Kahkonen made 28 saves in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Canadiens.
After coughing up 11 goals over his prior two starts, the 26-year-old netminder turned things around in impressive fashion in his first shutout of the season, denying a couple Montreal rushes in the first period and closing the door during a 5-on-3 Habs power play in the third until the Sharks could finally break open a 1-0 game. Kahkonen will hold down the crease for San Jose while James Reimer (lower body) is on the shelf with some help from Aaron Dell, but he'll need to be more consistent if he wants to push for the top job on a more permanent basis.