Bruins overcome Thornton's hat trick, defeat Sharks in OT

SAN JOSE -- Charlie McAvoy scored with 1:01 remaining in overtime, and the Boston Bruins withstood Joe Thornton's hat trick to win their season-high sixth straight game, 6-5 at SAP Center on Monday.

Chris Wagner tied it with 1:49 left in the third period for Boston (35-17-8), which extended its point streak to 11 games (10-0-1) and moved three points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division. Tuukka Rask made 33 saves.
McAvoy took a pass from David Krejci, who had three assists, and scored the game-winner from the slot.
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Sharks highlights]
"It started down low," McAvoy said. "[Jake DeBrusk] won his battle on the puck and that's kind of where everything starts in overtime, if you're able to beat your guy. It starts some sort of an odd-man rush. He has such good speed, you had to know he was going to get up the ice pretty quick.
"I was just kind of trailing it. You know when you're out there with him and [Krejci], they're just two dynamic playmakers. They're going to make plays that not many people can. I had a feeling that Krejci saw me there. He made a perfect pass."

Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored, and Martin Jones made 14 saves for San Jose (35-17-8), which trails the Calgary Flames by one point for first place in the Pacific Division.
Thornton's hat trick was the fifth of his NHL career and the 39-year-old's first since Oct. 27, 2010, against the New Jersey Devils. It was the 15th time in NHL history that a player 39 or older had a hat trick.
"I can believe it," Thornton said of the nine-year stretch between hat tricks. "I don't shoot it too often, so yeah. But it was a good feeling."
Thornton, the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft by the Bruins, scored his third goal at 13:32 of the third period to give the Sharks their first lead of the game, 5-4.
"It was a spectacular night for him, considering it's [against] his first NHL team, the history behind that," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "Couldn't have written a better script other than winning the game."

Krug scored the Bruins' first of two power-play goals in four opportunities at 13:49 of the first period to give them a 1-0 lead.
Zdeno Chara's 199th NHL goal made it 2-0 at 16:26 on a slap shot from above the left circle.
Karson Kuhlman
scored his first NHL goal at 18:24 of the first to give Boston a 3-0 lead.
"Obviously it was great, something you dream about as a kid," said Kuhlman, who was playing in his second NHL game.
Thornton made it 3-1 at 19:57 on a rebound.
"The game was far from over at that point," Thornton said of trailing 3-0. "I think getting that goal late in the first was huge. We played solid. We probably were in the penalty box a little bit too much tonight. Good game … unfortunately, we just didn't get the two points."
Pavelski scored his 32nd goal of the season on the power play at 2:24 of the second period to make it 3-2.

DeBrusk, who had two assists, extended his goal streak to four games when he scored on the power play at 6:30 to give the Bruins a 4-2 lead.
Thornton's second goal of the game made it 4-3 at 16:03.
Couture then tied it 4-4 on a penalty shot at 19:35 after he was hooked by Brad Marchand on a shorthanded breakaway.
Wagner sent the game to overtime when he knocked his own rebound out of the air and poked it over the goal line to make it 5-5 after Jones got his right pad on Brandon Carlo's shot from outside the right circle and then again on Wagner's initial chance.
"It's just one of those games where it seems like it's back and forth," DeBrusk said. "There's miscalls here and there and different things that go on that affect the game. Obviously, it's really big to come out on top in that one.
"Big goal by [Wagner] we had late. We had some other guys produce as well, so it was just nice to be a part of that and keep the winning streak going."

They said it

"We're just on a roll. We're picking each other up. New guys every night. It's pretty special." -- Bruins forward Chris Wagner
"I liked our resiliency, I thought obviously the start, they scored what, three or four goals on the first eight or 10 shots they had? For us to hang in there and come back and have a chance to win that game, I liked our compete." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

Wagner has eight goals, his NHL career high. … Bruins forward Peter Cehlarik (lower body), who was injured in the third period against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, missed the game and is day-to-day. … DeBoer coached his 800th game in the NHL. He is 389-303-108 with the Sharks, Devils and Florida Panthers.

What's next

Bruins: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS)
Sharks: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, ATTSN-PT, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)