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10:00 P.M: Sharks Can Eliminate Avalanche, Advance To Semifinals With Win In Game 6
Denver (Sports Network) - The top-seeded San Jose Sharks will try to close out their Western Conference quarterfinal series with a third straight win tonight, when they visit the Colorado Avalanche for Game 6 at Pepsi Center.
The Sharks were down two games to one in this best-of-seven series and seemed to be in danger of losing to an eighth seed in the first round for the second straight year. However, San Jose has regrouped for consecutive wins to take a 3-2 series lead and can advance to the conference semifinals with a road win tonight.
After notching a 2-1 overtime win in Colorado on Tuesday, the Sharks recorded a 5-0 blowout victory in Thursday’s home game against the Avalanche. The dominant Game 5 performance marked the first time in this series that a contest was decided by more than one goal.
Meanwhile, the eighth-seeded Avalanche will try to bounce back tonight and avoid their first opening-round exit since 2003, when they lost in seven games to Minnesota. The Avalanche are trying to become the third eight seed in five seasons to knock off a top-seeded club.
Rookie center Logan Couture paced San Jose's offense with a pair of goals, while Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves in the Sharks lopsided victory on Thursday. Nabokov posted his seventh career playoff shutout to help give San Jose its first lead of the series
Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, while Dwight Helminen and Joe Pavelski also lit the lamp for San Jose.
“Let’s not make any conclusion, we still have one game to win,” Nabokov said. “This was a great game, but we’re probably going to face the toughest night in the next one. We have to be ready.”
Last year, San Jose entered the playoffs fresh off a 117-point season that netted them the Presidents' Trophy and high expectations, but the Sharks dropped the first two games against the Anaheim Ducks and wound up losing the series in six.
Colorado's Craig Anderson turned aside 29-of-33 shots before being pulled late in the third period for Peter Budaj, who made three saves. Anderson had stopped 94-of-96 shots in the previous two games combined before getting touched up for four goals on Thursday.
“Each game has picked up, the pace of the game,” Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco said. “The intensity of the game has picked up. This time of the year you have to find a way to battle through it.”
Avs winger Milan Hejduk will miss his third straight game tonight with an upper-body injury suffered when he collided with teammate Paul Stastny in Game 3.
Colorado forward Peter Mueller is back skating with the club, but is still doubtful for tonight's game. He hasn't played since suffering a concussion on April 4 versus the Sharks on a hit by San Jose's Rob Blake. Mueller revived his young career after getting traded from Phoenix to Colorado at the deadline, posting nine goals and 20 points in 15 games after the trade as opposed to four goals and 17 points in 54 games before it.
Defenseman Niclas Wallin (lower body) and winger Jed Ortmeyer (undisclosed) are questionable for tonight's game for the Sharks.
The Sharks and Avs are meeting in the postseason for the fourth time, with the last matchup coming in 2004. The Sharks won that series, 4-2, in the semifinals before losing in six games to the Flames in the conference finals.
The Avs were 24-14-3 as the home team during the regular season, while the Sharks had a strong 24-14-3 road record.
If necessary, Game 7 is scheduled for Monday in San Jose.
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