When the Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche on
November 1st, it established the last time Colorado has lost this season. That
was more than 3 weeks ago, and Colorado didn't forget what the Sharks were
capable of. So they took that motivation and let San Jose know why they are the
best team in the NHL. When the smoke cleared, Colorado handed the Sharks a good
old fashioned spanking in a 6-0 win in Denver on Wednesday night.
From
the opening puck drop, Colorado was all over the Sharks. Their relentless speed
just overmatched a young Sharks lineup that is learning how to play with the
Avalanche effort and precision. The Sharks were late to reach a loose puck in
the neutral zone, allowing Ross Colton to grab it then race around the right
side before lifting a shot over Yaroslav Askarov's right shoulder for the first
goal of the game at 3:39 of the opening period.
Adam Gaudette earned
the game's first penalty, giving the Avalanche a power play at 12:30. San Jose
killed it, then just missed scoring when they broke out of their own end after
the penalty expired. Will Smith fed Macklin Celebrini with a long lead pass but
he was cut off by a Colorado defender. Celebrini did a 270 degree pivot to this
left before sending a blind backhand pass to a trailing Sam Dickinson. Former
Sharks goaltedner Mackenzie Blackwood denied Dickinson on what would have been
a highlight reel goal.
William Eklund took an interference penalty
late in the period to setup a back breaking goal. The NHL point leader Nathan
MacKinnon fired a shot past Askarov with 52.7 seconds left in the period to pad
Colorado's lead at 2-0.
I the Sharks thought they would power back in
the middle period, the Avalanche quickly put an end to that idea. They would
overwhelm the Sharks with 3 goals in a 76 second span that essentially put a
bow on the game.
Sam Malinski fired a relatively routine wrist shot
from the high slot that Askarov just missed. The puck sailed over the
goaltender's glove, catching the cross bar before reaching the twine in the
back of the goal.
Josh Manson sent a shot from the top of the left
circle at 4:51 to make it a 4-0 game. Like Malinski's goal, Askarov probably
should have made the save, but it wasn't the Russian netminder's night.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky immediately pulled Askarov and
replaced him with Alex Nedeljkovic. Colorado would respond by scoring on the
first shot Nedeljkovic would see. Colorado won the faceoff at center ice,
carried it into the Sharks zone, then used three passes to get the puck to Joel
Kiviranta who lifted a puck from 8 feet out past Nedeljkovic for the 5-0 lead.
Arturri Lehkonen added his 9th goal of the season at 16:15 of the 3rd
period to rub a little more salt in the wound.
Game
Notes: * Tyler Toffoli missed practice on Tuesday and the morning
skate on Wednesday as he dealt with an illness. The veteran forward did end of
suiting up for the game.
* The Sharks recalled defenseman Vincent
Iorio from the Barracuda as a precaution for Toffoli's situation. The
defenseman actually skated on a forward line in practice.
* The
Avalanche entered play with a league leading +38 goal differential. They would
end the game +43. The next best differential is the Dallas Stars who have a
+15. The sharks finished th evening a -9.
* Colorado moved to 9-0-2 on
home ice. San Jose fell to 4-6-0 on the road.
* There will be no
shortage of good hockey this holiday weekend. The Sharks will host Vancouver in
a matinee on Friday, then they will immediately head to Vegas for a game
against the Golden Knights on Saturday night. San Jose returns home for two
games at SAP center next and then hit the road for 5-game road trip. It will be
the first of three 5-game trips for San Jose this season.
