San Jose Sharks make lineup changes for game vs. Boston Bruins

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The Sharks are making two changes to their forward group for Sunday’s game with the Boston Bruins, inserting Alexander Barabanov and Jonah Gadjovich and scratching rookies Lane Pederson and William Eklund.

Eklund, 19, had three assists in his first three NHL games but played just over 11 minutes and did not have a point in the Sharks’ 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. San Jose is 4-0-0 for the first time in six years and is looking to win its fifth straight to start the season for the first time since 2013.

Eklund was the Sharks’ leading scorer with six points in five preseason games, helping him crack the roster for the start of the regular season.

“He’s, I don’t want to say hit a wall, but he played four games in seven nights, and he played almost every preseason game. He’s played a lot of hockey,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said of Eklund, “so it’s just time to let him watch a game. I think I’d be good for him, actually, to watch from (the press box).”

Eklund can play up to nine NHL games before the Sharks must decide whether to keep him with the team and burn the first year of his entry-level contract or return him to Djurgardens in Sweden. In that case, he would still have three years left on his deal.

Boughner also said he wanted to get some other players into the lineup at some point during the road trip, which concludes Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators.

Barabanov had seven points in nine games with the Sharks last season after he was acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline for Antti Suomela.

Barabanov, who was signed to a one-year, $1 million deal in May, will start Sunday’s game on a line with Tomas Hertl and Rudolfs Balcers and also take Eklund’s spot on the power play on one of the flank positions.

Barabanov was dealing with a nagging injury during training camp but has been healthy for over a week,

“We said there will be a point in time when everybody gets in, and it’s that time on the road trip where some guys maybe need a rest or a line that needs a little something,” Boughner said. “I’ve said earlier, it’s opponent based and we’re going with a little bit of a bigger, more physical lineup tonight against a team I think you need it against.”

Gadjovich, one of the Sharks’ bigger forwards at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, was put on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 6 and officially claimed by the Sharks the next day. Gadjovich’s one NHL game came last season with the Canucks. Pederson had played all four games this season but did not have point.

Goalie Adin Hill will start Sunday’s game for the Sharks. Hill stopped 30 of 33 shots Friday as he became the third Sharks goaltender to record wins in each of his first three appearances with the club. The others were Martin Jones in 2015 and Nolan Schaefer in 2005.

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