Bruins 6, Sharks 3: McAvoy Scores in His Season Debut

October 13, 2026 - San Jose - Charlie McAvoy had not played a regular-season shift since a slash on Zach Benson ended his last spring. Six games into this one, JJ Peterka found a loose puck left of Yaroslav Askarov, McAvoy tapped it past the pad, and SAP Center had a 2-1 Boston lead that held.

The Boston Bruins beat the San Jose Sharks 6-3. Boston is 5-2-0, three in a row. San Jose is 3-3-0, two straight losses and three of four. Shots were 38-26 San Jose. Attendance was 14,748. Fraser Minten, McAvoy, Matthew Poitras, Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, Marat Khusnutdinov, Ivar Stenberg, and Will Smith are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Minten scored twice. Poitras and Zacha scored. Morgan Geekie had two assists. Will Borgen hit the empty net. Jeremy Swayman stopped 35 of 38. Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist. Stenberg scored his first NHL goal. Jacob Trouba scored. Askarov stopped 20 of 25.

Off the bench, then a big-boy shift

Minten opened it at 12:55 of the first. Mittelstadt got his own rebound behind the net. Minten came off the bench, above the right circle, blocker side. He told NHL.com it was a shot from the slot, traffic, coming off the bench, get it on and off the stick.

Trouba tied it at 15:29, a slap two seconds after a power play expired, Kiefer Sherwood and Dmitry Orlov. Sherwood and Orlov are unlinked. McAvoy put Boston back up at 18:43. Peterka's pass, tap at the crease. McAvoy told NHL.com it was fun to be playing again, a big-boy shift, hold onto the puck, great pass by JJ.

Coach Marco Sturm told NHL.com they would take the two points. Not their best game. Too many turnovers. A little sloppy. Good teams close on the road.

Stenberg's first, Zacha at 19:57

Stenberg tied it 2-2 at 5:48 of the second on the power play. Celebrini waited in the right circle and found him at the back post. First career goal for the No. 2 pick in the 2026 draft. Stenberg told NHL.com he was happy to get the first. Good play from Mack.

Poitras jammed one at 8:42. Mark Kastelic had the puck poked off his stick behind the net. It popped to the left post. Askarov was looking the other way. 3-2.

Zacha made it 4-2 with three seconds left in the period. Geekie on a 2-on-1, left slot, blocker. David Pastrnak the other assist.

Celebrini one-timed from the right dot at 5:04 of the third, Stenberg and Smith. 4-3. Celebrini told NHL.com the first couple of power plays were not crisp, they got the message, and they executed better. Coach Ryan Warsofsky called it a step in the right direction with things still to clean up.

Minten's second at 11:47 restored 5-3. Luca Cagnoni blocked a rush pass that went to Khusnutdinov. Tap at the top of the crease. Borgen banked one off the right boards from his own zone into the empty net at 18:18. 6-3.

Nikita Zadorov fought Darnell Nurse in the third. Nurse left and Warsofsky did not update his status, the NHL recap said. Boston visits Anaheim on Friday. San Jose visits Nashville on Thursday.

AthX Engine on a 35-save road win

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Swayman at 13.40 (win, 35 saves, three goals against). Minten is 10.90. Celebrini is 10.00 with the power-play bonus. Stenberg is 7.70. McAvoy is 6.30. Poitras is 5.80. Askarov is 2.00.

Boston's team line is 22.20. San Jose's 3-6 is 0.60.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Bruins defenseman who scored in his first game back, and for a Sharks kid who got his first NHL goal in a loss. They are not the same number.

Track Swayman, Celebrini, Peterka, and both clubs on the marketplace. Boston visits Anaheim on Friday.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com recap, NHL.com scoreboard, ESPN NHL scoreboard. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020105. Information only; not financial advice.*