Avalanche top Sharks for eighth win in row

DENVER -- Jonathan Bernier made 45 saves, and Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist to help the Colorado Avalanche hold off the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at Pepsi Center on Thursday for their eighth consecutive win.
It's their longest streak since winning eight from Dec. 31, 2005-Jan. 17, 2006, the third longest in Avalanche history. They've also won seven in a row at home.

"It could have been a lot easier, to be honest," said Bernier, who has won seven in a row and made 24 saves when the Avalanche killed all seven Sharks power plays. "We didn't stick to our game plan, we tried to be fancy a little bit when we got the lead."
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Avalanche highlights]
Carl Soderberg, Mikko Rantanen and Matt Nieto also scored for the Avalanche (25-16-3), who have gone 13-3-1 in their past 17 games.
After seeing their lead slip from 4-0 to 4-3, Nieto tipped Blake Comeau's pass behind goalie Martin Jones (17 saves) with 3:14 remaining in the third period for a 5-3 lead. It was his ninth goal.
"It was nice to get that insurance goal," Nieto said. "I just drove to the net, he threw it there and it was kind of a lucky tip. It wasn't an easy game, but we found a way."
Timo Meier, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks (24-14-6), whose winning streak ended at three.
"We had probably three, four Grade-A chances to tie it up," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "You have to give their goalie some credit. He made some big saves in the third. I don't think it was too deep of a hole. We had a legit chance to tie it.

"We battled to the end, but you don't get points in the standings for that. We've got a group that doesn't lay down in those situations, at least in the time I've been here. Take a lot of pride in that."
Rantanen scored at 1:34 of the second period to give the Avalanche a 4-0 lead. Mark Barberio took a shot that hit MacKinnon before Rantanen tipped it between Jones' legs for his 16th goal.
The Sharks pulled to 4-3 on goals by Vlasic 29 seconds into the third period, and Thornton at 4:53.
Vlasic drove to the net to put a rebound behind Bernier for his sixth goal, and Thornton converted Brent Burns' pass on a 2-on-1 rush for his 12th.
The Sharks cut the lead to 4-1 when Meier scored his ninth at 9:44 of the second period just as a power play expired.

"We knew they were going to make a push," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "This is a really good team. What fed into their push was our penalties. We took way too many. That can put you on your heels, especially with a power play like that with the weapons they have."
The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 38-13 in the second and third periods combined.
"We could've been better for sure, we didn't manage the puck very good in the second and third, but we found a way to get the job done on the penalty kill, mostly in large part due to [Bernier]," Bednar said. "He was outstanding, probably his best game yet."
The Avalanche took a 3-0 lead in the first period on two goals by MacKinnon and one by Soderberg.
MacKinnon scored twice 58 seconds apart for a 2-0 lead. He scored at 7:03 with a shot from the left circle for his 21st goal, and at 8:01 on a power play for his 22nd off a pass from Samuel Girard.
Soderberg made it 3-0 at 18:14 after Nieto passed from behind the net.

Goal of the game

MacKinnon's goal at 8:01 of the first period.

Save of the game

Bernier stops Tomas Hertl at 8:19 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Nieto's goal at 16:46 of the third period.

They said it

"We're not going to win every game this season. We could lose two, three in a row, but this is a good foundation for us to realize how we are going to win. We're not just lucky we are winning eight straight. There is a reason why, the process how we are handling this. So when some adversity comes we'll have this to look back on." -- Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon
"I felt like I should score like five goals. The goalie owned me today. It's a little bit on me because the chances were there, the goals. I should put it in. They should be goals." -- Sharks forward Tomas Hertl

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Need to know

MacKinnon has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in an eight-game point streak, with five goals in a four-game goal streak. ... Thornton has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. He needs one point to tie Bryan Trottier (1,425) for 16th place on the NHL's all-time list. ... The Avalanche have killed 54 of 56 penalties in the past 17 games.

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What's next

Sharks: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ALT, MSG, NHL.TV)