The Montreal Canadiens have lost their last five games and today, they'll get an opportunity to put an end to their skid by taking the San Jose Sharks who are currently 32nd in the standings.
One would like to think that the San Jose Sharks are just what the doctor would order to cure the Montreal Canadiens' skid, after all, they've only won two of their last 10 games and they are dead last in the league with 36 points, but they've been known to play down to their opponent at times.
Yesterday, Josh Anderson had a therapy day and wasn't at practice, which forced Martin St-Louis to use new lines for the session. It's not new for the power forward to skip practice lately, he's been battling an injury, but what it new however is Patrik Laine filling in for him on the third line.
Who completed the top six with the Finn playing on the third line? None other than David Reinbacher. Don't panic, the Austrian isn't on the verge of returning, he's still wearing a no contact jersey, and when he does return it will be as part of the defensive corps. Furthermore, he should be eased in with the Laval Rocket rather than with the Habs, but I can understand wanting the kid to be around the team right now.
While there's no chance that he'll be in that spot for next game, demoting Laine to the third line, even if it's just for a practice is a message that the snipper needs to understand loud and clear and act on.
Tuesday's game will be the first of the season against the Sharks, it's been over a year since the two teams met and San Jose won the last game 3-2 while the Canadiens won the one played in November 2023 by the same score. The California outfit has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two sides. In 47 games against the Sharks, the Habs have an 18-23-4-2 record.
Martin St-Louis has already confirmed that Samuel Montembeault will be in net Tuesday night, the netminder has got a 1-1-0 record against the Sharks with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
There's no word as to who will be manning the net for the hosts. Their number one goaltender Alexander Georgiev is 4-5-0 against the Canadiens with a 3.24 GAA and a .899 SP. As for backup Vitek Vanicek he has a 3-1-0 record, a 2.76 GAA and a .894 SP.
Up front, the Canadiens' most productive forward against the Sharks is Laine. In 12 games, he has picked up 10 points. He's followed by Anderson who has eight points in 12 meetings and David Savard squeezes into the top three with six points in 23 meetings. The first line hasn't exactly played the Sharks a lot so far, Nick Suzuki has faced them seven times and has three points, Cole Caufield has skated against them five times and has three points while Juraj Slafkovsky has only competed against them three times collecting a single point.
The same phenomenon can be observed in San Jose, the last time the two teams played, the Sharks' most productive players against the Habs were Mikael Granlund (20 points in 20 games), Mike Hoffman (22 points in 27 games) and Thomas Hertl (11 points in 14 games). None of them play for the Sharks anymore and the likes of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have yet to face the Habs. William Eklund does have four points in as many games against Montreal however. Free agent signing and former Hab Tyler Toffoli has got a more than respectable record against the Habs with 18 points in 20 games played.
Get ready for a late night though, the game is on the west coast, meaning a 10:30 PM start for Canadiens' fans back home and there will be another late game tomorrow night when Montreal takes on the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 PM.
Stay updated with the most interesting Montreal Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.