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 Sharks forwards Chris Tierney, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and
John Scott scored in the third period, and San Jose beat the
Avalanche 5-1. San Jose defenseman Scott Hannan supplied the only
offense for both teams with a late second-period tally.
While the win moved San Jose (38-30-9) within five points of the
idle Winnipeg Jets, who hold the second wild-card position in the
Western Conference, the Avalanche remained 13th in the West with 82
points. Colorado (35-30-12) could achieve 92 points by winning each
of its last five games, but it would need a lot of help to catch the
Calgary Flames (91) or Winnipeg (90) while needing to pass four
other teams in between.
"We're not happy with the result," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said,
"but I thought we competed well enough to be in that game. But we
just want to make sure we continue to play. Every time you're going
on the ice and wearing that logo, you have to wear it with pride."
The Sharks, in a desperate race of their own, hope gaining points in
four straight games (3-0-1) is the start of something big. San Jose
has five games remaining, all against teams currently not holding a
playoff spot. They need to pass two teams to qualify for the
postseason for an 11th consecutive season.
"Hopefully we can get a few more wins here and make it interesting,"
Scott said.
The Sharks had to be patient against the Avalanche as both teams
played safe at the outset.
"It was such an emotional road trip with the ups and downs," Scott
said of San Jose's recently completed 3-3-1 jaunt to the East.
"Tonight we came home, and it felt it took a while to get into it, I
think. Once the second and third (periods) came around, we dictated
play."
The game was scoreless deep into the second period before the hosts
broke through following an icing by Colorado left wing Cody McLeod.
After winning an offensive-zone draw, the Sharks worked the puck to
Brent Burns at the point, and the defenseman had two shot attempts
blocked before connecting with defense partner Scott Hannan, who
tipped the puck past Calgary goalie Reto Berra (25 saves).
Hannan's second goal in 58 games this season came at 16:35 on San
Jose's 18th shot of the game.
"Until they scored the first goal, I thought we were right there
with them," Roy said.
Tierney made it 2-0 at 8:01 of the third with a put-back effort.
However, when Colorado center Matt Duchene snapped Alex Stalock's
shutout bid with a power-play goal at 8:54, the Sharks were looking
for a response.
Marleau provided just that with his 18th of the season. He snapped a
Couture centering feed past Berra for No. 455 of his career, tying
him with Theo Fleury at 55th on the all-time goal list.
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"It was the response right after they scored," Sharks coach Todd
McLellan said of the key for his team. "His linemates did a good job
of keeping that forecheck alive, and then finding Patty in the slot
for the third goal, that basically made the difference in the
night."
Duchene said, "That was unfortunate. I think the most important
shifts in a game are the beginning of the period, end of the period
and right after a goal, and you can see why. You build some momentum
after a goal. It's too bad they were able to come right back and
score that one."
Couture and Scott then added empty-net goals at 15:55 and 16:28
respectively to support Stalock, who stopped 19 of 20 shots during
his third consecutive start.
The only downer for the Sharks was losing the services of Hannan at
8:26 of the final period when he was struck in the left eye by a
puck off the stick of defense partner Burns.
NOTES: Colorado D Brad Stuart made his first return to San Jose
after leaving the Sharks last summer via free agency. Stuart,
originally drafted third overall by San Jose in 1998, has had two
stints with the Sharks. ... Colorado caps a brief three-game West
Coast trip with stops in Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on
Saturday. ... San Jose next hosts Arizona on Friday during the first
of a home-and-home series against the Coyotes. ... San Jose played a
second straight game without D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who suffered a
lower-body injury late on the team's seven-game road trip and is
day-to-day. ... Former Sharks C Freddie Hamilton has one goal in 13
games with the Avalanche after a trade-deadline deal between the
teams.
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