The San Jose Sharks beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 at SAP Center on Friday night.
Loud music was blaring, inner emotions were high and the game-worn jerseys were auctioned to the general public as the Sharks hosted Star Wars night.
Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter was a late scratch on Friday.
The Canadiens are one of the hottest teams in the East, but they haven’t won in San Jose since Nov. 23, 1999. Montreal forward Bryan Flynn returned to the lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury.
The Sharks received their first power play opportunity of the night when Mark Barberio was called for holding. Brent Burns hammered a one-timer from the circle that beat Canadiens goalie Carey Price down low for a power-play goal. San Jose took a 1-0 lead at 5:22 of the first.
Joe Thornton picked up his 12th assist on Burns’ 10th goal of the season. Thornton passed Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan on the NHL’s all-time points list with his 1,355th point.
Joe Pavelski generated the Canadiens’ turnover inside the Sharks’ blue line before tipping in a centering pass from Thornton to give his team a 2-0 lead with 57 seconds left in the first.
The Sharks outshot the Canadiens 16-13 and led the Canadiens 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Canadiens were denied of a goal after Sharks goalie Martin Jones made an incredible rolling save to block a backhand shot by Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk.
However, the Canadiens made a push in the second, just like anyone would expect from a team with the NHL’s best record. Price stopped Chris Tierney on a breakaway at 17:01. Price also stopped a Tommy Wingels snap shot with 19 seconds left in the second.
The Sharks carried a 2-0 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes. Shots were even at 23-23.
Logan Couture was rightfully given a double-minor penalty for high sticking Alexander Radulov. Radulov lost quite a lot of blood that had to be cleaned up.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the only goal for the Canadiens late in the third period.
The final result wasn’t pretty, but the Sharks managed to escape with a 2-1 win over the Canadiens. With the win, San Jose extended their winning streak to three games.
Jones finished with 31 saves in a San Jose victory. Price made 28 saves in a losing effort for Montreal.
Up Next
The Sharks return to action Wednesday night when they host the Ottawa Senators. Game is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. PST on RDS.
