The San Jose Sharks snapped the Montreal Canadiens’ three-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday night, led by Macklin Celebrini’s two goals and an assist.
Collin Graf added a goal and two assists for San Jose. Mario Ferraro also scored, while John Klingberg contributed two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal. Noah Dobson had two assists and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves in the loss.
The Canadiens entered Saturday holding third place in the Atlantic Division, sitting four points behind the division-leading Buffalo Sabres with two games in hand.
San Jose remains in the hunt for a Western Conference wild-card spot. The Sharks trail the Los Angeles Kings by just one point for the second wild-card position, with two fewer games played.
Caufield opened the scoring at 7:21 in the first period, beating Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot for his career-best 38th goal of the season.
Celebrini answered back with his 34th goal at 13:12 to tie the game.
The Sharks took control in the second period with two quick goals. Ferraro’s wrist shot from the point fooled Dobes before Celebrini’s attempt deflected off Graf’s leg at 16:20, giving San Jose a 3-1 lead.
Suzuki cut the lead to one goal with 2:22 remaining in the second period, beating Nedeljkovic on the glove side.
Celebrini sealed the win with his second goal of the game, finding the empty net at 17:56 in the third period.
The game was marred by a scary incident early in the first period when San Jose rookie forward Igor Chernyshov left after a frightening fall. Chernyshov collided with Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson in the neutral zone before losing his balance twice when he attempted to stand up.
No further update was provided on Chernyshov’s condition.
Up Next
The Sharks continue their road trip at Ottawa on Sunday.
The Canadiens host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.
