Sharks snap 6-game losing streak with 3-1 win over Canadiens
MONTREAL (AP) Canadiens coach Michel Therrien thought his team handed the Sharks a victory Tuesday night.
Joe Pavelski scored once and added an assist as San Jose beat Montreal 3-1 to snap a six-game skid.
Patrick Marleau and Dainius Zubrus also scored for the Sharks. Martin Jones made 26 saves for his 13th victory of the season.
Dale Weise scored for Montreal, but the Canadiens made a costly error on each of San Jose's goals.
''We gave them three goals,'' Therrien said. ''They didn't have to work for those three goals. That's the way I see it. I'm really disappointed to give up three goals like that.''
Late in the first, after Montreal dominated much of the period, forward Alex Galchenyuk failed to drop back following an offensive pinch by P.K. Subban. Marleau made the most of the gap in Montreal's defensive end, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Joel Ward with a shot off the post and in at 17:34.
Pavelski, the Sharks' captain, made it 2-0 just 36 seconds into the second period. After back-to-back failures to clear by Subban and fellow defenseman Andrei Markov, Pavelski tipped Justin Braun's shot from the point past Dustin Tokarski.
''We know the skill (the Sharks) have,'' Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. ''If you give them opportunities to score a goal and give them 2-on-0s and 2-on-1s, they're going to score. It makes it all the more frustrating.''
At 9:19 of the second, another giveaway by Markov in his own zone, this time behind his net, gave the puck right to Joe Thornton. That led to Zubrus' first goal of the season and sent Tokarski to the bench. He was replaced by Mike Condon.
''Joe jumped on the forecheck and did a good job turning the puck over in their end,'' Zubrus said. ''I got in front and the puck was wobbling a little bit, so I put it on my backhand and it went in.''
San Jose, which earned its first victory in December, is 12-0 when leading after two periods. The Sharks were 0-5-1 in their previous six games.
Markov finished minus-3 on the night, and Montreal has lost five of six.
After Therrien shuffled his lines late in the second, Weise reduced the deficit with his first goal in 11 games at 17:24. His shot took a big deflection off Marc-Edouard Vlasic's skate to fool Jones between the legs.
Tokarski, making his third consecutive start, stopped nine of 12 shots before being pulled. Condon stopped all six shots he faced in relief.
Coming off a convincing win over Ottawa on Saturday, Montreal came out firing. The Canadiens were all over Jones and the Sharks in the first but couldn't score.
Montreal led 10-2 in shots and 20-3 in shot attempts late in the first period before the Sharks opened the scoring.
''We knew it wouldn't be easy in this building. It never is,'' Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. ''It took a real team effort from everyone. Getting the first goal for us was important.''
Former Shark Torrey Mitchell was back in the lineup after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. Mitchell played on a line with Sven Andrighetto and Brian Flynn, who made his 200th NHL start.
NOTES: Logan Couture (arterial surgery) was not in the Sharks' lineup. ... Montreal has not scored on the power play in its last six games. ... Before the game, Montreal traded forward Christian Thomas to the Arizona Coyotes for Lucas Lessio. The Canadiens also put forward Zach Kassian on waivers. ... Earlier in the day, injured goalie Carey Price won the 2015 Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete.
