The Canadiens put a stop to their longest losing streak of the season with a very convincing win over the Ottawa Senators in which they out-possessed and outshot the Sens 42-26, enough to score three chase Craig Anderson midway through the second period.
As impressive as the Canadiens were in the first period, putting up almost 30 shots on net, if not for a goal scored late in that period by Max Pacioretty to put the Habs up 2-0, that game could have been another example a great game played without the result deserved. Statistically, when you’re putting up that amount of shots and getting that many chances, the results should come. When Max Pacioretty whipped his sixth shot of the first period past Craig Anderson, he validated that statement.
Tonight the Canadiens are seeking their third win in the month of December. The San Jose Sharks are in town, beginning the first game of a five-game road trip, and are in the midst of a stretch of seven of eight games on the road. The Sharks are a very good road team (better than they are at home) with a record of 10-5-1, and also has a good record against Eastern Conference teams at 10-6-0.
The Habs will be looking to hand the Sharks their sixth loss in a row. The good road-record mentioned above was much better a couple of weeks ago before the Sharks started their slide. After a five-game winning streak in mid-November, San Jose has only won one game in their past eight. The Sharks were shutout in their last game in a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Some lineup changes to take note of tonight are the return of Torrey Mitchell, which has caused Michel Therrien to shuffle the deck a little. Sven Andrighetto remains on the fourth line, alongside Mitchell and Brian Flynn. With Mitchell back in, Charles Hudon is out.
Dustin Tokarski gets the start in net again after a strong performance on Saturday in which he made 25 saves.
The puck drops at 7:30 PM EST.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Sharks’ region: CSN-CA
Elsewhere: NBCSN, NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Tomas Plekanec | Paul Byron |
| Lars Eller | Alex Galchenyuk | Dale Weise |
| Tomas Fleischmann | David Desharnais | Daniel Carr |
| Sven Andrighetto | Torrey Mitchell | Brian Flynn |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Alexei Emelin | Jeff Petry |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Tom Gilbert |
| Goaltenders |
| Dustin Tokarski |
| Mike Condon |
Scratched: Greg Pateryn, Jarred Tinordi, Charles Hudon
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body) Brendan Gallagher (broken fingers), Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Tomas Hertl | Joe Thornton | Joe Pavelski |
| Melker Karlsson | Patrick Marleau | Joel Ward |
| Joonas Donskoi | Chris Tierney | Tommy Wingels |
| Matt Nieto | Dainius Zubrus | Mike Brown |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Paul Martin | Brent Burns |
| Marc-Edouard Vlasic | Justin Braun |
| Brenden Dillon | Dylan Demelo |
| Goaltenders |
| Martin Jones |
| Alex Stalock |
Scratched: Matt Tennyson, Barclay Goodrow
Injuries: Logan Couture (lower-body), Ben Smith (concussion symptoms)
Check out the enemy over at Fear the Finn.
