Kevin Labanc appeared to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 7:04 of the first period but the referees informed the Situation Room that prior to the puck entering Colorado's net, a minor penalty had been assessed to Timo Meier for high-sticking.
"I thought they had a good start," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We knew they were going to come hard here in their own building, but I thought we weathered the storm OK. First period, I think we finished with [six] shots (on goal) but we missed the net with 14 of them. It could have been a different period if we just had capitalized on some of the scoring chances or hit the net at least, give them a chance."
Jost scored at 17:01 of the second period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. After Jones, who made 21 saves, stopped J.T. Compher's shot, Brent Burns' clearing attempt went off the leg of Jost into the net for his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal (16 games).
Hertl tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal with 20 seconds remaining in the second, redirecting a shot by Logan Couture. San Jose had been 1-for-12 with the man-advantage in the series before the goal.
"I thought [Hertl] was a horse tonight," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "I thought him and Logan Couture were fantastic for us, and you need those two guys up the middle of the ice when you're playing a team like this. I thought they were both great from the face-off circle, all 200 feet of the ice, penalty killing ... and their minutes reflected that (Hertl, 24:01; Couture, 24:42)."
Colorado was 0-for-3 on the power play and took five minor penalties, allowing the power-play goal by Hertl.
"They worked. They outworked us, so they won the game," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "The power play, their penalty kill kind of slowed us down a little. We started to find our legs, but I felt they were more competitive than us tonight."
Sharks captain Joe Pavelski, who has missed the past five games since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of the first round, was at SAP Center and waived to the crowd in the third period. DeBoer did not rule him out for Game 6.
"I didn't know it was going to happen, but it gives you a chill type moment, that type of ovation," DeBoer said. "I think our coaching staff would give him the same ovation when we find out he's back."
