Avalanche Concludes Road Trip Against Sharks

The Colorado Avalanche takes on the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night to conclude a three-game road trip in California before ending the regular season at home on Saturday.
This is the third and final meeting between the clubs and the first outing in San Jose. Colorado is 2-0-0 against the Sharks this season after taking both contests in the Mile High City.

The Avalanche owns a 41-32-12 record against the Sharks since 1995-96 and is 17-19-6 in San Jose during this time. This season, the Avs are 15-18-7 on the road and the Sharks have gone 24-12-3 at home.
Colorado is 42-29-9 this season and currently sits in the second Western Conference wild-card spot. San Jose has gone 44-26-10 this season and clinched a playoff berth on Monday.

Last Time Out

The Colorado Avalanche fell to the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Monday. The Kings scored twice in the first period before Avs rookie Alexander Kerfoot got Colorado on the scoreboard in the middle stanza. The Kings found the back of the net two minutes into the final frame to close out the scoring of the match. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves in the loss.
The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday despite having a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. Dallas found the back of the net in the final minute of the second period and tallied three markers in the final frame to take the win. San Jose defenseman Brent Burns had two assists in the loss and Sharks netminder Martin Jones stopped 19-of-22 shots he faced.

Last Time They Met

The Avalanche defeated the Sharks 3-1 on February 6 at Pepsi Center in the second matchup between the clubs this campaign. After a scoreless first stanza, Gabriel Bourque and Tyson Jost scored in the first five minutes of the second period to give Colorado the lead. The Avalanche held onto a 2-1 advantage in the third frame and J.T. Compher secured the win with an empty-net tally.

What To Watch

Special Teams
San Jose has the number one penalty-kill unit in the league this season, denying opponent's man-advantage situations 85.1 percent of the time and Colorado's penalty-kill is ranked third in the league (83.8 percent). The Avalanche lead the NHL in power-play opportunities with 292, 20 ahead of the next club (Tampa Bay Lightning, 272). The Avs tallied their 63rd goal on the man-advantage on Monday, tied for the third most in the league.
Finding The Back Of The Net
Though tallies are harder than normal to come by at this point in the season, Colorado is tied for ninth in the league with goals scored (248) and third in the NHL with 57 power-play goals. San Jose is 22nd in goals allowed after giving up 218 tallies this season.

Players To Watch

Colorado: Right Wing Sven Andrighetto
Sven Andrighetto has put up 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 48 games this season, including nine power-play points. After missing some time due to a lower-body injury, he has produced three points in the Avs' last three games, including the second multi-goal game of his NHL career on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
San Jose: Left Wing Evander Kane
In 16 contests since left wing Evander Kane was acquired by the Sharks, he is tied for second in team scoring with 14 points (nine goals, five assists). Colorado has yet to face Kane in a San Jose sweater, but the forward has notched two tallies in two contests against the Avs with the Buffalo Sabres this season.

The Details

Thursday night's game between the Avalanche and Sharks begins at 8:30 p.m. MT. The contest can be watched live on Altitude TV and the radio broadcast is available on Altitude Sports Radio AM950.