Sharks at Canadiens preview

SHARKS (3-5-1) at CANADIENS (4-3-2)
7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Goalie Aaron Dell will start for San Jose, which lost its first four games (0-4-0) and is 0-1-1 following a three-game winning streak.
Carey Price will start in goal for Montreal, which has outscored its opponents 12-6 while winning two of its past three games (2-1-0).
Price is 3-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against-average, a .922 save percentage and one shutout in his past four starts.

Players to watch

Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has seven points (one goal, six assists) during a five-game point streak.
Canadiens forward Max Domi has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak.

They said it

"Our game's heading the right way and we've got great leadership in that room, always have in my time there. So it's a work in progress but we're going in the right direction." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"They have a combination of size and skill, and they have some guys that can really put the puck in the net. They have some guys that can wear you down so it's a little bit of everything and we have to make sure we're playing our game tonight." -- Canadiens forward Nate Thompson

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Patrick Marleau
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow -- Joe Thornton -- Noah Gregor
Marcus Sorensen -- Dylan Gambrell -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro -- Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched:Lukas Radil, Jonny Brodzinski, Trevor Carrick
Injured: Jake Middleton (left shoulder), Dalton Prout (upper body), Radim Simek (knee)

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Paul Byron -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Artturi Lehkonen
Nick Cousins -- Nate Thompson - Nick Suzuki
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Ben Chiarot -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Jordan Weal, Mike Reilly, Christian Folin
Injured: None

Status report

Jones will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Friday. … Armia (lower body) took part in an optional morning skate. Canadiens coach Claude Julien said Tatar (foot) skated earlier and there's a good chance each will be available to play.

Stat pack

Hertl has six points (three goals, three assists) in the past four games. … Couture has seven points (one goal, six assists) in the past seven games. … Gallagher has six points (three goals, three assists) in the past five games. … Danault has three points (two goals, one assist) in the past two games.