Canadiens Lineup

Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield

Artturi Lehkonen – Cedric Paquette – Joel Armia

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Sami Niku – Brett Kulak

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Adam Brooks, Chris Wideman

Jake Evans (undisclosed), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (player assistance program), Paul Byron (hip), Mattias Norlinder (lower-body), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

It’s been an interesting few months for Jake Allen. Ahead of the expansion draft, the Canadiens franchise player, Carey Price, stepped up to put his career on the line to protect his teammate. And while Allen was undoubtedly grateful, his play hasn’t shown it.

Allen was shaky throughout the pre-season and has struggled in his first six starts of the regular season. It’s fair to say that he has had plenty of company in that regard. But coming into this game, Allen was ranked 56th of 60 NHL goaltenders in the all-important goals saved above average this season.

So Allen has been working with Canadiens goalie coach Eric Raymond, particularly with respect to screened shots and deflected shots. The extra effort paid off with Allen recording a 45-save shutout, his first in a Canadien sweater. It was a bit of redemption for the 31-year-old Allen.

In other firsts, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Alexander Romanov each scored their first goal of the season. For Gallagher and Anderson, it was critical to get the monkeys off their backs before the drought carried on too long. And for Mike Hoffman, he has now scored in three straight games.

Take the good with the bad

With the Sharks generating 45 shots on goal and having a 10-8 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, it wasn’t all good news for the Canadiens. While the top line of Mike Hoffman, Nick Suzuki, and Brendan Gallagher combined for two goals, the trio was dominated by San Jose with a lopsided 20-7 count in shot attempts.

It’s clear that there is still plenty for Dominique Ducharme to work on. But the Canadiens have to feel good about breaking their lengthy losing streak against the Sharks, the first Habs win in San Jose in 22 years.

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