The San Jose Sharks were in desperate need of spark after losing eight straight home games and five of their past six overall. After being acquired earlier in the day from the Chicago Blackhawks, center Ben Smith arrived just in time to give the Sharks that needed spark Monday at SAP Center, scoring a first-period goal in his debut to lead San Jose to a 4-0 victory against the Montreal Canadiens.
Smith, who was traded Monday morning from the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Andrew Desjardins, scored 6:51 after the puck dropped. Smith almost didn't make it to San Jose in time for the game. It wasn't until after the Blackhawks' morning skate that he learned he had been traded and that San Jose wanted him in the lineup against the Canadiens. Smith arrived at SAP an hour before the game, too late for warm-ups, so he rode an exercise bike, met his new teammates and hit the ice. Sharks backup goaltender Alex Stalock made 20 saves for his fourth career shutout. Stalock ended his three-game losing streak and won for the first time since Jan. 6 against the Minnesota Wild. Joe Pavelski, Matt Irwin and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks (31-25-8), who have 70 points and pulled even with the third-place Calgary Flames and fourth-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. The Sharks remained in fifth place because the Flames and Kings have two games in hand. The Sharks' eight-game home losing streak was one shy of their record set in San Jose's second season from Nov. 19-Dec. 19 in 1992. The Sharks have won their past eight games against the Canadiens in San Jose. The Sharks ended Montreal's four-game winning streak and goaltender Carey Price's franchise record 10-game road winning streak. Price made 33 saves. Montreal (41-17-5), which leads the Eastern Conference with 87 points, had 13 shots through two periods and was outshot 37-20 for the game. The Sharks outshot Montreal 14-8 in the first period and built a 2-0 lead on goals by Smith and Pavelski. Smith put San Jose ahead 1-0 early in the period, scoring his first goal as a Shark and ending a 28-game drought. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic fired a low shot from the point, and Smith tipped the puck past Price for his second point in 29 games and first since an assist against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 27. Smith centered the third line with Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels and got some time on the second power-play unit. Pavelski extended San Jose's lead with 47 seconds left in the first period with his 17th power-play goal and 32nd of the season. Defenseman Brent Burns sent a shot from the point into traffic and Pavelski redirected the puck toward Price. The puck hit the left post, caromed off of Price and trickled toward the goal line. Price kicked it over the line with his left skate. After a long video review, the Situation Room confirmed that Pavelski's stick was at or below the level of the crossbar when he made contact with the puck. Irwin made it 3-0 at 6:48 of the third period, beating a screened Price with a slap shot from the blue line for his seventh goal of the season. Wingels and Smith had the assists. The Canadiens nearly broke through at 12:05 of the third when a diving David Desharnais sent a sharp-angled shot behind Stalock. But Burns got his stick on the puck and swept it away before it completely crossed the goal line. Marleau scored a power-play goal at 13:07 to make it 4-0. Marleau extended his goal streak to three games and he has four goals over his past five games. Defenseman Jeff Petry made his debut for Montreal, hours after being traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Canadiens. He had 18:51 of ice time. Canadiens forward PA Parenteau returned to the lineup after missing 19 games with a concussion. Sharks rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller was in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for six straight games.
Todd McLellan: "There was an energy to the team that we haven't seen for a while. I think some of that had to do with Ben Smith coming in and scoring right off the bat. He energized everybody. I don't think too many guys take their pregame skates and [travel] half a country away and land and throw your gear on and have that type of game. I think that speaks volumes about Ben's character, first of all. It would be easy to have a built-in excuse about fatigue and whatnot. I think he was really excited about being here. It energized the group."
Ben Smith: "I had to drive home, grab a suitcase, a couple of suits. Got to the airport around 1 and flew out (to San Francisco) at 2. A little bit of a crazy day. They got me a car and we had a little bit of a police escort to get me down here. Any time you get traded to a team you want to bring a boost whether they're in first place in the League or last place," Smith said. "You want to come in and show you can help and try to find a way to give that team a boost. It starts shift by shift trying to do the small things that can uplift a team. It's not just me coming in, it's everybody on the team. Definitely a nice night. Nice for me to come in and be a part of a team win. It was a solid effort throughout."
Alex Stalock: "It was important and big for this team. Yesterday we had a group day with just the team. I think a lot came out and a lot got taken in. It was good. Obviously there was some stuff that happened today with moves. We know the group we have in here now and we got a spark from our new guy. That was huge and fun for him. The way the guys kept the foot on the gas pedal was pretty special to watch. We knew it was desperation time. I think you saw the guys in this room and how they responded."
Tommy Wingels: "We just needed that month of February to end [Smiling]. It feels good to win at home. You give your home fans something to cheer about and something to look forwards to coming in the next game. We're happy to get the job done tonight. Al played a great game in net, and hopefully we can start a string of wins here at home and get back to our winning ways here."
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