Game 60: Montreal Canadiens @ San Jose Sharks
Start time: **10:00 PM EST / 7:00 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Sharks region: NBC Sports California
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
On January 27, after beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 to begin a road trip that would wrap up the pre-Olympics schedule, the San Jose Sharks occupied the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and the division lead was just six points ahead. The young shiver of Sharks was doing well to hang in the playoff race with well over half the season played, holding a 27-21-3 record.
The final four games on the road trip ended up being a disaster. They were able to earn just a single point of the eight available to them. With the rival Anaheim Ducks going on a run at the same time, the Sharks fell down the order, ending up five points back of the Ducks when the league paused for the Olympics, giving them work to do in the final third of the campaign.
One additional loss to the Calgary Flames in their first game back increased the degree of difficulty to get back in the race, but their most recent results could be a sign that they’re turning things around. On Saturday they won a high-scoring game versus Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, then a night later claimed a 2-1 win versus the Winnipeg Jets. Now as the Sharks get set to face their fourth Canadian opponent in a row, they also hope to extend a winning streak to three games and pull themselves back within reach of a wild-card position.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Sharks |
|---|---|---|
| 33-17-9 | Record | 29-25-4 |
| 48.4% (23rd) | Expected-goal share | 45.1% (30th) |
| 3.49 (4th) | Goals per game | 3.05 (18th) |
| 3.20 (24th) | Goals against per game | 3.47 (30th) |
| 24.3% (7th) | PP% | 19.6% (18th) |
| 77.1% (25th) | PK% | 78.9% (19th) |
| 2-0-0 | Head-to-Head Record (24-25) | 0-1-1 |
| Cole Caufield (35) | Most goals | Macklin Celebrini (29) |
| Nick Suzuki (49) | Most assists | Macklin Celebrini (54) |
| Nick Suzuki (68) | Most points | Macklin Celebrini (83) |
For two decades, a game against the Montreal Canadiens at home resulted in an automatic two points for the Sharks. But on October 28, 2021, just a few months removed from a run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Habs broke the sequence of 12 losses dating back November 23, 1999. The victory started an opposite trend for the Canadiens, now with four consecutive wins at SAP Center.
This season, a win on the road is the expectation given Montreal’s 16-6-7 record away from the Bell Centre for the league’s fourth-best percentage. San Jose is just an average home team with a .603 mark, receiving no offensive boost from last change and the cheers from the crowd. Yet even that mediocre mark is the second-best in the Pacific Division as every one of those teams has struggled in various areas this season.
No matter where he plays, at home, in other NHL arenas, or on Olympic-sized ice in Italy, Macklin Celebrini has been productive in his second year. It took him one season to get up to speed (and that allowed Lane Hutson to win the Calder Trophy last year) but, at 19 years of age, he has become one of the elite offensive players in the game. Already with a point-per-game season guaranteed, he ranks fifth in the NHL with 83 points, on pace to hit 117.
Nick Suzuki had a front-row seat to Celebrini’s play on the international level, and came home inspired by the play some of the game’s top stars. That’s nothing new for the Habs’ captain, who experienced a similar bump after taking part in the All-Star Game in Toronto in 2024, then saw his game hit new heights last year after having to watch the high level of play in the 4 Nations Face-Off after not being included on the roster. It’s now established that as winter approaches its end he shifts into top gear, and a three-point performance along with a season-best +4 rating on Saturday is proof that he’s ready to lead the charge once more.
The story hasn’t been the same for Juraj Slafkovský, who carried the weight of the nation of Slovakia on his shoulders at the Olympics, and showed the wear from that heavy burden in his first couple of games back in the NHL. Montreal is about to begin a sequence when it alternates back-to-back sets and two-day breaks, so it will be up to Martin St-Louis to ensure his power forward gets the maximum rest the schedule allows. Him being physically and mentally recovered from the workload in Milan will be critical for the Canadiens to have their one-two punch on the forward lines, and hopefully these last two days off have helped restore his energy for the first stop on an important three-game tour of California.
