Colorado looks at home in victory
The Sharks knew it wasn’t going to be easy. And the Avalanche made sure it wasn’t.
Colorado responded to Monday’s humbling loss with a 40 win at SAP Center on Wednesday night. The result falls right in line with what often happens when teams play consecutive games during this most unique NHL regular season.
Forced to take precautions to combat the COVID19 pandemic and have a season, the league reconfigured a shortened schedule (56 games) to have teams play each other in sets of two, three and even four games at a time to reduce travel and risk of catching the virus.
San Jose has played the same opponent in consecutive games eight times, and has ended with a split seven times. The only nonsplit was two losses in late January in Denver, coincidentally against the Avalanche.
The Sharks played probably their most impressive game of the season Monday night during a 62 win over the Avs, who held a team meeting following Wednesday’s morning skate to address a recent stretch of inconsistent play. A preseason Stanley Cup contender, Colorado came into
Wednesday’s game in fourth place in the West.
“I didn’t think we played our best in the first two periods, and we had more to give,” Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said. “We couldn’t get it done in the third. Give them credit, they turned it up and we knew they would.”
San Jose stuck with the fastmoving Avalanche for the better part of two periods before Colorado’s top line struck for the only goal of the first 40 minutes.
Mikko Rantanen scored with a onetime blast from the edge of the right circle that beat goalie Martin Jones at 14:24. Nathan MacKinnon fed Rantanen to cap a long offensivezone cycle.
Colorado’s top offensive threat wasn’t done as the line connected again at 5:29 of the third to make it 20 when Samuel Girard stepped into a slap shot from the high slot.
“I think the second goal took a little wind out of our sails,” Boughner said.
Not long after young Sharks forward Joachim Blichfeld was assessed a match penalty for a shouldertothehead blow on MacKinnon. Making his season debut, Blichfeld was skating off for a change when he caught MacKinnon with his head down. The Avs’ center lay on the ice for a short time, went to the locker room once back on his feet and did not return.
“Everything happens so fast out there, and I know the refs have a chance to review it,” Boughner said.
Colorado scored 16 seconds into the fiveminute power play as Gabriel Landeskog recorded his sixth in close at 8:23. Rantenan capped a fourpoint night with his second goal at 14:34, and Philipp Grubauer (26 saves) shut out the Sharks for the second time this season.
“I think we defended fairly well,” Jones said. “We didn’t have that edge, that intensity we needed to play with those guys.”
Blichfeld was inserted with the hopes of bringing more offensive firepower to the team’s fourth line.
“He’s another young guy who had a good camp,” Boughner said of Blichfeld. “He’s got some good grit to his game, good hands. He shoots the puck well.”