Forward Josh Anderson will be in the lineup for the Canadiens Thursday when they play the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS).
That’s a pleasant surprise for the Canadiens since Anderson had to be helped off the ice during the third period of Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre after crashing hard into the boards head-first.
Forward Kirby Dach will miss his second straight game against the Sharks with a lower-body injury. The Canadiens said they should be able to provide an update on Dach’s condition on Friday.
Samuel Montembeault will make his third straight start in goal as the Canadiens look to extend their win streak to three games since the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the schedule. With a 27-26-5 record, the Canadiens head into the game against the Sharks five points out of a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I think we’ve been playing a pretty calculated, mature game the last two games,” the Canadiens’ Alex Newhook told reporters after Thursday’s morning skate. “It’s something we talked about. Trying not to give up as much as we have been before. I think the results have shown that. We’ve only given up two goals in two games and the amount we produced I think it’s pretty evident the way we’re playing together and we just got to keep it rolling and keep winning these games that are really important.”
The Sharks are the worst team in the NHL with a 15-36-8 record and are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games. They are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Jets Monday in Winnipeg. This will be the second and final meeting between the Canadiens and Sharks this season after the Canadiens won 4-3 in San Jose on Feb. 4.
This game will also be a showdown between two of the leading candidates for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie this season. Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson leads all rookies in scoring with 4-39-43 and is one point ahead of Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini (18-24-42), who was the No. 1 overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft. Hutson has played in all 58 games with the Canadiens this season, which is 11 more games than Celebrini has played with the Sharks.
Hutson and Celebrini were teammates last season at Boston University.
The Sharks have started a campaign called “Calder-brini” promoting Celebrini for the Calder Trophy.
“I feel like they could do better,” Hutson told reporters with a chuckle after the morning skate when told about the “Calder-brini” campaign. “But he’s a great player and I think he’s in a good spot.”
The last Canadien to win the Calder Trophy was goalie Ken Dryden in 1972. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov won the Calder Trophy in 2001 with the Sharks.
“I think his numbers and his play kind of speak for themselves,” Newhook said about Hutson. “I see how close it is there point-wise (with Celebrini), but I think to do that as a defenceman is pretty special. I haven’t seen Celebrini play a lot this year, but I think we’ve all kind of seen what Lane has done this year in his first year and how he can kind of change the game a lot of the time and he can control the game. It’s been pretty impressive and I think for a D-man to do that as a rookie, it doesn’t happen a lot, so it’s been fun to watch.”
The Sharks’ Tyler Toffoli caught up with some of his former Canadiens teammates during the morning skate. Toffoli has 21-17-38 totals in 56 games, making this his sixth straight season with at least 20 goals.
The Sharks are Toffoli’s fourth team — along with the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets — since he helped the Canadiens advance to the Stanley Cup final in 2021. Toffoli, now 32, scored 28 goals for the Canadiens during the 2020-21 season.