Canadiens at Sharks
THE STORY: The Montreal Canadiens figured they would ease into their West Coast road trip against a team in upheaval in the Anaheim Ducks. Instead, the Canadiens watched their losing streak hit three games as they allowed a pair of goals on the penalty kill and at least three goals defensively for the fourth straight game. Montreal possesses one of the stronger blue lines in the game but has hit a bit of a snag in the last eight days. Trying to take advantage of that on Thursday will be the San Jose Sharks. San Jose has dropped back-to-back games since a four-game winning streak that seemed to push the club up with the Western Conference elite. The Sharks were shut out in Los Angeles on Monday but will be kicking off a four-game homestand with Montreal.
TV: 10:30 p.m. RDS (Montreal), CSCA (San Jose)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (10-11-4): The two power-play tallies allowed in Wednesday’s 4-1 setback ended a streak of 11 games in which Montreal was perfect on the penalty kill. Overall in November, the Canadiens went 53 for 56 when down a man. The Ducks, who fired their coach an hour after Wednesday’s game, shut down the Montreal offense, holding it to 20 shots. The Canadiens have been out-shot by an average of 11.3 during their losing streak.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (13-7-1): In the tightly-contested Pacific Division, two losses in a row is enough to drop a team all the way into fourth place. San Jose has totaled only three goals over its last nine periods and is 0 for 10 on the power play. Antti Niemi has allowed five goals in his last two starts after surrendering a total of six during a five-start winning streak.
OVERTIME:
1. Sharks C Joe Thornton, who has averaged just over one point per game in his career, has been held to 29 in 40 career games against Montreal.
2. The home team has won each of the last seven meetings between the teams.
3. Canadiens C Tomas Plekanec snapped a four-game pointless streak with an assist on Wednesday.