Habs stuffed in San Jose
Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski scored in the first period, Martin Jones stopped 31 shots and the San Jose Sharks extended their mastery of Montreal at home by beating the Canadiens 2-1 last night in California.
Jones, who turned away several point-blank shots early and then was rarely tested, won his third straight and the Sharks improved to 8-0-2 against the Canadiens in San Jose since November 1999.
Carey Price was efficient after giving up the two early goals, one on a power play and the other on an odd-man rush. He finished with 28 saves for Montreal.
Flames 3, Wild 2 — Sean Monahan scored the shootout winner as host Calgary knocked off Minnesota.
Monahan waited out Devan Dubnyk before snapping a shot over the goalie’s right pad. Calgary’s Chad Johnson then stopped Charlie Coyle’s attempt to seal the victory.
Kris Versteeg scored in regulation and the shootout, and Mikael Backlund also scored in regulation for the Flames. They have won two straight and are 4-1-1 in their last six to improve to 12-13-2.
Johnson made 26 saves for his second straight victory and fifth in six starts.
Chris Stewart and Mikko Koivu scored for Minnesota, and Dubnyk made 30 saves The Wild are 0-1-2 in their last three to drop to 11-8-4.
Elsewhere in the NHL — NHL players could still go to the 2018 Olympics, but it won’t be in exchange for extending the collective bargaining agreement through 2025.
A person with direct knowledge of the decision said the Players Association rejected the NHL’s offer to extend the current CBA three years in exchange for an agreement to go to Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.
IOC president Thomas Bach said it’s in the interest of all parties for NHL players to be in the Olympics. He told The Olympic Channel that “all the rational arguments are speaking in favor of participation.” . . .
Justin Abdelkader of the Detroit Red Wings is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with what the team describes as a slight MCL strain.