The Montreal Canadiens and San Jose Sharks meet in a battle of two teams in all-too-familiar positions. The Canadiens have lost five games in a row and sit with a 4-5-1 record over their last ten games. Meanwhile, the Sharks have lost eight of their last ten and are in a great position to have the best odds at the NHL Draft Lottery this season. The Canadiens aren't sitting as low as they usually do, but if they continue trending in the direction they are, it could be a long final 30 games.
How to Watch Montreal Canadiens vs. San Jose Sharks
Date: Tuesday, February 4th
Time: 10:30 PM ET / 7:30 PM PT
Venue: SAP Center
How to Watch: TSN2, RDS, NBC Sports California, FuboTV
It might be too early to start checking out draft boards in favour of playoff matchups for the Canadiens, but it isn't looking good. It took the Canadiens two months to build back up to a spot where they were in a playoff spot. However, they are now six points back of the second wild-card again with just 30 games remaining. They do have a game in hand over the teams in front of them, but they also have to pass four other teams on the way to the spot.
The Canadiens' offense has been letting them down over their recent poor stretch, notably players like Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach. Nick Suzuki is the leading scorer over the past five games with just one goal and three assists, while no player has more than one goal over that span. The Canadiens' goaltenders can be as good as they want, if the offense doesn't pick it up, Montreal doesn't have a shot at getting back into playoff contention.
It was a bad scene when the Canadiens lost to the Anaheim Ducks in their last game, and a back-to-back loss to the Sharks will be the final nail in the proverbial coffin.