The Boston Bruins open a four-game road trip Tuesday, Oct. 13 against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center, with puck drop set for 11 p.m. ET on ESPN and NESN. The Bruins vs Sharks game Tuesday marks the first of two meetings between the clubs this season and pits a Boston team that has outscored its last two opponents 11-2 against a Sharks squad still chasing its first regulation win of 2026-27.
Boston enters at 4-2-0 and sits third in the Atlantic Division with eight points. San Jose is 3-2-0 and ranks fifth in the Pacific at six points. The Sharks have taken the last three meetings in the series after Boston won 14 straight, giving this matchup some recent history even without playoff stakes attached.
Bruins Vs Sharks Game Information
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026
- Time: 11 p.m. ET
- Venue: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
- TV/Streaming: ESPN, NESN
- Series: First of two meetings this season
Bruins Outlook
Boston has won its last two games by a combined 11-2 margin, beating Utah 6-1 and Philadelphia 5-1. Against Utah, David Pastrnak led the offense while goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 36 saves. Against Philadelphia, the Bruins trailed 2-0 before scoring three times in the third period, with Fraser Minten posting a goal and two assists.
Swayman is projected to start in net and has been the driving force behind Boston’s turnaround, holding a 4-1-0 record with a 1.79 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. Boston’s team shooting percentage of 13.1% and .926 save percentage both outpace San Jose’s marks, and the Bruins hold a decisive edge in shots on goal, 153 to 117.
Pastrnak leads the Bruins with seven points on two goals and five assists. After the Utah win, he said, “That’s the beauty of hockey. One night it doesn’t go your way, and the next night you’re nearly perfect.
That’s the important thing to remember, what we’ve done right. We know we’re all good players and we proved it last year.”
Sharks Outlook
San Jose has split its first five games between extremes, winning three in overtime and losing two by a combined 8-1 margin, including a 3-1 setback to Edmonton last Saturday. The Sharks are still searching for their first regulation win of the season.
Yaroslav Askarov is projected to start in goal, having made four of San Jose’s five starts. He carries a 2-2-0 record with a 3.71 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage, both behind Boston’s team defensive numbers. Askarov stopped 17 shots in the loss to Edmonton.
Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose with six points on one goal and five assists, and he scored the Sharks’ only goal against Edmonton after missing the previous two games with a lower-body injury. The 20-year-old has one goal and four assists in four career games against Boston. Defenseman Darnell Nurse, acquired by San Jose on July 1, recorded five shots on goal against his former team in Edmonton. San Jose’s injury report also lists center Barclay Goodrow as day-to-day with an illness and forward Alex Barre-Boulet on injured reserve.
San Jose head coach Ryan Warsofsky said after the Edmonton loss, “I didn’t have any major issues with our start. I thought maybe (we) could have created a little bit more, but I didn’t mind our start. We made one mistake, and it was in the back of our net.”
Key Matchup
The goaltending gap stands out statistically. Swayman’s .932 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average this season dwarf Askarov’s .860 and 3.71 marks. San Jose has leaned on overtime wins to stay afloat, a sign its netminding and shot suppression have been inconsistent through five games.
Boston has allowed just 13 goals total compared to San Jose’s 17, despite facing a similar volume of shots against. If Boston’s forwards can generate the kind of third-period surge they produced against Philadelphia, Askarov will be tested against a lineup that already owns the better shooting percentage in this series.
Celebrini’s health is the other variable worth watching. He returned from his lower-body injury to score against Edmonton, and his four-point history against Boston in four career meetings suggests he can be a factor if he is full strength.
What To Watch
Boston is trying to build on consecutive lopsided wins as it begins a stretch of four straight road games, while San Jose is trying to avoid a third straight loss and finally pick up a win in regulation. Pavel Zacha, who has been part of Boston’s recent offensive surge, said after the Philadelphia win, “Every player wants to be a difference-maker every shift, so it felt good, going over the boards and knowing that we were going to create something every shift. We have to keep doing that because it’s fun playing this way.” Neither team carries postseason stakes this early in October, but the result will shape early-season momentum for both sides as San Jose looks to extend its recent dominance in the series and Boston looks to snap it.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again later this season for the second half of their season series, though a date has not been set.
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