“He’s definitely on his way. The way he plays and thinks the game is very impressive at his age,” said coach Marco Sturm. “We try to push him every day, not just being a [specific] number [center] or a No. 1 center, no, just try the best he can. And it’s just right now he’s pretty fun to watch.”

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Minten celebrates with his teammates after scoring against the Sharks during the third period.Jeff Chiu/AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

After excellent forecheck work by Elias Lindholm, the center went for a change and Minten hopped on, barreling down the slot and wristing a feed from Casey Mittelstadt over Yaroslav Askarov’s blocker.

“With the traffic and coming off the bench, you’re kind of lost,” said Minten. “So, just try to get [the puck] on and off the stick as quick as I could.”

With the Bruins clinging to a 4-3 lead in the third — their fourth one-goal lead of the game — Minten squashed San Jose’s comeback thoughts with his second of the night and fourth of the season.

This time he finished off some nice tic-tac-toe passing with JJ Peterka, Mason Lohrei, and Marat Khusnutdinov.

Minten also went toe-to-toe with Jacob Trouba, one of the league’s tougher defensemen after some jostling in front of Askarov’s net. The roughhousing (each took two minutes) helped Minten focus even more.

“Yeah, maybe [angers you] a bit when you’re getting punched in the head,” said Minten with a boyish grin.

Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei skates with the puck during the first period.Jeff Chiu/AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Charlie McAvoy said the difference between Minten’s freshman and sophomore NHL seasons is stark.

“Night and day,” said McAvoy. “Honestly, he was already amazing last year, and we saw glimpses of what he could be in the future. But I think the biggest thing is one, him finding his voice, which is amazing. We wanted to bring him into the leadership group and see him flourish because he has that personality. But I think the way that he plays is just so mature that that’s a way in which he can lead.”

McAvoy pointed to Fraser’s calming presence in the third as a key to breaking the Sharks’ will.

“In the third period when it’s a little hectic early and we take a penalty and we weren’t handling the puck the way that we needed to and he’s a guy that you can grab and you know that he’ll do the next right thing when he gets it and then we can try and tip it back in our favor,” said McAvoy. “We’re going to lean on him a lot.”

Other observations from a late night from the Shark Tank:

▪ McAvoy’s return was remarkable as the Bruins’ top defenseman skated a game-high 24 minutes, 41 seconds and scored his first goal of the season, which gave Boston a 2-1 lead.

“That was nice,” he said of his goal, which came as he was cross-checked into the net. “I thought that was a big-boy shift, and we were trying to hold onto the puck. Something that we talked about before the game, them being a man-on-man team, just to try and break them down and hold onto the puck. It was a good shift. And then that was just a great pass by JJ. I was really happy to be on the other side of that and be able to contribute first game back.”

▪ The Bruins started slow in each period with sloppy play and giveaways leading to odd-man rushes and good chances for the Sharks. They stayed patient, however, and played with structure and physicality to turn the tide.

“I think it’s all good stuff for us to learn early in the year, trying to build our game and be able to take care of leads and stuff and start on time,” said McAvoy. “To get a win tonight was big and a lot of things I’m sure that we’ll learn from.”

▪ Technically, the Sharks scored only two power-play goals, but for all intents and purposes it was three, as their first strike came just as Nikita Zadorov stepped out of the penalty box. Again, it was managing the puck that was an issue for the penalty kill.

Trouba scored San Jose’s first goal, followed by Ivar Stenberg’s first career goal, and the third came from budding superstar Macklin Celebrini.

“The [Sharks] played it well and there’s a few things we just have to get better at,” said Sturm. “Starting with a winning faceoff and we have to get the clear, those are the things we have to clean up.”

▪ Jeremy Swayman (35 saves) was brilliant again in the Boston net as he improved to 5-1. His glove save on Stenberg’s stinger in the second period was probably his best . . . Tied 2-2 in the second, Matt Poitras (doorstep knock-in) and Pavel Zacha (one-timer with three seconds left) gave the Bruins a cushion into the third . . . Defenseman Will Borgen’s empty netter was his first as a Bruin. Borgen and Minten finished as plus-4s.

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.