Avalanche lose fifth straight, fall 3-2 to Sharks in OT

HIGHLIGHTS

GAME RUNDOWN

The Colorado Avalanche finished their California road trip with a stop in San Jose to face the Sharks while riding a 4-game losing streak. Despite a solid debut for rookie goalie Spencer Martin and good team play from the Avalanche in front of him, a few costly mistakes spoiled the Avs’ night and sent them skidding to their 5th consecutive loss.

The Avalanche came out playing with purpose in the early minutes of the game and beat Martin Jones with a shot in just the first few minutes, however, San Jose’s All-Star defenseman Brent Burns made a heroic play with the stick to save a sure goal just inches before crossing the goal line.

Unfortunately for Colorado, the San Jose Sharks took their first lead of the night shortly after, when Francois Beauchemin took a high sticking penalty in the defensive zone. On the ensuing power play, Nikita Zadorov and Patrick Wiercioch were caught chasing the same player into the corner before Joe Thornton found Joel Ward all alone in front of the net. Ward snuck the puck between Martin’s skate and the post as the young goalie gave up his first NHL goal.

The Avalanche didn’t fold or retreat after the early goal, however, and played strong possession hockey against the Sharks, outshooting them through the first two periods and creating a number of high-quality scoring chances. The Avalanche found an eventual equalizer when Nathan MacKinnon blew past the Sharks’ defense on the right side, tried to make a pass and Mikhail Grigorenko buried the loose puck on a broken play.

The Avalanche looked to have found a rhythm when a bad clearing attempt from Cody Goloubef led to another Sharks lead. After Spencer Martin missed the puck behind his net, Goloubef’s weak clearing attempt wound up on the stick of Ryan Carpenter, who fired a quick snap shot for Melker Karlsson to deflect past Martin. The Sharks controlled the final minutes of the second period and worked to close the shot gap the Avalanche had established over the first 35 minutes of the game, but despite some good chances, Martin kept the Avalanche deficit at 1.

The Avalanche came out flying in the third period with a flurry of early shots, including a hard line drive from Nikita Zadorov that pinged off the cross bar. The Avalanche couldn’t find the equalizer until Francois Beauchemin buried the puck on another broken play when MacKinnon and Grigorenko tried to connect in the San Jose slot a 2nd time. Beauchemin hammered the puck past Martin Jones to tie the game at 2.

The Avalanche forced the game to overtime where they entered the night with a perfect 5-0-1 record. Just over a minute into the overtime, Nathan MacKinnon took an ill-advised line change that left the Avalanche outnumbered down low. Logan Couture fired the puck on net but no one was there to clear out the rebound before David Schlemko beat Spencer Martin for the game winner.

THREE STARS

1. David Schlemko, OT GWG
2. Melker Karlsson, 1 Goal
3. Nathan MacKinnon, 1A, 7 SOG

PLAY OF THE GAME

Nathan MacKinnon threw on the afterburners to blow past the San Jose defense and create Mikhail Grigorenko’s goal for the Avalanche.

TURNING POINT

Francois Beauchemin’s game-tying goal early in the third period broke the Avalanche’s run of bad shooting luck after several minutes where Martin Jones looked unbeatable.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT’S NEXT

The Avalanche return home to the Pepsi Center for a rematch against these same San Jose Sharks on Monday at 7:00 p.m. MST.