Game Day - Canadiens @ Sharks

SAN JOSE - The Canadiens held an optional skate at the SAP Center in San Jose on Friday morning ahead of their game against the Sharks, who are currently on a two-game winning streak.

• Following the on-ice session, head coach Michel Therrien confirmed that Brian Flynn would make his return to the lineup on Friday night after being sidelined for nine games with an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old Massachusetts native last saw game action on November 10 against the Los Angeles Kings. With Flynn returning to active duty, Daniel Carr will be a healthy scratch.
  - Therrien also provided an update on the health status of both Charles Hudon and Nathan Beaulieu on Friday morning. The Canadiens' bench boss indicated that Hudon has started skating again after suffering a fractured sternum in practice on November 25. Beaulieu, meanwhile, met with specialists on Friday and has been cleared to begin skating as well. He took a puck to the throat area back on November 22 against the Ottawa Senators.

• Friday night's contest will be extra special for captain Max Pacioretty, whose ties to Northern California run deep. Pacioretty will have an estimated 15 family members in attendance at the SAP Center, including two very special ladies - his paternal grandmother, Therese, and his maternal grandmother, Guadalupe, both of whom call the Bay Area home.
  While Guadalupe has seen the Canadiens' No. 67 ply his trade in San Jose before, Therese, a Montreal native, will finally get to see her grandson play in person for the franchise she has long supported from afar.
  "It's really important to win tonight because both of my grandmas are coming. That's all I'm thinking about," said Pacioretty. "All of my family is from here. My parents grew up here. We're going to have a lot of people in the crowd. I think it's time to get a win for them."

• Key in picking up that all-important W - which would snap the Canadiens' nine-game losing streak in San Jose - will be using their quickness to their advantage to put Peter DeBoer's club on their collective heels. For their part, the Sharks are the league's top team on D, having given up just 2.08 goals against per game on the year, and they currently sit atop the Pacific Division with 29 points.
  "We've just got to worry about ourselves. We know what we're capable of doing when we play fast, I think, especially out West. It's tough for teams to keep up with us," explained Pacioretty. "We can't get caught in a shootout with a team like this. We want to play fast and make it hard on their defensemen."
  Phillip Danault shared similar thoughts following the optional skate in Silicon Valley.
  "We can't change the way we play," said Danault. "We have to keep using our speed. That's how we're going to beat them."
  - Carey Price will get the start in goal for the Canadiens looking to build upon his 13-2-1 record so far this season. The Sharks will counter with Martin Jones between the pipes.
  - Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on Sportsnet East and RDS, as well as on TSN Radio 690 and 98,5 fm.