Sharks 3, Canadiens 1
MONTREAL -- The San Jose Sharks made the most of their chances, snapping a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Centers Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Dainius Zubrus scored for San Jose while right winger Dale Weise scored for Montreal (20-9-3).
Goaltender Martin Jones made 26 saves for the Sharks (15-14-1). Habs goalie Dustin Tokarski stopped nine-of-12 shots before being replaced by Mike Condon, who made six saves in relief.
For the second straight game, the Canadiens were in control in the first period. Unlike Saturday, however, it was their opponent that struck first. Defenseman Justin Braun lifted the puck out of the Sharks' end into the neutral zone, where right winger Joel Ward picked it up before breaking in on a 2-on-1 with Marleau. Ward sent a cross-seam feed to Marleau at the bottom of the circle, where he easily poked it past Tokarski at 17:34. It was just the third shot of the period for San Jose.
The ice was barely dry when Pavelski doubled the visitors' lead 36 seconds into the middle frame. Montreal's soft clearing attempt wound up on Braun's stick at the right point. Braun settled the puck and then took a shot that deflected off Pavelski's stick into the net.
Zubrus made it 3-0 San Jose at 9:19. Center Joe Thornton took advantage of another soft play by the Canadiens deep in their own end to force a turnover behind the net. Pavelski picked up the puck at the goal line to Tokarski's right before feeding an uncovered Zubrus at the hashmarks.
That chased Tokarski from the net.
Weise snapped an 11-game goal drought to get the Canadiens on the board at 17:24. Defenseman P.K. Subban rushed the puck out of Montreal's zone, up the ice and into the Sharks' end when he lobbed light pass over to Weise. The winger caught it and quickly dropped it before firing glove side from the dot on Jones.
NOTES: The Sharks scratched C Tomas Hertl and D Matt Tennyson. ... San Jose LW Matt Nieto returned to the lineup after missing the two previous games with a lower-body injury. ... Montreal C Brian Flynn suited up for his 200th NHL game. ... Canadiens C Tomas Plekanec played in his 793rd career NHL game, moving him into sole possession of 20th place on the team's all-time games played list. ... Montreal scratched LW Charles Hudon, D Jarred Tinordi and D Greg Pateryn. ... Prior to the game, the Canadiens traded RW Christian Thomas to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for F Lucas Lessio. ... The game was the first of a five-game road trip for San Jose.