Canadiens at Sharks preview

CANADIENS (36-24-7) at SHARKS (39-19-8)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, RDS, TSN2, ESPN+, NHL.TV

The Sharks, who haven't lost at home to Montreal since Nov. 23, 1999 (3-2 in overtime), are in second place in the Pacific Division and trail the Calgary Flames by three points. San Jose has won two straight games and is 11-3-1 in its past 15.
Goalie Antti Niemi will start for the Canadiens. Niemi went 163-92-35 in five seasons with the Sharks from 2010-15. Starter Carey Price, who tied Jacques Plante for the most wins (314) by a goalie in Montreal history with a 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, has started the past 15 games.
Montreal holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and is two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canadiens are tied in points (79) with the Pittsburgh Penguins who hold the first wild card.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has a four-game goal streak.
Sharks center Joe Thornton needs two points to tie Stan Mikita (1,467) for 14th on the NHL's all-time point list.

They said it

"I think Carey has earned a night off. I think Niemi has worked hard. We need to lean on him tonight to get us a win." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien on Antti Niemi start in place of Carey Price
"They've beat some good teams and they're fighting for (playoff) position. We expect a big effort from them. " -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski on the Canadiens

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Jonathan Drouin -- Jordan Weal -- Joel Armia
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nate Thompson -- Dale Weise
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Jordie Benn -- Christian Folin
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Antti Niemi
Carey Price
Scratched:Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca
Injured: None

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi -- Tomas Hertl -- Gustav Nyquist
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Micheal Haley -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Tim Heed
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Joakim Ryan, Lukas Radil, Dylan Gambrell
Injured:Erik Karlsson (groin), Evander Kane (undisclosed)

Status report

Thornton will play his 1,551st game and pass Alex Delvecchio for sole possession of 14th place on the NHL's all-time list.. … Erik Karlsson will miss his third straight game and has been ruled out against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. … Kane will miss his third straight game. … Pavelski and Burns, who each missed practice Wednesday with the flu, will play. ... Price will start against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

Stat pack

Domi doesn't have a point in his past three games after having 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his previous six games … Pavelski has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in his past 16 games.