Bruins’ losing streak stretches to five against last-place Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Lucas Carlsson scored the go-ahead goal — his first of the season — with 3:23 left in the game and the San Jose Sharks topped the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday night.

William Eklund and Barclay Goodrow also scored and Alexander Georgiev made 22 saves for the Sharks.

Casey Mittelstadt scored the lone goal for Boston, which lost its fifth straight. Joonas Korpisalo had 19 saves.

Eklund’s 16th goal, which matched his career high, came at 2:13 of the second off a crossing pass from Macklin Celebrini to put San Jose up 1-0.

Boston tied it at 16:50 of the second when Mittelstadt scored off a turnover.

After Carlsson’s goal put the Sharks back up, Goodrow scored an empty-netter to seal the win.

Takeaways

Bruins: Boston’s playoff hopes are fading after the Bruins latest loss. They have dropped 22 of their last 33 (10-18-5) since Dec. 31.

Sharks: San Jose has won two of its last four after going 7-27-4 since Dec. 5.

Key moment

Mittelstadt’s goal came at a crucial point for Boston, with the Bruins having been held scoreless for close to the first 37 minutes. Mittelstadt fired a shot past Georgiev after collecting a loose puck just outside the crease for his 13th goal.

Key stat

Sharks rookie defenseman Luca Cagnoni had an assist on Eklund’s goal for his first NHL point.

Up next

The Bruins play at Los Angeles on Sunday, and the Sharks host Toronto on Thursday.

Bruins’ Joe Sacco Has Clear Message For Fabian Lysell

‘You gotta go out, and you gotta show it’

Lysell jumpstarted Boston’s opening tally against Columbus by using his skating ability to recover the loose puck along the boards and gain possession in the offensive zone. He wasn’t credited with an assist, but his then-linemate Justin Brazeau scored off a rebound past Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov.

The 2021 first-round draft pick is getting his second opportunity to sport the Spoked-B when he slots into the lineup against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday night.

Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters following morning skate that Lysell will replace the injured Mark Kastelic in the lineup. The 22-year-old forward will begin the game skating with Elias Lindholm and Marat Khusnutdinov. Sacco is expecting Lysell to make the most of his opportunity.

“He’s only played the one game this year, and I thought that the one game he played in, he did a good job, showed some offensive capabilities, just like any other player,” Sacco said, per team-provided video. “He’s gonna get more of an opportunity here tonight playing on that line.

“He’ll get some more minutes offensively. He’s gotta be able to make some plays for us, produce some offensive, whether it’s offensively in the zone or through the neutral zone off the rush, some things like that. And then, his details and habits have to be solid away from the puck.”

Sacco added: “Just go out, play your game. We’ll correct mistakes that happen during the course of a game. We can always handle that. But not overthink, go out, do what you do well. That’s why you’re here. So you gotta go out, and you gotta show it.”