Pavelski kicked a loose puck in front of Price to his left right to an open Logan Couture, who buried the opportunity at the 13:24 mark of the second period, providing the insurance for what became a 5-2 Sharks win to close out a five-game homestand.
After they were mostly silenced for the first four games, the Sharks’ biggest names broke out with their best game of the season. Couture had two goals and two assists, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton each had two points and goalie Martin Jones finished with 28 saves as the Sharks continued their dominance of the Canadiens on home ice.
The Sharks have now won 11 straight over Montreal in San Jose, dating back to Nov 23, 1999. Overall, San Jose has won eight of nine meetings with Montreal since the start of the 2011-12 season.
Couture also assisted on Hertl’s power play goal at the 8:03 mark of the second, and Jones sparkled through the first two periods with 21 saves. Jones allowed goals by Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber, but saved two Canadiens breakaway opportunities in the second period and later made a point blank stop on Paul Byron on a Montreal power play.
Pavelski gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead just 53 seconds into the second period. A shot from Kevin Labanc that went off Artturi Lehkonen’s stick, bounced off the ice, off Pavelski’s foot and Weber’s knee somehow found its way past Price.
It was the break Pavelski and the Sharks’ big guns had been looking for. For the first four games, Pavelski, Couture, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns have been held to a combined one goal and three assists. Thornton and Burns had one assist each through two periods.
Couture opened the scoring at the 3:50 mark of the first period. After Justin Braun’s shot from inside the blue line was deflected wide by Hertl, Couture took control of the puck, moved around an out-of-position Price and scored into the near-empty net for his second of the season. Just 16 seconds later, though, the Sharks got caught up ice slightly, resulting in a Montreal 3 on 2. Lehkonen took control of the puck in the neutral zone, carried it across the blue line and found Drouin in the slot. Drouin beat Jones high on the glove side for his second goal this year.
The Sharks weren’t in desperation mode when they began Tuesday’s game, but there was more than a little sense of urgency after their first four games produced just eight goals and one win.
The Sharks begin a five-game road trip Friday at New Jersey, followed by games against the New York Islanders on Saturday and the New York Rangers on Monday. The Sharks close the trip against Boston next Thursday and Buffalo on October 28.
“This homestand didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Couture said Monday. “But we can only focus on that next one and then it’ll be good to get on the road.” The Sharks are just one of a handful of NHL teams that can say they’ve gotten the better of Price, who is just 2-6-1 in his career against San Jose. Price had struggled so far this season with a 1-3-1 record, a 3.45 goals-against average and .855 save percentage prior to Tuesday.
“You just cross your fingers. He’s the best in the business. Track record doesn’t mean anything,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Tuesday morning. “If I had my choice I wouldn’t want to be playing Carey Price tonight. But we are and we’ve got to find a way.”
For the Sharks, the formula for a win against Price wasn’t going to any different than it would be against other elite goalies.