Woeful Canadiens lose fifth straight game
No end in sight to offensive struggles
The bottom line: The offence was once again missing in action as the Canadiens dropped a 4-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Canadiens, who have scored only four goals in that stretch. And it was the Canadiens’ 12th consecutive loss to the Sharks. Montreal was outshooting San Jose 10-3 early in the game, but was outshot 30-21 over the final 50 minutes. Aaron Dell, who is nominally the Sharks’ backup goaltender, ran his record to 8-3-1, while Carey Price took the loss and dropped to 11-14-2.
Shark bites: San Jose grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first period when they took advantage of the Canadiens’ failure to clear the puck out of their own zone. Veteran Joe Thornton was standing at the side of the net when he was struck by the rebound from Justin Braun’s wrist shot. The pick bounced off the back of Price’s leg and Thornton shovelled the loose puck into the net. The Canadiens had three power plays in the period and had their best scoring chance on the second one when Daniel Carr hit a goalpost. Max Pacioretty had a breakaway early in the period, but Brent Burns caught up to him and caught Pacioretty’s stick as he shot, forcing the puck to go wide.
Visitors take control: The Sharks came out of the second period with a 3-1 lead. Montreal native Marc-Édouard Vlasic scored his fourth goal of the season and first against the Canadiens at 11:27. Price stopped Mikkel Boedker on a 2-on-1 break, but he left a rebound for Vlasic, who also assisted on Thornton’s goal. The teams exchanged power-play goals late in the period. The Canadiens were enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage when Pacioretty set up Andrew Shaw in front of the net. Dell got his stick on the shot, but the rebound went off Shaw’s skate for his 10th goal of the season. Timo Meier restored the Sharks’ two-goal lead when he redirected Kevin Labanc’s pass at 19:50.
Meier strikes again: The Sharks effectively put the game out of reach when Meier scored his second goal of the game — and eighth of the season — to give San Jose a 4-1 lead at 1:13 of the third period. Meier pulled up on the rush and beat Price with a high shot to the far corner on the goaltender’s blocker side.
Deslauriers honoured: Winger Nicolas Deslauriers was presented with the Molson Cup for December before the game. The award is based on the three-star selections and the hard-working Deslauriers is believed to be the first fourthline player to be recognized.
Looking ahead: The Canadiens have two more home games before they get time off for their bye “week,” which is actually only four days off. The Canadiens play the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS. TSN-690 Radio), while the Vancouver Canucks will be in town for a rare Sunday night game.