Game 20: Montreal Canadiens @ San Jose Sharks
Start time: **3:30 PM EST / 12:30 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Sharks region: NBC Sports California
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
On November 7, the San Jose Sharks welcomed the Philadelphia Flyers to the SAP Center for the third game of a homestand. The first two matches had been embarrassing defeats that had seen both the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins post a double-digit goal total on the scoreboard. Needing a good start, the Sharks opened the game with a flurry, scoring a goal 1:43 in. The Flyers took over from there, putting a total of 39 shots on target over the remaining 58 minutes versus the Sharks’ total of 19, but the Sharks managed to score the second goal on a power play in the second period, and Mackenzie Blackwood was only beaten one time. The result was San Jose’s first win of the season, improving their record to 1-10-1.
The Sharks have won two games since — a win the next night over the Edmonton Oilers and one on November 16 versus the St. Louis Blues — to get to seven points on the season through 19 contests.
Not only were the Sharks outshot in their three wins, they’ve been outshot in all 19 games they’ve played so far. In 13 of those, they’ve scored one or zero goals. They’re producing at half the rate of even the middling Montreal Canadiens, needing two games to score the league average of three goals per contest. These Sharks are toothless, like the basking shark that filters plankton to eat.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Sharks |
|---|---|---|
| 8-9-1 | Record | 3-15-1 |
| 46.0% (27th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 40.4% (32nd) |
| 2.89 (23rd) | Goals per game | 1.47 (32nd) |
| 3.03 (25th) | Goals against per game | 4.32 (32nd) |
| 19.2% (20th) | PP% | 16.4% (22nd) |
| 73.4% (26th) | PK% | 72.5% (30th) |
| 1-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record (’22-23) | 1-1-0 |
Basking was about the extent of what Mike Hoffman was achieving to start his season on the California coast, with just one assist in the month of October. For that effort, he was made a healthy scratch on November 2. Head coach David Quinn got the response he had hoped for with the decision, as Hoffman has answered with four goals in his last four games, including two versus the Blues a week ago, all via his most dangerous weapon, the one-timer. Suddenly Hoffman is in a tie for the team goal-scoring lead, with none of those tallies coming on the power play.
The player Hoffman was shipped out from Montreal to make room for is on a bit of a run himself. Jesse Ylönen, who became eligible for waivers this season and needed a spot on the roster, has been getting regular starts with some injuries among the forward corps, and his response is three points in three games: a two-goal performance versus the Vegas Golden Knights, and then a great pass to set up Kaiden Guhle for 2-0 goal on Wednesday in Anaheim. He’s not getting many minutes (under seven-and-a-half in both of the games mentioned), but is productive when receiving the call.
Thanks in part to that goal from two of the youngest members on the team, the Canadiens ended a long losing streak in Anaheim that dated back to their last win in March of 2014. The team is making a habit of dispelling its California curses in recent seasons, following the halt two years earlier of a run of losses in San Jose that extended back to 1999. Incidentally, Hoffman scored the game-winning goal on that occasion.
From a two-decades-long run of futility, the Canadiens can add to that 4-0 win in 2021-22 and their 3-1 win last season (Ylönen had the winner in that one) and make it a winning streak in San Jose.
It has already been announced that Cayden Primeau will get the start in net for the game, which serves as the first in a back-to-back. He played very well in the first period versus the Golden Knights last Friday, but the goals against snowballed in the second period to undo that great start, and he eventually took the loss on two late power-play goals. His one win this year came on the road, and Martin St-Louis will be hoping that his goaltender can turn that into a trend this afternoon.
