Sharks 2, Canadiens 0
MONTREAL -- Antti Niemi made 22 saves for his second shutout and Logan Couture scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Niemi recorded his 25th career shutout, his second in three games. He stopped 24 shots in a 1-0 shootout win in Detroit on Monday.
Patrick Marleau assisted on both goals as San Jose claimed its first win at the Bell Centre since Dec. 17, 2002.
Couture opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the second. He added his second of the game into a wide open net 4:09 into the third. Montreal goalie Carey Price was caught behind the net when Marleau's dump-in slap shot took an odd bounce off the corner glass and caromed in front.
Price made 33 saves for the Canadiens, who lost three of four to close out a 2-3-0 homestand.
The Sharks bounced back from their first regulation loss Thursday night in Boston to improve to 9-1-1.
Couture redirected Joe Thornton's pass into the left side of the net for his fifth goal 6:20 into the second to put San Jose up 1-0.
Price made a spectacular glove save on Brad Stuart's slap shot with 15.5 seconds left in the second.
Marleau got his second assist of the game when his dump-in took a crazy bounce
Montreal's Travis Moen left the game bleeding heavily from a cut to the face midway through the third. He did not return.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien used his timeout at 7:48 of the middle period. Sharks coach Todd McLellan used his timeout at 14:41 of the third.
NOTES: Sharks RW Brent Burns missed his third straight game and will also be out for Sunday's game in Ottawa. Burns did not make the trip to Montreal. He returned to San Jose from Boston for further evaluation of a mouth injury he suffered a week ago in a 6-3 win over Calgary. ... RW Mike Brown was left out of San Jose's lineup after making his Sharks debut Thursday against the Bruins. He was acquired from Edmonton on Monday in exchange for San Jose's fourth round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. Brown has 19 penalty minutes, all as a member of the Oilers, and no points in nine games this season. ... It was San Jose's first game at the Bell Centre since Dec. 4, 2010, a 3-1 win for Montreal on the Canadiens' 101st anniversary. ... D Greg Pateryn was left out of Montreal's lineup. ... Injured Canadiens include RW Daniel Briere and RW George Parros (concussion), LW Brandon Prust (shoulder), LW Max Pacioretty (hamstring), D Alexei Emelin (knee), D Davis Drewiske (shoulder) and D Douglas Murray (upper body).
