It's over. It's finally over. Exactly a month after the previous win for the San Jose Sharks organization, the organization is back in thw win column with two points as they defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at the Bell Center. It was a much needed result for the confidence of the team, and it'll bring positives later when we discuss winning habits. However, it does hurt the organizations effort to get Macklin Celebrini.
It would be the Sharks striking first in Montreal. A bad turnover from the Canadiens under pressure from Justin Bailey forces the puck out in front to Luke Kunin, and he buried it past Samuel Montembeault. His first in 14 games, and the Sharks offense had found a way to get the first goal in this one. A strong start for the men in teal, and now the Sharks needed to continue to build upon their early lead.
Tomas Hertl would create a chance by stick handling in a phone booth to get it in swwp for Filip Zadina. Zadina would get it back to Hertl, before it found its way over to Fabian Zetterlund to double the Sharks lead. A good start in Quebec was exactly what the Sharks needed, but the Canadiens were not going to go quietly. Now, the Sharks needed to shut up stop defensively.
David Savard took the puck at the point and gave it over to Mike Matheson. That force the Sharks defense to adjust and the Canadiens were able to find Brendan Gallagher. He found the back of the net, slashing the Sharks lead in half just 27 seconds after they were able to double it. Now that the Canadiens had momentum, the Sharks needed to kill that and get back to the offensive zone.
William Eklund drove to the net and had a shot denied before gathering the rebound behind the net. He got it to Mikael Granlund who started to circle around before finding Nikita Okhotyuk at the far post who was open and all alone. He scored for his first goal as a Shark, and the team in teal had a chance to win their first game in a month in Montreal, and it was looking more likely with each passing second.
Montreal pulled their netminder with a little more than four minutes left in the game, and it would result in them getting some life. Cole Caufield receives a pass from Ryan Suzuki along the sideboards and Matheson just leans into one that Blackwood can't see. It beats him and cuts the Sharks lead to one. It was going to be a nervy final few minutes for the Sharks. So close to snapping this embarassing losing streak, the Sharks were starting to lose control.
Mackenzie Blackwood and the San Jose Sharks shut the door. The losing streak ends at 12. The final score from Montreal is a 3-2 Sharks win as the team in teal finally gets MacKenzie Blackwood his first road win as a member of this organization. He deserved it for his effort tonight. He was the most important Shark on the ice all night long.