The tide turned for the Sharks.
Both teams hit an extraordinary number of goalposts and crossbars Tuesday night, but the San Jose Sharks had two more pucks hit on the back of the net in defeating the Avalanche 4-2 in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series at the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche rallied from Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Nieto, the latter tying it remaining in the third period. But the Sharks’ Logan Couture scored his second goal of the game to get the visitors back ahead by one and took advantage of a turnover.
Colorado’s wingers, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog, had sticks on the puck but failed to clear the zone, resulting in Couture’s aim.
But the Avs had chances to knot it . They hit on their pipe of the night in the waning minutes and failed to convert on a power play, and Couture completed his hat trick as San Jose held on to take a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4 is Thursday at the Pepsi Center (8 p.m. NBCSN). The Avalanche had won its previous eight games at home dating to the regular season, including two games against Calgary in the first round of the playoffs.
“We fight back to tie it up with six or seven minutes ” Landeskog said. “Whole third period I had a few good and thought we were pushing looks. Made a mistake and the turnover ends up in the back of the net (on Couture’s second goal). We worked hard. Maybe the bounces just weren’t there. ”
The Avs won Game 2 to split the first two games of the show in San Jose.
“We stole one in their building and they stole one here. That’s the bottom line,” Landeskog said.
San Jose outshot the Avalanche 31-27. Both teams went 0-of-4 on the power play. Colorado had a big edge in hits, 41-20
The Avalanche got within 2-1 at 15:51 of the period with MacKinnon’s laser wrist. It came after a failed Colorado power play in which two shots caromed off iron behind Sharks goalie Martin Jones, and moments after San Jose failed to convert on the power play.
MacKinnon extended his playoff points streak to seven games, tying the club’s longest since Peter Forsberg went seven games in 2004 with points.
Subsequently, MacKinnon was asked if the Avs blew an opportunity.
“We tied it up 2-2 and they scored with five minutes left to go up 3-2. So we blew it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate. We were feeling great, thinking about OT. ”
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The Avs entered the second intermission with some momentum, unlike the first break after San Jose dominated the final 10 minutes of the opening frame.
The Sharks could have led 4-0 after the first 20 minutes, a period in which Colorado started strong but faded. San Jose had two shots clang off iron with Grubauer but got goals from Couture (backhander from the doorstep) and Timo Meier (wrist shot from the left circle).
Couture beat rookie defenseman Cale Makar in front of the crease at 15:24, and Meier intercepted Erik Johnson’s exit pass in the neutral zone and drove in on Grubauer in 18:42.
“To me, we didn’t consistently work for the puck, didn’t speak (for) the puck and in turn our implementation was bad,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We made some decisions at times, also, with the puck. Turnover plays are come off by the bulk of their scoring chances and mismanaging the puck and just execution. ”
Footnotes. Avalanche forward Matt Calvert was scratched with an upper-body injury, suffered in the third period in Game 2 when he consumed a enormous midice check by Brent Burns. Calvert had the game-winning assist on the play, dishing the puck to MacKinnon until Burns crushed him. Calvert was replaced by Sven Andrighetto, who made his series debut. There were no other lineup changes for the Avs. … San Jose again played without injured forwards Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi, who have to play in the show and didn’t travel with the team. Pavelski, the Sharks’ captain, led the team in the regular season with 38 goals.
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