The Boston Bruins return home tonight to take on the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden. Coming off a 2-1 road trip in which the Black and Gold beat the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, it looks as if the team is starting to bury its scoring chances and find its identity.

The Bruins have scored four goals in back-to-back games after scoring a total of four goals in their first four games of the season. Claude Julien’s team will need to find a way to score Tuesday night because the Sharks come in with a record of 4-1-1 with 20 goals in those six games.

The Sharks are no strangers to taking their show on the road. Five of their first six games have been played away from San Jose, where they hold a 3-1-1 road mark.

The Black and Gold will look to get to .500 against a very good Sharks team.

Here is your Bruins Daily Game day preview:

Game day details:

Time: 7:00 PM
Network: NESN/ 98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 3-4-0, 6 points/ Sharks 4-1-1, 9 points
Location: TD Garden

Bruins’ projected lines:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Seth Griffith
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Simon Gagne

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Torey Krug
Adam McQuaid-Matt Bartkowski

Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

Sharks’ projected lines:

Tomas Hertl-Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau-Logan Couture-Matt Nieto
Tye McGinn-Chris Tierney-Tommy Wingels
Eriah Hayes-Andrew Desjardins-Adam Burish

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Jason Demers
Mirco Mueller-Brent Burns
Matt Irwin-Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Who to watch for Bruins: Tuukka Rask

It hasn’t been the greatest start for Bruins’ goaltender Tuukka Rask. In five starts, Rask owns a 2-3 record with a 2.90 goals against average and .870 save percentage. Those are uncharacteristic statistics for the 2013 Vezina Trophy award winner.

Coming off his worst start in recent memory, Rask allowed five goals on 23 shots in Montreal, as well as allowing four goals on 21 shots in another loss to the Capitals last Saturday. Mix in a good performance against the Red Wings and Rask has been the definition of inconsistent this season.

There are no worries about Rask, though, as he will bounce out of the funk he is in. If Tuukka turns in a “Rask-like” performance Tuesday night against the Sharks, the Bruins will be 4-4-0 on the year and Bruins’ fans can take a deep breath on all accounts.

Who to watch for Sharks: Patrick Marleau

He may be 35 years old, but Patrick Marleau can sure still play. The second overall pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft is leading the way for the Sharks with four goals and three assists in six games thus far. His two power-play goals rank fifth in the NHL and his seven points rank eighth overall.

Coming off a 70 point (33 G 37 A) season in 2013, Marleau is right back at it in 2014 contributing at a very high level.
If the Bruins want to continue their winning ways, they will need to keep Marleau in check.

Game day edge: Build off road trip

The Bruins took the road with a 1-3-0 record and nerves began to set in for fans around Boston. While winning two out of three against a combination of the Red Wings, Canadiens and Sabres, the Black and Gold are playing at a higher level and the style of hockey they are accustomed to.

“That’s what we’re starting to get right now, more of an identity and we’ve been a lot more consistent,” Julien said.

The B’s took four out of a possible six points on a three game road trip. There are no “big” games this early in the season, but if the Black and Gold dropped two out of three instead of winning them, they’d be in deep hole in the Eastern Conference.

It seems the team is building more chemistry with each other and the different line combinations being drawn up each night by Julien. It’s an 82-game season and the B’s are one win away from climbing their head back above water.

If the B’s need to accomplish one thing Tuesday night, it is to set the tone early and bury their first scoring opportunity and build off what they did on the road last week. They need to take another step forward, not backward.