Game 41: Montreal Canadiens vs. San Jose Sharks
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Sharks region: NBC Sports California
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN
It couldn’t have been a fun Wednesday night in Philadelphia for the Canadiens players. With just eight shots through 40 minutes of play, they spent the majority of the game under the constant pressure of a heavy Flyers forecheck, and made numerous transition errors as a result.
Tonight’s opponent for the tail end of the back-to-back will provide a reprieve at least; the Sharks don’t have Philadelphia’s desire to win games. The players in San Jose know they can’t compete for a playoff spot, especially in a top-heavy Pacific Division, and have all but given up on the 2023-24 season. With the Canadiens at the start of a stretch of seven games in 11 days, this is a chance to score some goals early and often in what should be a stress-free match.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #11 Brendan Gallagher |
#71 Jake Evans |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
#91 Sean Monahan |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#13 Mitchell Stephens |
#40 Joel Armia |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#58 David Savard |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#52 Justin Barron |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
$54 Jordan Harris |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#30 Cayden Primeau |
Injured: Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Alex Newhook, Tanner Pearson, Chris Wideman
Scratched: Emil Heineman, Johnny Kovacevic, Cayden Primeau
San Jose Sharks projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| William Eklund |
Tomas Hertl |
Filip Zadina |
| Anthony Duclair |
Mikael Granlund |
Fabian Zetterlund |
| Alexander Barabanov |
Luke Kunin |
Justin Bailey |
| Mike Hoffman |
Ryan Carpenter |
Kevin Labanc |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Mario Ferraro |
Kyle Burroughs |
| Henry Thrun |
Jan Rutta |
| Marc-Edouard Vlasic |
Calen Addison |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Mackenzie Blackwood |
Kaapo Kahkonen |
