The Boston Bruins played in a wild game against the Sharks on Monday night. An overtime win for the Bruins featured pretty much everything, a penalty shot or a hattrick scored by the player, who has not netted one in almost nine years. But there is one forgotten story from the game in San Jose.
It can be easily forgotten when Joe Thornton revealed his plans on the fourth goal celebration. Karson Kuhlman scored his first NHL goal. And it isn’t just a story of Karson Kuhlman. A 23-year-old winger has become the fourth Bruins player to score his first goal in the League against the San Jose Sharks since October 2014.
Seth Griffith scored his first goal in the NHL back in October 2014 versus the Sharks at TD Garden. Griffith tied the game early in the third period and the Bruins eventually won that game 5-3. The Canadian winger played 38 games with the Bruins before entering a ride through the NHL. Since 2016, Griffith has played three games for the Maple Leafs, 21 games for the Panthers and 21 games in Buffalo. He is now playing for the Winnipeg Jets AHL affiliate team, the Manitoba Moose.
After that win at TD Garden back in 2014, the Sharks won three straight splits with Boston and the Bruins responded with two wins in a row. Danton Heinen will certainly not forget his NHL call-up before the game versus the Sharks on October 26 in 2017. Ahead of this call-up, he played in 11 games with the Bruins in the NHL, but never really impressed. However, he made sure to leave his mark on his third chance.
On that night, Heinen not only scored his first goal in the league, but he even had two goals versus Martin Jones while shorthanded in a 2-1 win for the Bruins at TD Garden. That time, it was just his 12th game in the NHL; on Monday night he played his 141st game. A 23-year-old versatile forward provided Jake Debrusk with a primary assist.
Heinen certainly likes to play at SAP Center in San Jose, he scored there last season. But that was not THE main story of the 3-1 win for the Bruins from November 2017. Peter Cehlarik scored his first NHL goal against Aaron Dell and helped the Bruins to victory. Cehlarik had his first earlier that year in February, but his tally in Los Angeles was taken off because of an offside challenge.
Later in 2017, Cehlarik got his revenge in California. Just to sum up how unfortunate Staples Center has been for Cehlarik, the Slovakian winger suffered a lower-body injury there past Saturday. This injury prevented him from playing in the rink when he scored his first NHL goal a season ago.
Last night in San Jose, it was a turn for Karson Kuhlman. Kuhlman scored his first NHL goal in just his second NHL game. The Bruins square off against the Sharks once again next Tuesday at TD Garden. San Jose shouldn’t be worried anymore, if they keep Bruins goalies scoreless, they will be fine. Nevertheless, three straight games against the Sharks featured three different Bruins players recording their first goal in the NHL.
