MONTREAL _ The Sharks put forth their most dominant first period of the season Friday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
One thing's for sure: It'll never be forgotten by Timo Meier.
Meier's first NHL goal proved to be the winner for the Sharks, who stormed out to a three-goal lead and earned a 4-2 victory over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
David Schlemko and Patrick Marleau each scored power-play goals in the first period and goalie Martin Jones finished with 26 saves as the Sharks won their fourth straight overall and their third straight on this four-game road trip. They can sweep the trip Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks.
Melker Karlsson also scored for the Sharks, who improved to 9-7-1 on the road this season. Brian Flynn and Jeff Petry scored third-period goals for Montreal.
Meier's first NHL goal came with 6:42 to go in the first period on his first shot on goal. After a shot from Schlemko from just inside the blue line, Meier collected the rebound just outside the crease and tapped it past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price for a 3-0 Sharks lead.
Meier was behind the net when he knocked the puck off Phillip Danault's stick right to Joonas Donskoi, who sent it back to the blue line for Schlemko.
Per Elias Sports, the last Shark to score on his first shot in his NHL debut was Matt Carle on March 25, 2006 in a road game against the Minnesota Wild.
Meier, 20, started the game and played on a line with Donskoi and Chris Tierney. Meier was called up from the Barracuda on Thursday after he scored nine goals in his first 17 AHL games.
Schlemko scoring his first of the season 6:50 into the first period, getting a shot from inside the blue line past Price, who was being screened by Kevin Labanc.
Marleau then scored his eighth of the season.
Joe Thornton, stationed behind the Canadiens' net, waited for Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin to come toward him before he passed to Marleau, who snapped a shot past Price at the 9:00 mark of the first.
After Karlsson scored 6:44 into the second period, the Canadiens pulled Price, who stopped 14 of the first 18 Sharks shots before he was replaced by Al Montoya. It's the first time Price has been pulled from a game since Oct. 13, 2014.
It's the second time in two weeks Jones has outdueled Price. On Dec. 2 at SAP Center, Jones made 31 saves in the Sharks' 2-1 win over the Canadiens. Price had 28 saves.
