The San Jose Sharks are in Montreal tonight with Macklin Celebrini, fresh off a 3-1 loss in Toronto on Monday. Martin St-Louis has made two changes of his own: Adam Engström is back on defense, and Jakub Dobeš gets the start in goal. The forwards do not change, and Owen Beck remains a healthy scratch. Here is what the coach announced, who is still hurt, and what to watch at the Bell Centre. Our full Lineup Tonight page has the stats for every player.

Engström Replaces Reinbacher on the Third Pair

Engström returns to the lineup in place of David Reinbacher and will play on the third pair next to Arber Xhekaj. St-Louis was clear that nothing went wrong with Reinbacher, who played his one game this season in the win over Buffalo. The reason is about management: the coach does not want any player to sit out of the lineup for too long, so he is rotating the seventh defenseman.

That is a sensible approach. With Mike Matheson out, the Canadiens have seven healthy defensemen for six spots, so somebody has to sit, and a player who may be needed in an injury should have played recently. Engström has dressed in four games this season, with no points and a +2 rating, in about 11 minutes a night. On a third pair that is the whole job: simple, safe minutes that let Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson on the first pair and Kaiden Guhle and Alexandre Carrier on the second carry the heavier work.

Dobeš Gets the Net

St-Louis also confirmed that Dobeš starts tonight, and the timing matters. Dobeš has struggled in his last three starts: an overtime loss in Pittsburgh (six goals on 30 shots), a 6-4 home loss to Carolina (five goals on 32 shots) and a 5-4 loss in Washington (five goals on 24 shots). That is 16 goals on 86 shots, a .814 save percentage, and it pulled his season numbers down to 1-2-1, a 4.63 goals-against average and a .842 save percentage. He has not played since October 14. He did open the season with a win in Toronto, stopping 26 of 28 shots.

The coach explained that he does not want a goaltender to stay off the ice for too long. The next game is Friday in Chicago, and if Jacob Fowler played tonight and Dobeš waited for Friday, he would go nine days between starts. St-Louis called it a normal decision and added that the goaltending coach was part of the choice. From a hockey point of view, it makes sense. A goalie who is struggling usually needs game action more than he needs more practice time. A busy first period, a few clean saves and a quiet bench behind him can reset the confidence faster than any drill. If you want the bigger picture, read our look at the goaltending situation and the Tuesday report on how the team is trending.

Fowler is 3-1-0 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.16 goals-against average, and he made 23 saves on 26 shots in the overtime win over Buffalo on Saturday. He is the backup tonight.

Tonight’s Lineup

The forwards stay the same, with the top line of Juraj Slafkovský, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield intact. The full lines for tonight’s game, with every player’s stats, are on our Lineup page.

Group	Players
Line 1	Slafkovský – Suzuki – Caufield
Line 2	Kreider – Newhook – Anderson
Line 3	Texier – Danault – Bolduc
Line 4	Kapanen – Evans – Dach
Pair 1	Hutson – Dobson
Pair 2	Guhle – Carrier
Pair 3	Xhekaj – Engström
Goalies	Dobeš (starter), Fowler
Healthy scratches	Reinbacher, Beck

Injury Updates

Ivan Demidov and Samuel Montembeault have not skated yet this week. Florian Xhekaj skated on his own yesterday and again this morning.

There was some good news. Matheson skated solo yesterday with Xhekaj, and this morning he was back with the regular skaters. That is an important step, and there is a chance he rejoins the team on the road trip, in Chicago on Friday or Winnipeg on Sunday. He is officially day to day, and when he is healthy he plays more than 24 minutes a night, so getting him back would help the whole defense. The Injury Report page is updated with every change.

Tonight: Sharks at the Canadiens

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM ET at the Bell Centre, and the game is on TSN2 and RDS. The Canadiens are 4-3-1 and the Sharks are 4-4-1, and both teams have nine points.

Celebrini is the player to watch. The Sharks’ center has 11 points (3 goals and 8 assists) in seven games, and he had three points in the shootout loss in Detroit on Saturday. He was held off the score sheet in Toronto, though he put five shots on net. The Sharks lost that game 3-1 with Mason Marchment scoring their only goal; Yaroslav Askarov stopped 29 of 31 shots, and Toronto added an empty-net goal. San Jose scores 2.44 goals a game and allows 3.44. Its power play is clicking at 20.0%, but its penalty kill is at 77.4%.

That second number is an opening for a Canadiens power play that sits at 14.8% (4 for 27), so discipline matters on both sides. The history is a warning, though: Montreal is 5-5-0 against San Jose since the 2021-22 season, and just 1-4 at home. The Canadiens lost both meetings last March, 7-5 in San Jose and 4-2 at home. The plan for tonight is the same as always: stay out of the penalty box, protect the third period and let Dobeš settle in with a good first period.

Next up is Friday in Chicago, followed by Sunday in Winnipeg. The Lineup Tonight page is updated before every game, and you can check our Head to Head page and the schedule for the rest of the road trip.