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SAN JOSE — The Shark Tank continues to be the Montreal Canadiens personal house of horrors.
The Habs extended their losing streak at SAP Center to 12 games on Thursday, failing to capitalize on injuries to Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane, in addition to the flu bug infecting the Sharks dressing room.
As a result, the Canadiens are still looking for their first 21st century win in San Jose. They haven’t earned two points in Silicon Valley since Nov. 23, 1999. To put things in perspective, Bill Clinton was president, dial-up connections were still a thing and Santana was sitting atop the Billboard charts with his comeback hit “Smooth.”
Here’s what we learned as the Sharks improved to 3-0 on their current homestand with a 5-2 win:
1. Sharks overcome injuries, flu in ‘gutsy’ win.
Pete DeBoer isn’t the second coming of Nostradamus. He could just see the writing on the wall.
After the Sharks morning practice, DeBoer foresaw the possibility of a low-energy showing from his squad. In addition to Karlsson and Kane’s absences, several Sharks players are displaying flu symptoms this week, including Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski, who stayed in bed on Wednesday instead of skating at practice.
Still, the Sharks managed to carve out an ugly win, thanks in large part to a 37-save effort from goalie Martin Jones.
“You could just tell the lungs weren’t with the guys. A handful of guys are under the flu,” Joe Thornton said. “Gutsy effort.”
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The Sharks also caught a break in the goal crease. Instead of facing Olympic gold medalist Carey Price, they caught former-teammate Antti Niemi, who’s barely holding onto an NHL job, posting an .887 save percentage in 17 appearances this year. As a result, they entered the first intermission with a 2-1 lead even though they came out on the wrong side of a 16-5 shot count.
Tomas Hertl opened the scoring at 6:55, catching a fortunate bounce when his wraparound attempt went through Niemi’s legs off defenseman Jeff Petry’s stick. Marcus Sorensen made it 2-0 at the 10-minute mark, sneaking the puck in between Niemi’s right pad and the post, a goal that proved to be softer than a bean bag chair.
“For sure, the two goals were lucky,” Hertl said. “I don’t know how (they) got through.”
First career 30 goal season for @TomasHertl48 :-)) #StealthMode pic.twitter.com/FwYkII9ivl
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 8, 2019
Every time the Canadiens closed the gap to a single goal, the Sharks found a way to respond. Joe Thornton made it 3-1 at 7:46 of the second, throwing a slick behind-the-back pass to Sorensen that went in off Philip Danault’s stick. In the third, Timo Meier scored his third goal in three games, burying a pass from Joonas Donskoi on the doorstep.
Holding a two-goal lead in the third, the Sharks found the juice to put together a solid period of hockey, holding the Canadiens to nine shots after surrendering 30 over the game’s first 40 minutes. In doing so, the Sharks improved to 3-0 without Karlsson and Kane.
Joe Thornton is so good at passing he even gets the other team score for the #SJSharks (with a little help from Sorensen). #StealthMode pic.twitter.com/EBz0Xl8iOb
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 8, 2019
“Our goalie was our best player tonight, which gave us a chance,” DeBoer said. “Our third period, when we had to have a big period, we got our best period of the game. We did enough to win an important game.”
2. Sharks inch closer to Calgary in the Pacific Division standings.
The win proved to be particularly important after the Calgary Flames dropped their fourth straight game with a loss to the Arizona Coyotes. The decision in the desert meant that the Sharks went into the third period with a chance to close the gap atop the Pacific Division standings to a single point.
Keep in mind, the Sharks trailed the Flames by seven points as recently as March 1. The Sharks won that night, moving to within five points of first place. They also earned a win against Chicago on Sunday after the Flames seven-game winning streak ended with a home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Then, the Flames lost back-to-back games to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vegas Golden Knights this week, setting the stage for Thursday’s tightening of the divisional screws.
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Heading into the homestand, the Sharks chances of catching the Flames looked bleak, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Karlsson’s health. Now, with 15 games left, a division title and a chance to avoid the Golden Knights in the opening round of the playoffs is clearly within reach.
Pavelski said the Sharks knew what was at stake in the third period.
“We talked a little bit about that,” the Sharks captain said. “You scoreboard watch a little bit, you know you have an opportunity. It’s good to see guys step up and take control of that game there.”
3. Hertl hits 30.
Don’t worry. Hertl isn’t growing up that fast. He’s only 25 years old, which is hard to believe considering that he’s in the midst of his sixth NHL season.
Instead, Hertl reached the right kind of 30 against the Canadiens, scoring 30 goals for the first time in his career.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Hertl said. “I’m looking more for passing, I think I’m a passer (not) a shooter, but lately the goals are coming in.”
The milestone is significant considering that two years ago Hertl missed 30 games to undergo a third-surgical procedure on his right knee. At that point in time, few outside of the Sharks organization knew whether Hertl would ever return to full health. Now, he’s a significant cog in the Sharks machine. He’s anchoring the second line, bringing physicality presence to the middle of the ice and ranking second on the team in goal production.
“He deserves it,” DeBoer said. “He’s worked hard. He’s battled injuries. He’s kept growing his game. He’s a hard guy to handle now. He can take over games and he’s playing at a really-high level.”
Thornton said it even better.
“Thirty goals is an incredible feat. Let’s see if he can hit 40,” he said.
