The San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche will face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth time, first since 2010. Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round is at SAP Center on Friday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS).
The Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 in overtime of Game 7, rallying after trailing 3-0 in the third period, and came back from down 3-1 in the series to advance to the second round for the second straight season and third time in the past four.
"It's a special group," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "We rallied like that all year at different points, even early in the series here when we were down 3-0 (in Game 2). People have written them off, or down and out ... there's a lot of belief in there."
The Avalanche, who were the second Western wild card, won four straight first-round games against the Calgary Flames after losing 4-0 in Game 1.
San Jose outscored Colorado 14-9 and won two one-goal games in the regular season.