough to play here.” The Bruins have reason to feel better about their own situation in net after Tuukka Rask earned his second home victory in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Detroit. Rask had surrendered 27 goals in his previous seven starts at TD Garden.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (9-8-0): Veteran Dainius Zubrus, who played for San Jose coach Peter DeBoer in New Jersey, joined the team at practice Monday on a tryout. “For a big guy and for his age, I think he’s in phenomenal shape,” DeBoer said. “This is a guy, who, I don’t care how long he’s sat around or hasn’t skated, he’s one the best conditioned people I know. He looks like he’s in great shape.” Zubrus, who was released by the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 6 after a 10-day tryout, had four goals and 10 points with the Devils last season.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (8-7-1): Boston has the league's worst penalty kill with a success rate of 71.7 percent, but killing off 5-of-6 short-handed situations over the past two games is reason for some optimism. "Our five-on-four, in the last three games I’d say, has been pretty good," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Even though we allowed a goal (versus Detroit) ... overall I think our guys have been much better in attention to details.” Boston center Patrice Bergeron has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. Bruins Ds Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid will appear in their respective 700th and 300th career games.
2. The Sharks ended a six-game drought without a power-play goal against Buffalo.
3. Rask is 3-1-0 with a 2.75 goals-against average versus San Jose.