Marchand has two goals, assist for Bruins in win against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist for the Boston Bruins in a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

It was Marchand's first points in his second game since returning from a six-game suspension for roughing and high-sticking Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry on Feb. 8.
"It's always nice when you score, but I think I was mostly just happy with the way that I felt," Marchand said. "There are a lot of things that kind of went against me to my conditioning level. When you play a lot of minutes, missing two weeks is tough, so I was really happy with how things felt in the game."
Patrice Bergeron scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 15 saves for the Bruins (31-17-4), who have won four straight.
"That's definitely a defense-first victory," Swayman said. "Super happy with how we played in front of me. It was fun to watch."

Timo Meier scored, and James Reimer made 34 saves in his 11th straight start for the Sharks (23-23-6), who were held to a season-low 16 shots.
"We were bending a little bit in the first half of the game, but not breaking, which was good," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "We were giving ourselves a chance. There was a lot of shot volume against but there wasn't necessarily a bunch of high-end chances.
"The problem was we couldn't spend enough time in their end. We couldn't produce some possession time down there until the third period. [In the third] we kept battling, we kept working hard, and the guys played hard for one another. ... We had some chances at the end. I thought for sure we were going to get a bounce, but we didn't."
Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 14:24 of the first period after Jake DeBrusk's cross-ice pass set him up for a wrist shot from the right circle.
Meier tied it 1-1 at 12:50 of the second period with a one-timer on a power play.
"Sometimes it's tough when you're playing really well and you get a goal scored against you when we easily could've had four or five," Marchand said. "But just the composure of [our] group where earlier in the year maybe we would've folded. But we just kept going at it."
Marchand made it 2-1 at 3:18 of the third period. Taylor Hall sent a pass from behind the net and Marchand's shot bounced off Reimer's shoulder pad.
"When we get a lead in the third, it's still a work in progress for us," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Like tonight, we probably made it more difficult than we should have. ... I don't think we managed it well in terms of going back with it to get fresh players on the ice, or when it did come into our end, around our net, or the breakout, whatever. Like I said, I think we could've made it easier on ourselves."

Bergeron scored at 19:20 for the 3-1 final.
"I think we got a little bit hungrier on the puck there for a 10-minute push [in the third]," San Jose forward Logan Couture said. "It was unfortunate we didn't have that for the start of the game, but some really good looks down the stretch. We could have actually tied the game pretty easily. Probably didn't really deserve to be there, 'Reims' made some big-time saves, but we could have been there."
NOTES: Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano was a late scratch so he could attend to a personal matter. ... Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return. He will be re-evaluated Sunday, Boughner said. … Bruins forward Jesper Froden had two shots in 10:34 after being recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. He replaced Curtis Lazar, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 3-2 overtime win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. … San Jose had 17 shots in a 6-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 17, when Meier scored five goals on six shots. … The Bruins went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 1-for-20 (5.0 percent) in the past eight games. The Sharks are 30-for-31 on the penalty kill (96.8 percent) in the past 10 games.