San Jose (42-9-9) at Montreal (33-22-7), 7:00 p.m. EST
MONTREAL (Ticker) -- All-Star Carey Price is no longer the
undisputed starting goaltender for Montreal. At this point, the
Canadiens are forced to stick with the hot hand.
Coming off a thrilling victory, Jaroslav Halak and Montreal look
to extend their winning streak to four games when they host the
Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored a power-play goal
with 99 seconds remaining in the extra session Friday to lift
Montreal to a 4-3 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers.
All-Star Alexei Kovalev recorded a goal and two assists, Tomas
Plekanec scored and set up another and Tom Kostopoulos also
tallied as the Canadiens scored three times in a 2:04 span late
in the first period to erase a 2-0 deficit.
Coming off a 3-0 shutout of Vancouver on Tuesday, Halak made 35
saves in his third straight start in place of the ineffective
Price. The 21-year-old Price has yielded 20 goals in his last
four starts.
San Jose, meanwhile, edged the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, on
Thursday.
The Sharks, who have won five of six, are 16-7-6 on the road
this season.