Sharks end 2-game skid with 4-2 win over Canadiens

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens are desperate to fix their penalty kill.

Evander Kane scored two power-play goals and the San Jose Sharks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Canadiens on Thursday night.

Kevin Labanc and Melker Karlsson also scored for the Sharks, playing the first game of a back-to-back set. Tomas Hertl had three assists.

The Sharks have won nine straight games against the Canadiens dating to March. 21, 2015.

Montreal's 30th-ranked penalty kill went 1 for 3 and the Canadiens have allowed 11 goals on 34 opportunities on the penalty kill.

"Special teams have to make the difference," captain Shea Weber said. "It has to be a lot better. We have to find a way to figure it out.

"We want it to be better. We're not sitting here saying that it's good enough. We're going to work on it in practice. We're going to continue going over video. The change will come for the positive."

Nick Cousins and Joel Armia scored for the Canadiens, who were coming off three days' rest after a 4-3 loss to Minnesota on Sunday.

Carey Price allowed four goals on 23 shots for Montreal.

"Did we get some chances? Absolutely," Montreal coach Claude Julien said. "We had lots of chances, even in the third period. We didn't bury them. They didn't get that many chances but they buried them.

"Sometimes when you need to lift the puck up, we're shooting at their pads. We had some great chances in the slot but we missed the net. It's the little details."

Sharks backup Aaron Dell made 34 saves.

Cousins gave Montreal a lead at 16:36 of the first period with his first goal as a Canadien.

San Jose then scored four unanswered goals.

"We'll have to look at the video," said Jonathan Drouin of the penalty kill. "Look at the first one tonight, a total breakdown. The puck was going left and right, and it ends with an empty-netter for Kane. It's tough to fix that.

"We like our PK, but sometimes it's a 15 or 20 seconds at the end where we start to get tired. That might be the difference right there."

The tying goal came three minutes later on the power play when a shot by Logan Couture ricocheted off Kane's leg and went in.

The Sharks made it 2-1, again on the power play, when Hertl poked a loose puck through the crease to Kane, who scored his sixth of the season at 4:54 of the second.

An unselfish play by Hertl led to San Jose's third goal at 8:08 of the second when he passed to an open Labanc in the crease.

The 38-year-old Dell made a string of key saves in the second period, including stopping all nine shots he faced on a Canadiens power play with Brent Burns in the box.

Karlsson's first goal of the year, on a feed from veteran Joe Thornton along the boards, made it 4-1 with 36 seconds left in the second.

The Canadiens cut the deficit 22 seconds later when Armia tipped a shot past Dell. He leads Montreal with five goals after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury.

Dell made another seven saves in the third period and improved to 2-1-0.

"It's a work in progress," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "We're defending better than we did early. We're not beating ourselves with reckless turnovers as much. It's getting better.

"Our whole group was good tonight. We came out ready to play. Playing with the lead made a huge difference. Special teams were good again."

Game notes
Max Domi extended his point streak to seven games. ... Burns played his 600th game in a Sharks jersey.

UP NEXT

Sharks: At Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

Canadiens: Home against Toronto on Saturday.

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