Colorado Continues Trip at San Jose on Monday

The Colorado Avalanche heads to California to face the San Jose Sharks for a two-game set beginning on Monday. It is the third contest of a four-game road trip for the club.
In Tuesday's matchup at the Coyotes, 12 different Colorado players picked up at least a point in a 6-2 victory as the team improved to 11-6-1 on the season. Tyson Jost, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jacob MacDonald all tallied their first goals of the season, while Andre Burakovsky (two assists), Joonas Donskoi (one goal, one assist), Samuel Girard (two assists) and Mikko Rantanen (two assists) recorded multi-point efforts. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves, picking up his 10th win of the season.

San Jose is coming off a 7-6 loss versus the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, as Evander Kane (two goals) and Timo Meier (two goals, one assist) both found the back of the net twice. Rudolfs Balcers, Logan Couture, Kevin LeBanc and Kane all extended their respective point streaks to three games, and netminder Devan Dubnyk stopped 24-of-31 shots.

Avalanche at San Jose Sharks

SAP Center | San Jose, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8:30 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude 2 (blackouts apply), NBCS-California (SJS) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-SAN JOSE CONNECTIONS

Joonas Donskoi skated for San Jose in his first four NHL seasons from 2015-2019… Cale Makar and Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro were college teammates at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for two seasons from 2017-2019… Sharks forward Matt Nieto played the past four seasons for the Avs from 2017-2020… San Jose defenseman Nicolas Meloche was drafted by Colorado in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft (40th overall)… Sharks center Dylan Gambrell played at the University of Denver from 2015-2018… Avalanche video coach Brett Heimlich is from San Jose and spent 11 years with the Sharks organization from 2004-2015… San Jose head coach Bob Boughner finished his NHL playing career with the Avalanche from 2004-2006… Sharks NHL development coach Mike Ricci played for Colorado/Quebec from 1992-1998 and won a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 1996.

HISTORY

Colorado swept the first two-game set against the Sharks, defeating the club 7-3 on Jan. 26 and 3-0 on Jan. 28. The Avalanche has won four consecutive matchups versus the Sharks. Brandon Saad (two goals, two assists), Nazem Kadri (two goals, two assists) and Cale Makar (four assists) are tied for the team lead in scoring versus San Jose this year. Philipp Grubauer is 2-0-0 with a .941 save percentage and 1.50 goals-against average.
The Avs boast an all-time mark of 50-38-12 versus Sharks, including a 20-24-6 record in Northern California.

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado had an off day on Sunday, so its lineup likely won't be known until after morning skate. Logan O'Connor returned to the game action and Dan Renouf made his Avalanche debut on Saturday in Arizona. Grubauer is expected make his second straight start in net.

INJURY UPDATE

Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body) and Dennis Gilbert (upper body) are all out long term with injuries. Matt Calvert could miss his second straight contest with a lower-body injury, and Cale Makar is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and won't play in the series at San Jose.

SCOUTING THE SHARKS

Through 18 games, forwards Logan Couture (11 goals, seven assists) and Evander Kane (seven goals, eight assists) have led the way offensively for the club, while Tomas Hertl (six goals, five assists) leads the team with three power-play markers. Patrick Marleau is the franchise leader in games played and scoring (tied) against the Avs, suiting up in 72 contests and compiling 27 goals and 25 assists.
San Jose owns a 7-9-2 record on the season and is in eighth place in the West Division after dropping five out of its last seven contests (2-4-1). When hosting Colorado, the Sharks hold a 29-20-1 franchise mark, including an 8-2-0 record in the last 10 outings at SAP Center.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: BRENT BURNS

The 2016-17 James Norris Memorial Trophy winner as the league's top defenseman has tallied four goals and six assists in six games this season. Burns is in his 10th campaign with the Sharks and 17th in the NHL, registering 704 points (214 goals and 490 assists) in 1,131 career games. Since entering the league in 2003-04, the veteran leads all active defensemen in points, while ranking second in goals behind and third in assists.
In 61 career matchups against the Avalanche, Burns leads all defensemen with 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) and ranks fifth in Sharks history against Colorado with 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists).

NUMBERS GAME

22

Nathan MacKinnon leads the current Avs roster with 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 20 meetings with San Jose. His 22 points are tied with Scott Young for the sixth-most in franchise history when facing the Sharks.

200+100

Andre Burakovsky recorded his 200th point on Saturday, coming on his first of two assists on the night, while Joonas Donskoi added a helper for his 100th NHL assist.

300

Mikko Rantanen is set to play in his 300th career NHL game on Friday. The forward has collected 107 goals and 161 assists in six seasons with the Avs. Rantanen has registered eight goals and 10 helpers in 18 contests, the second-most points on the club.

NOTEBOOK

Philipp Grubauer's 10 victories are tied for the third-most wins in the league with the Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck… Gabriel Landeskog scored his 202nd career marker on Saturday to move into a tie with Peter Forsberg for the third-most goals all-time in an Avalanche sweater… The Avalanche has scored first in 13 of its 18 games this season and is now 10-2-1 when lighting the lamp first. The club's 10 wins when scoring first are tied for second in the NHL behind only the Toronto Maple Leafs (11)… J.T. Compher registered his 50th career assist on Saturday… Colorado has tallied a power-play goal in three straight games for the third time this season.