Sharks at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens return home after a disastrous road trip but their first game of 2018 is against an opponent that has dominated the series. After dropping the last four of their seven-game road trip (2-5-0), the Canadiens hope to bounce back against the visiting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Montreal scored only three goals during the four-game skid and wrapped up the lengthy trek with a 2-0 defeat at Florida on Saturday, but Tuesday's matchup is the opener of a five-game homestand. "When we look at the schedule, we're happy to be back home," Canadiens center Jonathan Drouin told reporters. "You feel good here. We're going to try to use it to our advantage." San Jose had won three in a row before it was trounced 6-0 in Dallas on Sunday in the first stop of a five-game road trip. The Sharks extended their winning streak in the series to five games with a 5-2 victory over Montreal on Oct. 17, their ninth win in the last 10 against the Canadiens.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (San Jose), RDS, TSN2 (Montreal)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (20-12-4): There was one silver lining in San Jose's most lopsided defeat of the season as leading goal scorer Logan Couture returned to the lineup after missing four games due to a concussion. “My legs weren’t there; timing and everything was off,” Couture told reporters. “I didn’t play very well, but I’m back. I made it through the game and I’m ready for the next one.” Couture scored twice and had a season-high four points in the win over Montreal in mid-October.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (16-19-4): Captain Max Pacioretty, who scored at least 30 goals in each of the last four seasons, has been the subject of endless trade rumors. Pacioretty is mired in a deep slump, failing to score in 12 straight games and notching one goal in his last 21. "You just live your life and worry about your family. If that happens, it happens," Pacioretty said of the trade talk. "I've played here for 10 years and I've never gone through something like this."
OVERTIME
1. Sharks G Martin Jones has yielded at least four goals in seven of his last nine starts.
2. Canadiens G Carey Price is 2-7-1 with a 3.07 goals-against average versus the Sharks.
3. San Jose had scored 14 power-play goals in nine games before getting blanked in Dallas.