Rookie Recap: Avalanche 7, Sharks 4

The Colorado Avalanche finished the 2021 Arizona Rookie Faceoff with a 7-4 win against the San Jose Sharks on Monday morning at Ice Den Scottsdale.
Alex Beaucage, who was picked by Colorado in the third round at No. 78 overall at the 2019 NHL Draft, recorded the first goal for the Avs at 10:13 of the opening period and forward Andreas Wingerli extended the lead 3:38 into the middle frame.
San Jose then scored four unanswered goals with two tallies from Ozzy Wiesblatt and one each from forwards Kyle Topping and Timur Ibragimov. Defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous cut the Avalanche's deficit to 4-3 before the second intermission.

Nick Henry made his tournament debut after practicing in a non-contact jersey at Colorado's development camp and knotted the contest at 4-4 shortly after a power-play chance expired.
Wingerli, who was playing in his second game of the tournament, tallied his second of the outing while Colorado was on the penalty kill at 17:37 of the third and the marker stood as the eventual game-winner.
"It was a bit of a struggle from the start, just a lot of new things," Wingerli said of the tournament. "Smaller ice, totally different hockey than in Sweden. So, it's an adjustment. It's a totally new system I'm going to play out there too. I felt I'm starting to get into it during the first game and during my second game today it felt way better. I can play more my game and start to get comfortable to the other things."
Benjamin Tardif and Jean-Luc Foudy each scored into an empty net to secure the victory.
Defenseman Justin Barron, selected by the Avs with the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, played in all three of Colorado's exhibition matchups at the tournament and finished the contest against San Jose with two assists.
"I thought there was definitely some progression in my game, I thought I got better as the tournament went on," said Barron. "I got a little bit more comfortable. It was a long off season so obviously that takes a little bit of time. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the tournament, it was nice for us to get out of here with a win with that group."
The Avalanche concluded the tournament with a 2-1-0 record. The team opened the prospect showcase with a 4-0 loss on Friday against the Los Angeles Kings and earned a 5-4 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon.
The rookies will head back to Colorado and will get the next two days to recover and get ready for NHL training camp. Avs veterans report to camp for medical and physical testing Wednesday before on-ice practices begin on Thursday at Family Sports Center.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
58 Matthew Boucher - 93 Jean-Luc Foudy - 27 Oskar Olausson
68 Callahan Burke - 93 Andreas Wingerli - 74 Alex Beaucage
64 Benjamin Tardif - 53 Jack O'Brien - 57 Tarun Fizer
54 Matej Kaslik - 51 Ryan Hofer - 70 Nick Henry
45 Charle-Edouard D'Astous - 72 Justin Barron
47 Graham Sward - 84 Nate Clurman
62 Mitchell Smith - 55 Rhett Rhinehart
42 Peyton Jones
60 Justus Annunen

Colorado Avalanche 7 vs. San Jose Sharks 4 - FINAL

Monday, September 20, 2021 - Ice Den Scottsdale
Goals by Period
Anaheim 0 4 0 - 4
Colorado 1 2 4 - 7
1st Period-1, Colorado, Beaucage 1 (Wingerli), 10:13. Penalties-Sward Col (holding), 20:00.
2nd Period-2, Colorado, Wingerli 1 (Barron, Kaslik), 3:38. 3, San Jose, Wiesblatt 1 (Hatakka, Cardwell), 7:34. 4, San Jose, Topping 1 (Biakabutuka, Raska), 10:15. 5, San Jose, Wiesblatt 2 (Merkley, Reedy), 11:30. 6, San Jose, Ibragimov 1 (Topping, Laroque), 17:34 (SH). 7, Colorado, D'Astous 1 (Boucher), 18:33. Penalties-Clurman Col (tripping), 12:49.
3rd Period-8, Colorado, Henry 1 (Foudy, Sward), 6:14. 9, Colorado, Wingerli 2 (Burke, Barron), 17:37 (SH). 10, Colorado, Tardif 1 (D'Astous), 18:50 (EN). 10, Colorado, Foudy 1 (Boucher), 19:49 (EN). Penalties-O'Brien Col (goaltender interference), 2:20; Coe Sjs (cross-checking), 4:08. Burke Col (fighting), 8:42; Raska Sjs (fighting), 8:42; Laroque Sjs (tripping), 11:25; Topping Sjs (hooking), 11:41; D'Astous Col (cross-checking), 16:32.
Shots on Goal-San Jose - 25. Colorado - 41.