Nieto Delivers Against Former Team

When the Colorado Avalanche needs a defensive stop, the team turns to its checking line of Blake Comeau, Matt Nieto and Carl Soderberg. Anything else the squad gets from its gritty trio is a nice bonus.
The Avs' third line delivered on defense and offense on Thursday as it connected for two goals against the San Jose Sharks in a 5-3 win. Nieto's tally with 3:14 remaining to stretch the team's lead to two might have been the biggest of the night as San Jose was pushing hard to try and tie the outing late in regulation.

"I think every game, we're learning still," said Nieto after the team's eighth straight victory. "Definitely on the streak and building momentum, we're finding different ways to win games, so it's nice."
Nieto finished with two points on the night, as he also assisted on Soderberg's marker that made the score 3-0 late in the first period. It was Nieto's first points in three career games against his former team.
"The Soderberg line again contributes," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. "They had two goals tonight, right? Nieto, great play on the third goal (of the game) from behind the net, beautiful pass and a good finish by Carl. The big one at the end of the game, we drive the net and he gets a good tip on a Comeau pass and funnel to the net. Two really big goals for us."

A California native from Long Beach, Nieto began his NHL career in "NorCal" with the Sharks. He was drafted 47th overall by the organization in 2011 and played his first 221 games in the league with the franchise.
The Avalanche claimed the left wing off waivers just over a year ago on Jan. 5, 2017.
"It's definitely an added incentive to go out there, and you want to prove something," Nieto said of playing San Jose. "It definitely felt good."

The Sharks came out hard in the third period, scoring twice in the first five minutes to cut a three-goal deficit down to one. San Jose had three power plays in the final frame and 11 of its 21 shots in the stanza came while the club was on the man advantage.
So when Nieto tipped in Comeau's pass in front of the net with less than four minutes remaining to give a two-goal lead back to the Avalanche, it was sigh of relief for the team and the nervous crowd.
"Especially in that situation in the game and [the Sharks] need one desperately and there are a few minutes left, it's nice to get that insurance goal, if you will," Nieto said of his ninth tally of the season. "It felt nice."
Nieto's first point against his former team was the result of him feeding a slick pass to Soderberg in the low slot with 1:46 left in the first period.
"We established a good forecheck," Nieto recalled of Soderberg's marker. "The puck got cycled down to me and I had a little bit of time, and Carl was able to find a soft area there and I was able to find him. It was a great shot by him to put it in."

Defensively and on the penalty kill, Nieto and his linemates were up to the challenge against the league's No. 5-rated power-play unit.
For Nieto specifically, he played 4:02 of his total 14:29 of ice time on the penalty kill and finished the game with two blocked shots and a game-high three takeaways.
"A lot of special teams have a dangerous power play, it's hard to defend," Nieto said of the Sharks. "I thought we did a good job."
Colorado finished 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The Avalanche's victory over the Sharks was another instance of the team finding ways to get the job done, no matter how pretty or not it was. It's been a staple of the team's eight-game winning streak, which is tied for the third longest in franchise history and matches the longest in the league this season.

MACKINNON ALSO CONTINUES STREAKS

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice in a matter of 58 seconds in the first period to quickly give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead over the Sharks.
MacKinnon's 21st and 22nd markers of the year extended his goal streak to a career-high four games while his point streak is stretched to eight contests. He is the first Avalanche player to score in four straight games since John Mitchell (Oct. 8-16, 2015).
The center's first tally came via what is becoming his signature move. While attacking through the offensive zone, MacKinnon made a move toward the slot and used a defender as a screen to bury the puck into the twine.
His second marker at 8:01 of the frame was the result of a one-time slap shot from the left circle during a power play.
"The start of the game, he's comes out and scores two goals right away," Bednar said of MacKinnon. "Individual effort, doing everything right in the D-zone. He challenges the defense one-on-one, making plays, and that's what we need."
MacKinnon also added an assist in the game, marking the eighth time this year that he's recorded three points in an outing. Joe Sakic was the last Colorado player to accomplish such a feat in 2006-07.
The Avs forward's 57 points on the season rank second in the league behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. He is two goals, four assists and six points away from matching his career highs in each category that he set during his rookie campaign in 2013-14.

RANTANEN KEEPS REGISTERING

Mikko Rantanen's points may not be as flashy as linemate Nathan MacKinnon, but his contributions have been equally welcomed by the team.
Rantanen has now recorded three or more points in five games this season and three times in the last six outings. He assisted on both of MacKinnon's markers in the first period on Thursday, while his redirection goal 1:34 into the second stanza ended up being the game-winner.
The Finnish forward now has 16 goals and 28 assists on the year, six points more than he had during his rookie campaign in 2016-17. Fellow linemate Gabriel Landeskog said the biggest difference in the 21-year-old's game is his confidence through experience
"Knowing that you don't have to score every shift," Landeskog said of Rantanen. "You just keep doing the little things right and eventually you're going to get chances, and when you do, he's been able to put some in."
Since Dec. 1, Rantanen has produced 24 points (nine goals and 15 assists) in 21 contests. He had a career-high eight-game point streak (which is presently matched by MacKinnon) from Dec. 12-29 and has 11 points (four goals and seven assists) in his last six outings.

ROOKIES BACK IN LINEUP

Two Colorado rookies returned to the lineup on Thursday.
J.T. Compher played in his first game after missing six with an upper-body injury, and Dominic Toninato skated in his first contest after being recalled form the San Antonio Rampage on Tuesday afternoon.
Compher replaced injured forward Tyson Jost, who is out with a lower-body injury, and began the game versus the Sharks on a line with Gabriel Bourque and Colin Wilson. Toninato, who is in his second NHL stint after playing in eight contests with Colorado earlier this season, started on a combo with Alex Kerfoot and Nail Yakupov.
Compher had two shots in 12:20 of ice time, while Toninato played 7:53 and finished with a hit, a takeaway, plus-2 rating and two penalty minutes.
Forward A.J. Greer and defenseman David Warsofsky were the Avalanche's healthy scratches.