Avalanche have 10-game point streak end in loss to Sharks

The Colorado Avalanche had their 10-game point streak end with a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

The Avalanche (38-30-14), who went 8-0-2 in their previous 10 games, finished as the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the Dallas Stars defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-0 on Saturday and will play at the Calgary Flames in the Western Conference First Round.
Tyson Jost and Nathan MacKinnon scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves.
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Sharks highlights]
"It's disappointing, everybody wanted to win," Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole said. "I think everyone probably could have been a little more focused, but for the most part, it really doesn't matter. We're moving on and getting ready for the playoffs. The quicker we can put this one behind us and get back to our good habits and details that we've had the last month, the better off we'll be."

The Sharks (46-27-9), who won their final two games after going 1-8-1 in their previous 10 games, finished in second place in the Pacific Division and will have home ice against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round.
Evander Kane, Gustav Nyquist and Brent Burns each had a goal and an assist for San Jose.
"Any time you get (101) points, it's a good year. It's a lot of work we put in," said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer, who won his 400th NHL game. "It's been a tough last month with some of the injuries and adversity that we've had, but I think when I look at the whole season, we put in a lot of work and it's a big accomplishment. All that work really is just to get a ticket to play next week."
Jost gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 2:56 of the first period, getting his own rebound in the high slot after his initial shot was blocked by Barclay Goodrow.
Burns tied it 1-1 at 7:25 on a shot from the right point after Tomas Hertl won a face-off in the right circle, and Kane put San Jose in front 2-1 at 11:15, jamming in the rebound of Nyquist's shot from the left circle.
MacKinnon tied it 2-2 at 1:29 of the second period. After taking a return pass from Gabriel Landeskog, he split San Jose's defense and put a forehand shot inside the right post.
Kevin Labanc gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at 6:57 after his shot deflected up off the stick of Colorado defenseman Patrik Nemeth and over Varlamov.
Nyquist extended the lead to 4-2 at 5:38 of the third period, scoring short side from the bottom of the right circle following a turnover by Nemeth.
Joe Pavelski appeared to score into an empty net at 16:59, but Avalanche coach Jared Bednar challenged for goaltender interference, and the call was reversed after a video review.
However, Micheal Haley scored an empty-net goal with 45 seconds remaining to make it 5-2.
Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson had two shots and was plus-3 in 22:01 of ice time in his return after missing 17 games because of a groin injury.
"I thought he looked good for not playing in a long time," DeBoer said. "He handled pucks, he didn't look real rusty with the puck. His legs felt good, so I thought it was a good step. It was nice to get him in there. Even a rusty Erik Karlsson is still a pretty good player."

They said it

"I didn't think the game was played with a real high intensity level (with) both teams knowing where they sit. I liked our energy and the way we skated, but I look at every goal (and) we made a mistake on every goal starting with [Semyon Varlamov] on the first one, and then we had some puck plays and decision making that wasn't quite sharp. I guess that's to be expected. Our habits were pretty good. We checked and did some good things. The season's over, we got out of it healthy, which is very important, and now we're moving on and we'll shift our focus to the playoffs." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"I thought we were pretty good. These are tough games to play. They knew the game didn't mean anything to them. For us, we're selling the importance of it, but guys know it's just not the same intensity that it'll be next week. I thought everyone did a good enough job to win a game." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

Bednar didn't name forward Mikko Rantanen, who missed his eighth straight game because of an upper-body injury, but he said "we will have all our players available" for the playoffs. Rantanen skated and stickhandled at the morning skate while wearing a non-contact jersey. … Sharks forward Timo Meier was scratched because of a wrist injury but is expected to return for the playoffs. … MacKinnon finished the season with 99 points (41 goals, 58 assists), the most by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic had 100 in 2006-07.

What's next

Avalanche:At the Calgary Flames in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round (TBD)
Sharks:Host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round (TBD)