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 Until the shootout.
Centers Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski ended 65 minutes of
frustration against Varlamov with a goal each in the shootout and
the Sharks beat the Avalanche 3-2 on Tuesday night.
"There's certain things guys like to do, and we finally made a
couple good shots to beat him," Pavelski said.
Antti Niemi made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, then two more
in a shootout. Defenseman Brett Burns and center Logan Couture
scored in regulation for the Sharks.
Varlamov made a season-high 49 saves but didn't stop either shot he
faced the shootout. Center Alex Tanguay and left winger Gabriel
Landeskog scored in regulation for Colorado (2-4-4).
Varlamov was nearly unbeatable before the shootout. He kept Colorado
in the game with several highlight-reel saves, including ones on
Marleau and Pavelski.
"Outstanding," Avalanche left winger Jamie McGinn said of Varlamov.
"We're leaving him out to dry, unacceptable. He stood on his head
just like last year, except we pulled out a couple wins and this
year we're not doing that. He's battling every night; it's amazing
what he's doing back there."
The Avalanche had a chance to end it when Marleau was called for
slashing at 3:55 of overtime. Niemi made a save on center Matt
Duchene just as the horn sounded.
"That was a big save, and it really did give us confidence going
forward," Niemi said.
Varlamov's strong play looked like it might pay off when Landeskog
gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with a sharp-angle shot 3:04 into the third
period. Couture answered two minutes later when he beat Varlamov
with a rebound shot from the slot.
"We got to loose pucks, we took the first shot," San Jose coach Todd
McLellan said. "When we got away from it they kind of took the game
over."
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy shuffled his lines during the first
period to find a spark. It finally worked with a short-handed goal
in the second after Varlamov made a sprawling save on Pavelski's
rebound shot.
Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson cleared the puck to the San Jose
blue line, but Burns turned it over trying to glove it. Tanguay
corralled it, went around Couture and beat Niemi high at 13:24 to
tie the game at 1.
Varlamov made several saves on San Jose's second power play of the
second period. He denied Marleau when the center tried to stuff it
in the corner, and he made another stop on center Joe Thornton's
one-timer in the slot.
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Marleau had a chance again with 6.2 seconds left in the second
period, but Varlamov stopped the mini-breakaway shot.
"I felt pretty good, but we need points right now," Varlamov said.
"Every point is very important. We want to win every game and there
is frustration, but I think we played a solid game. We had a couple
chances around the net. We played better hockey in the third period
and overtime, but we just couldn't score."
San Jose dominated the first period but led only 1-0 on Burns goal
at 9:23. The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 23-8 in the frame and had
17 of the 18 shots on goal at one point. The play of Varlamov and a
friendly post kept the game from getting away from Colorado.
San Jose center Tomas Hertl had several chances, including an open
net, but his backhander slid across the top of the crossbar.
"He was outstanding" Roy said of Varlamov. "He made some incredible
saves, especially in the first where we were struggling a lot. After
they took a 1-0 lead we just lost our focus. That part of the game
was not very pretty for us."
Duchene nearly tied it late in the first, but Niemi made a diving
glove save on his backhand shot with 1.5 seconds left.
NOTES: Avalanche D Erik Johnson was in the lineup after taking a hit
to the head during Sunday's loss in Winnipeg. Johnson left the Jets
game but took part in Monday's practice and Tuesday's morning skate.
... The Sharks assigned LW Tyler Kennedy to AHL Worcester for a
conditioning assignment. ... Colorado C Jesse Winchester took part
in non-contact drills in practice Monday and at Tuesday's morning
skate. He could make his Avalanche debut Thursday against the
Islanders. ... Avalanche LF Jamie McGinn and Sharks LW Tye McGinn
are brothers, and they played against each other for the first time
at any level.
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