SAN JOSE – Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns all had three-point nights on Monday at SAP Center in leading the Sharks to a 6-2 win over a Canadiens team whose playoff hopes continue to dim.
San Jose (34-22-6, 74 points) closed to within four points of the Kings for first place in the Pacific Division, and is just two points behind second place Anaheim. Both California rivals were idle on Monday.
The Sharks improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 home games, and beat Montreal for the ninth straight time at SAP Center. They are 6-1-0 against the Canadiens in the last seven overall, including a 3-1 win on Dec. 15 at Bell Centre.
Pavelski scored twice, while Thornton and Burns each had one goal and two assists.
The Sharks’ top line played a role in San Jose’s first three scores.
It started just 3:11 into the first period, when Pavelski redirected a Justin Braun floater to Thornton at the side of the net, and Thornton stickhandled it over the line for his 15th score.
The Habs tied it at 1-1 on a rare misplay by Martin Jones, when he let a bad angle Brenden Gallagher shot squeak through at 5:26. Pavelski restored the lead, though, getting free in the offensive zone and smacking in a Thornton pass at 15:55.
San Jose went up 3-1 in the second on a pretty Burns wrist shot from the circle on a rush at 3:11 of the middle frame. The desperate Canadiens didn’t go quietly, though, and Torrey Mitchell batted a loose puck out of the air after Philip Danault’s centering passing rattled around a few bodies in front of the net at 12:32. That brought Montreal back to within 3-2 at the second break.
In the third, Melker Karlsson swatted in a Chris Tierney saucer at 2:14. Just one minute and 23 seconds later, Nick Spaling got just enough of a Logan Couture blast to knock in his second goal in four games since arriving in San Jose to give the Sharks a comfortable 5-2 advantage.
Pavelski’s second with 5:10 left in regulation capped the scoring.
Jones started his ninth straight game in net, and picked up his 31st win of the season with 21 stops. He made a key pad save on Tomas Plekanec late in the second period when the Canadiens’ leading scorer was left wide open to keep the one-goal lead intact.
Since Dec. 15 Thornton has 44 points, leading the league. He has at least one point in 29 of 33 games over that span (11g, 33a).
Special teams
The Sharks went 0-for-2 on the power play, while Montreal was 0-for-3, including a brief advantage to close out regulation on Tomas Hertl’s tripping minor with 41 seconds to go.
San Jose is 3-for-19 on the power play in its last eight games (15.7 percent).
In goal
In addition to his ninth straight start, Jones was playing his 17th game in the last 18 and appeared in both games of a back-to-back for the second time in less than two weeks.
Still without defending Hart Trophy winner Carey Price due to injury, the Canadiens turned to Mike Condon, who dropped to 16-18-5 on the season. He allowed six goals on 36 shots.
Lineup
The Sharks are still awaiting the arrival of goalie James Reimer, who was acquired on Saturday. San Jose is off on Tuesday, but hopes to have Reimer in the fold on Wednesday in time to board the team charter to Vancouver.
In a rare situation, Mike Brown skated for Montreal and against San Jose after he was claimed off of waivers from the Sharks on Monday morning. He slotted in on the Canadiens’ fourth line.
San Jose reassigned Dylan DeMelo to the AHL Barracuda on Monday, although he’ll likely be back later in the week.
Up next
The Sharks are in Vancouver for the second time this week on Thursday night after winning there on Sunday, 4-1. They host the Canucks on Saturday.
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