San Jose-

To say that Joe Thornton was a thorn in the Bruins side would be quite the understatement. After goals by Torey Krug (6), Zdeno Chara (4), and Karson Khulman his first as an NHL’er, the Bruins jumped out to a 3 goal lead in the first. However, with just 2 seconds left in the first Joe Thornton (11) scored on an assist by Joe Pavelski that seemed to turn momentum in the game. Coming out in the second period Pavelski (32) added a goal to his assist making it a 3-2 game and giving San Jose full momentum. A Jake DeBrusk (18) wrist shot gave the Bruins a 2 goal advantage just 3 minutes and 8 seconds after Pavelski tallied. With the score 4-2 the Sharks were not done, getting goals from Joe Thornton (12), Logan Couture (22) scored on a penalty shot when he was hooked by Brad Marchand on a breakaway at 19:35 in the second to tie the game, and once again Joe Thornton (13) giving the sharks a one goal lead 5-4 at 13:32 in the third period. This was Thornton’s first hat trick since 2010. The dramatics were far from over with Chris Wagner scoring his 8th of the season on a somewhat controversial call at 18:11. The puck appeared to have been batted with a high stick, but because it wasn’t batted into the goal with the stick the call on the ice was a good goal, and the Sharks could not challenge. Charlie McAvoy received a perfect pass from David Krejci beating Martin Jones low to the stick side for the game winning goal 6-5. The Bruins have not lost a game in regulation giving them at least one point in their last 13 games, 8 of those being wins. The win gives the Bruins 78 points which is good for second place in the Atlantic division, and puts them 3 points ahead of the third place Maple Leafs with the Bruins having 2 games in hand.

Chris Wagner celebration after scoring game tying goal.

Charlie McAvoy with the game winner in OT.

Photo credit: NESN

Trent South