Joe McDonald, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Rapid Reaction: Bruins 5, Sharks 3

BOSTON -- Against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, the Boston Bruins received contributions throughout their lineup en route to a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night at TD Garden.

The Bruins received goals from Brad Marchand, Torey Krug, Seth Griffith, Gregory Campbell and David Krejci (empty-netter), while goaltender Tuukka Rask finished with 31 saves. Bruins forward Milan Lucic added three assists, and the team's special-team units produced as well.

San Jose's Logan Couture netted two goals, and Joe Thornton added the other for the Sharks.

The Bruins gained a 1-0 lead at 13:57 of the first period when Marchand scored his first goal of the season. Boston was on the power play when Marchand gained control of the puck at the right point and created time and space for himself, skating into the right face-off circle and ripping a laser-like shot past San Jose goalie Antti Niemi to the top shelf on the short side.

The Sharks responded and tied the game at 1-1, scoring a power-play goal at 16:28 of the first. Couture collected his first goal of the game when he redirected a Patrick Marleau shot past Rask.

Boston regained the lead on Krug's power-play goal at 6:54 of the second period. He pulled the puck off the wall at the blue line, moved into the right face-off circle and unleashed a snap shot that beat a screened Niemi to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

Couture notched his second goal, tying the game at 2-2, at 16:15 of the second period. Only 37 seconds later, San Jose gained a 3-2 lead when Thornton redirected a shot past Rask at 16:52.

In his previous NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens last Thursday, Griffith had a few quality scoring chances, but couldn't convert. He was a healthy scratch Saturday in Buffalo and was assigned to Providence of the AHL for Sunday's P-Bruins game. Boston recalled Griffith on Monday and he was back on the Bruins' top line.

Griffith registered his first NHL goal at 4:50 of the third to tie the game at 3-3. Lucic was creating havoc in front of Niemi, as Griffith put himself in perfect position as the puck kicked out to him in the slot and he drove it in for the tally. As he celebrated, Lucic quickly went over and picked up the puck as a keepsake for Griffith.

Boston regained the lead when Campbell scored his first of the season at 10:42 of the third period to give the Bruins a 4-3 advantage. It was a strong shift by Boston's fourth line and its strong forecheck resulted in the go-ahead goal.

Holding a one-goal lead with 4:09 remaining in regulation, the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron was called for a double-minor, four-minute high-sticking penalty, and Boston had to kill off the man-advantage with one of its best penalty killers in the box. The Bruins' PK delivered and Boston finished with the victory. Rask was solid, especially in the final four minutes of regulation.

Krejci added the shorthanded, empty-net goal at 19:35.

DEFENSIVE TWEAK: With Bruins coach Claude Julien trying to find three consistent defensive pairings, he moved Krug, who normally plays the left side on the third pairing, up to play the right side, along with Dennis Seidenberg. The third pairing was Matt Bartkowski and Adam McQuaid. Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton remained the top pairing.

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