Statistically, the San Jose Sharks have the worst record of any team in the National Hockey League, but that didn't happen too often Thursday night at the Bell Center…

Against the players of the Montreal Canadiens, who often appeared disorganized in two and a half games, the Sharks won 3-2 and thus ended a series of twelve defeats.

Depending on the game situation, the Habs defense (17-18-6, 40 points) was as porous in coverage as it was sluggish when leaving the zone. All of the Sharks' goals (10-29-3, 23 points) were registered directly from the enclave against a Samuel Montembeault who could do nothing about it.

While the first goal (Luke Kunin, 6th) was the result of a capricious puck jump at the expense of defender Jayden Struble, the second (Fabian Zetterlund, 12th) was directly attributable to poor positioning – three Canadian players behind on the goal line – and the last (Nikita Okhotiuk, 1st) was scored due to poor marking by Jake Evans. Struble and Jordan Harris had a particularly difficult evening.

Brendan Gallagher (7th goal) and Mike Matheson (7th) – 6 on 5 at the end of the third period – scored the Habs' goals. Montembeault faced 35 pucks while Mackenzie Blackwood, who held off Josh Anderson and Nick Suzuki on breakaway attempts and shined against Cole Caufield in the final seconds of the game, stopped 34 shots.

The Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre.

Bad target

Even if you play against a team that is less good than yours, you still shouldn't give a gift…

That's what defenseman Jayden Struble did when he was caught off guard by a bad puck bounce in the corner that landed right on Luke Kunin's stick, all alone in front of Samuel Montembeault. The Sharks player didn't miss such a chance with 5:19 left.

The Canadians had a great chance to equalize when Josh Anderson appeared alone in front of goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood, but he blocked his backhand shot.

The Sharks doubled the lead with a goal very similar to the first at 17:25, when Fabian Zetterlund shot without hesitation from the slot after receiving a pass behind the net from Montembeault.

Things started to heat up for the Canadiens, who responded 21 seconds later when Brendan Gallagher scored and returned to the locker room trailing by just one goal.