At the Rink: Canadiens at Sharks

SAN JOSE - Backup goaltender Alex Stalock will make his first start since Feb. 17 when the San Jose Sharks try to end their eight-game home losing streak Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, the top team in the Eastern Conference.

"I think enough worrying about other teams," Stalock said after the Sharks' morning skate. "Obviously they've got a good team but it's what's in this room. It's what we do. That's going to be the difference tonight, what we bring, what we offer. That's from the goalie out."

The Sharks had a players-only gathering away from the rink Sunday, their latest attempt to break out of their slump.

"Obviously we're trying to push in the right direction," Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said. "The bottom line is guys are getting together and understanding where we're at. We've been pushing. We understand we need to bring it and produce.

"We're going to keep working. When you're going through something like this you're going to keep working, knock down some doors, and figure it out and come together as a group. That's what we're looking for."

Here are the projected lineups:

CANADIENS

Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher

Lars Eller - Tomas Plekanec - Alex Galchenyuk

Brandon Prust - Jacob De La Rose - Devante Smith-Pelly

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau - Manny Malhotra - Dale Weise

Andrei Markov - P.K. Subban

Nathan Beaulieu - Tom Gilbert

Sergei Gonchar - Jeff Petry

Carey Price

Dustin Tokarski

Scratched: Mike Weaver

Injured: Alexei Emelin (upper body)

SHARKS

Melker Karlsson - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski

Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Matt Nieto

Tommy Wingels - Ben Smith - Tomas Hertl

John Scott - Chris Tierney - Barclay Goodrow

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon - Justin Braun

Matt Irwin - Scott Hannan

Alex Stalock

Antti Niemi

Scratched: Mirco Mueller

Injured: Raffi Torres (knee), Mike Brown (right leg)

Status report: The Sharks recalled Tierney from Worcester of the American Hockey League and acquired Smith from the Chicago Blackhawks in a trade for forward Andrew Desjardins. Tierney and Smith are expected to arrive in San Jose in time to play against Montreal, according to Sharks coach Todd McLellan,. ... Forward Tye McGinn, who was waived by San Jose on Sunday, was claimed by the Arizona Coyotes. ... Petry, acquired by Montreal from the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, is expected to be in the lineup and make his Canadiens debut. ... Forwards Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn, two other NHL Trade Deadline acquisitions by Montreal, are expected to fly to Los Angeles, where the Canadiens will play the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. ... Defenseman Greg Pateryn and forward Michael Bournival were sent to Hamilton of the AHL.

Who's hot: Gallagher has a five-game point streak (4-4-8). ... Markov has a four-game point streak (1-5-6). ... Subban has five assists and one goal in his past three games. ... Marleau has a two-game goal streak. ... Irwin has a goal and an assist in his past two games.