Bruins Notes: Joe Sacco Explains Why Boston Didn’t Challenge Game-Winning Goal

The Boston Bruins fell to 0-2-0 to begin their five-game road trip after dropping a 3-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday night.

The Bruins and Sharks were tied 1-1 when Lucas Carlsson scored the go-ahead goal, his first of the season, with 3:23 left in regulation.

The replay of the game-winning goal showed Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren entered the offensive zone offsides, which should have negated the goal. However, after interim head coach Joe Sacco used the Bruins’ one timeout, assistant coach Chris Kelly reviewed the play, and Boston decided not to challenge the call on the ice.

“From our perspective, the player that was carrying the puck, he did not have possession,” Sacco told Andy Brickley, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He let go of it before he entered the blue line. Therefore, that other player had the ability to tag up before he got possession again with it.”

The Bruins outshot the Sharks 23-22 in the contest, but except for a misplayed puck from San Jose netminder Alexander Georgiev that led to Boston’s only goal in the loss, the B’s couldn’t find the back of the net.

“Just unable to capitalize on some of our scoring opportunities that we had, especially in the third period,” Sacco said of the Bruins not being able to generate more offense. “We got enough off the forecheck, I thought. I didn’t think that we did enough to get on the inside, and that’s a product of us not just taking the goaltender’s eyes away. … Maybe a better job of getting on the inside, creating some more net-front traffic, but just unable to capitalize.”

Here are more notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Sharks game:

— Fabian Lysell slotted into the lineup after Mark Kasetelic was sent back to Boston with an upper-body injury. The 22-year-old forward had three shots on goal and another two blocked attempts across 13:16 of ice time. Lysell drew a penalty in the first period, but the Bruins were unable to capitalize on the power play.

“It’s only his second game here with us this year, and I thought in tonight’s game he did a decent job of using his speed effectively in the neutral zone. He comes through there, and he draws a penalty for us,” Sacco said, per team-provided video. “He did some good things in the game tonight. Things that we can build on.”

— Casey Mittelstadt scored his 13th goal of the season and his second since being acquired by Boston at the NHL trade deadline. Cole Koepke’s strong forecheck on Vincent Deshanais caused a Sharks turnover in front of the net, and Middelstadt tucked the puck into the empty net.

“Yeah, a great forecheck by Cole,” Mittelstadt told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I just looked up and the puck was sitting there for me. I don’t get too many like that. I’ll definitely take it.”

— The Bruins dropped to 30-32-9 overall on the season and 1-4-1 in their last six games. The loss to the Sharks snapped a 14-game winning streak Boston has over San Jose.

— The Bruins continue their road trip Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop from Crypto.com Arena is scheduled for 9. p.m. ET, and you can watch the game on NESN following an hour of pregame coverage.