Nothing goes right for Canadiens in humiliating 5-0 loss to Sharks

Special teams continue to plague Montreal as the team is 0-for-2 in the power play and yields two more goals with fewer hands.

Author of the article:

Pat hickey • Montreal Gazette

The Sharks’ Jonathan Dahlen celebrates his teammate’s second-period goal as the Canadiens goalkeeper watches helplessly Tuesday night at the Bell Center. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

There were plenty of empty seats at the Bell Center on Tuesday night, which could have been a good thing because lost fans were saved from the Canadiens’ worst performance of the young season.

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Nothing went right when the San Jose Sharks took an early lead and posted a 5-0 victory that left the Canadiens with a 0-4 record. San Jose’s victory extended the Sharks’ winning streak at the Bell Center to six games.

In his first two starts this season, goalie Jake Allen gave the Canadiens a chance to win and entered Tuesday’s game with a .925 save percentage. That number will be affected as he allowed five goals on 25 shots. Adin Hill stopped 21 shots for the shutout.

The Sharks wasted no time taking a 2-0 lead when they scored on two of their first three shots before the game turned four minutes.

Jonathan Dahlen, a 23-year-old Swedish rookie playing his second NHL game, scored both goals.

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He opened the scoring at 1:22 when he redirected a shot from Timo Meier. The deflection went through Jeff Petry’s legs before beating Allen.

Meier kicked off the second goal when he sent Logan Couture into a 2v1 break with Dahlen. Allen made the save when Couture decided to shoot, but it left a juicy rebound and an empty net for Dahlen.

Remember two seasons ago when the Canadiens fell into the bad habit of conceding goals in the last minute of a period? It happened again in the first period when veteran defender Erik Karlsson scored on a shot from the spot that deflected from defender David Savard at 7:28 p.m.

Special teams continue to disappoint the Canadiens.

Meier completed a three-point night when he scored a power play goal early in the second period. Kevin Labanc completed the scoring with a man lead in the third period to give San Jose two power play goals four times. The Canadiens have given up at least one power play goal in each of their four losses, surrendering a total of seven on the season.

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The addition of sniper Mike Hoffman did not provide an instant boost to Montreal’s power play. The Canadiens c he was left empty in two power plays and is now 0-for-13 on the season.

Montreal had a chance to cut San Jose’s lead early in the second period when Christian Dvorak hit the post. Josh Anderson headed straight for the loose puck in the crease, but Hill made an acrobatic move to sweep the puck out of harm’s way. And Hill held his ground shortly after Meier’s power play goal and stopped Anderson on a breakaway.

Adam Brooks also made his Canadian debut. He replaced the injured Jake Evans in the center of the third row and contributed to a dismal Montreal performance in the circle head-to-head. The Sharks won 61 percent of ties and Brooks was 2-for-10 on his debut.

This was the second of four straight home games for the Canadiens. They welcome Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before wrapping up their home stay on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.

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