Avs Return Home To Face Sharks

The Colorado Avalanche will take on the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday in the second contest of a three-game series between the clubs during the 2017-18 campaign.
Colorado will hit the ice at Pepsi Center for its first home contest since Jan. 20. The Avalanche concluded its season-long, six-game road trip on Saturday in Winnipeg, earning five points over the duration of the trip and improving its overall record to 28-19-4. Tuesday will close out a chain of five straight road outings for San Jose, as the Sharks sit at 28-16-8 on the season and have a 14-9-5 mark as the visiting team.

Colorado owns a 40-32-12 record against San Jose since 1995-96 and has gone 23-13-6 at home during this time.
The clubs close out their season series with their second-to-last game of the campaign on April 5.

Last Time Out

The Colorado Avalanche fell 3-0 to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday as Semyon Varlamov made his first start between the pipes since suffering a lower-body injury on Jan. 2. Winnipeg netted a power-play goal in the first period, and both teams were held scoreless in the second frame. The Jets found the back of the net twice in the third period, including an empty-net goal in the final 20 seconds. Varlamov made 29 saves in the loss and earned the third star of the match.
The San Jose Sharks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 on Sunday in the club's fourth straight game away from home. Timo Meier and Chris Tierney each found the back of the net in the first 20 minutes as the Sharks took a 2-1 advantage going into the first intermission. Brent Burns extended the lead with the last marker of the match 2:03 into the second period.

Last Time They Met

Colorado hosted the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 18 in the first meeting between the clubs this season. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice within one minute and Carl Soderberg registered a tally in a three-goal opening period for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen lit the lamp at the 1:34 mark of the second frame to help the Avs to take a 4-1 after 40 minutes of play. San Jose recorded two markers in the first five minutes of the final stanza to cut the deficit to one until Matt Nieto found the back of the net late for Colorado to secure a 5-3 victory.

What To Watch

Homecoming
The Avalanche returns to Pepsi Center for the first of three, one-game homestays in February. Colorado is on a record-long, eight-game winning streak at Pepsi Center, tying the most home wins in a row since the team relocated to Denver. The Avs have not lost at home since Dec. 27 and look to capitalize while in the friendly confines of the Mile High City.
"It's a big game. We are only playing one at home and then go on the road for another three," said rookie Alexander Kerfoot of Tuesday's outing. "Every game from now on is critical."
The Avs are in a stretch of playing 13-of-16 on the road.
Special Teams Test
Colorado's penalty kill, ranked third in the league, will be matched up with San Jose's fourth-ranked, power-play unit that has converted 23.7 percent of its opportunities. The Avalanche's home PK remains first in the league, holding its opponent scoreless on 91.7 percent of Colorado's short-handed situations.
Putting the Puck on Net
Colorado is sixth in the league in goals per game, averaging 3.20, but the squad could get more shots on net after averaging 29.9 per contest. Saturday was only the second time this season where the Avs were unable to find the back of the net over 60 minutes. Though the club registered 25 shots on goal, it did not lack scoring chances.
"We had a few good opportunities to score some goals and most of them, to be honest, we didn't even make them make a save," head coach Jared Bednar said after the game on Saturday. "We missed the net on a couple of our best chances."

Player To Watch

Colorado: Left Wing Matt Nieto
Matt Nieto has recorded 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 43 contests this campaign. The left wing needs two points to reach the 100-point milestone in his NHL career. He has two points (goal and assist) in three career games against San Jose, the team that drafted him No. 47 overall in 2011.
San Jose: Defenseman Brent Burns
Brent Burns is second in the league in defenseman scoring with 44 points and in blueliner assists with 35. Burns leads San Jose in points, assists and time on ice, averaging 25:13 per game. The 2018 NHL All-Star has 11 points (two goals and nine assists) in his last 10 outings, which included a seven-game point streak (one goal and eight assists) from Jan. 16-30.

Lineup Notes

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier will make his 26th start of the season on Tuesday. Forward Mikko Rantanen is questionable as he did not skate with the team in practice on Monday, being given a maintenance day instead.

The Details

Tuesday's tilt between the Avs and the Sharks is set for 7 p.m. MT. The game will be televised locally on Altitude and the radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.