Sharks chase Carey Price, hold off Canadiens

MONTREAL -- The San Jose Sharks chased goalie Carey Price from the net and handed the Montreal Canadiens their second home loss in regulation on Friday.
David Schlemko and Patrick Marleau scored power-play goals 2:10 apart in the first period and the Sharks (19-11-1) extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 win against the Canadiens (19-7-4), who are 14-2-2 at Bell Centre.
The Sharks scored four goals in the first 26:44 to chase Price for the first time, other than because of injury, in 97 starts since Oct. 13, 2014.

"He's one of the best goalies in the world, if not the best, so it's always good to get to him early," Schlemko said. "If he starts getting hot, he's pretty tough to beat."
WATCH: All Sharks vs. Canadiens highlights
Forward Timo Meier made his NHL debut and scored on his first shot on goal to make it 3-0 at 13:18 of the first period. Melker Karlsson's goal at 6:44 of the second period increased the lead to 4-0.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien had two reasons for pulling Price, who will start at the Washington Capitals on Saturday after he was originally scheduled to be rested.
"Firstly, I didn't like the way the team was playing in front of him, and secondly, that allows us to come back with him [Saturday]," Therrien said.
Martin Jones, who made 26 saves, lost his shutout when Brian Flynn scored at 10:28 of the third period.

Jeff Petry scored at 13:48 to draw Montreal within 4-2.
"We just dug too big a hole to dig ourselves out of," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said.
Price made 14 saves and was unable to get his 250th NHL win. He had not been pulled at home since Jan. 25, 2014, when he was replaced by Peter Budaj after allowing four goals in a 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals.
"That doesn't happen very often, and I think I read that this is only their second home loss here this year too, so I think we caught them on a good day, but we'll take it," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
Al Montoya, who would have started in place of Price on Saturday, made five saves in relief.

Goal of the game

Karlsson deflected Micheal Haley's centering pass from the left corner off his body and backhanded it on a bounce off the ice past Price for his third goal.

Save of the game

Jones stopped Michael McCarron's shot with one second left in Montreal's first power play with San Jose leading 3-0 in the second period.

Highlight of the game

Sharks center Joe Thornton waited patiently behind the Canadiens net to set up what he called a great one-timer by Marleau for San Jose's second straight power-play goal.
"I was just kind of waiting to see who would get open, and [Marleau] just was open and he knows what to do from there," Thornton said.

Unsung performance of the game

Price skated right past Montoya without acknowledging him on his way to the bench after he was pulled. If it was a message to his teammates, none of them spoke about it after the game, but the Canadiens battled back to within 4-2 in the third period, when Montoya made four saves after making one on the only shot he faced in the second.

They said it

"We kind of struggled on the power play in Ottawa a little bit so we talked about that Friday] morning. We know how tough these guys are here at home so we wanted to get off to a quick start and that just helped us out." -- *Sharks center Joe Thornton on their power play*
"In that building, scoring the first goal on the first shot, it's hard to describe in words. I'm happy, but at the same time I know I can do much more." -- *Sharks forward Timo Meier on scoring his first NHL goal*
*[Video: SJS@MTL: Meier scores first goal on first career shot
"Obviously it's tough to get everyone involved when you're killing penalties early, and especially against a power play that's as dangerous as theirs. They make you pay and they put us in a hole early." -- Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber*

Need to know

Montreal right wing Andrew Shaw did not play because of concussion-like symptoms. He won't travel with the Canadiens to Washington, and neither will forward Sven Andrighetto, who did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period. The Canadiens recalled forward Chris Terry from St. John's of the American Hockey League.

What's next

Sharks: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, WGN, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Canadiens:At the Washington Capitals on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVA Sports, NHLN, CSN-DC, NHL.TV)