Sharks Snap 6-Game Losing Streak With 3-1 Win Over Canadiens
MONTREAL (AP) - Joe Pavelski scored once and added an assist as the San Jose Sharks beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Tuesday night to snap a six-game skid.
Patrick Marleau and Dainius Zubrus also scored for the Sharks. Martin Jones made 26 saves for his 13th victory of the season.
Dale Weise had the goal for Montreal.
Dustin Tokarski, making his third consecutive start, stopped nine of 12 shots before being pulled midway through the second period. Mike Condon stopped all six shots he faced in relief.
San Jose, which earned its first victory in December, is 12-0 when leading after two periods.
Coming off a convincing win over Ottawa on Saturday, Montreal came out firing. The Canadiens were all over Jones and the Sharks in the first period but couldn't score.
Despite trailing 10-2 in shots and 20-3 in shot attempts late in the first, the Sharks got on the board first.
Marleau made it 1-0 on San Jose's third shot on Tokarski, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Joel Ward with a shot off the post and in. The point was Marleau's 14th in his last 14 games (eight goals, six assists).
Pavelski, the Sharks' captain, made it 2-0 just 36 seconds into the second period. After failed clearing attempts by defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, Pavelski tipped Justin Braun's shot from the point past Tokarski.
At 9:19 of the second, another giveaway by Markov in his own zone led to Zubrus' first goal of the season. The goal sent Tokarski to the bench and brought Condon into the game.
Markov finished minus-3 on the night.
After coach Michel Therrien shuffled his lines late in the second period, Weise reduced the deficit with his first goal in 11 games at 17:24. His shot took a big deflection off Marc-Edouard Vlasic's skate to fool Jones between the legs.
Former Shark Torrey Mitchell was back in the lineup after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. Mitchell played on a line with Sven Andrighetto and Brian Flynn.
NOTES: Flynn played his 200th NHL game. . Logan Couture (arterial surgery) was not in the Sharks' lineup. . Montreal has not scored on the power play in its last six games. . Before the game, Montreal traded Christian Thomas to the Arizona Coyotes for fellow forward Lucas Lessio. The Canadiens also put forward Zach Kassian on waivers. ... Earlier in the day, injured goalie Carey Price won the 2015 Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
