Joe Pavelski delivered the OT game winner for the Sharks to send the series back to San Jose tied at 2 games apiece
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When last I wrote I said: “It will take a perfect game or a crushing comeback to save the Avalanche at this point.â€Â Well 48 hours and 51 saves later Craig Anderson delivered that perfect game and now the Avalanche have a good chance to win the series. I’m at about 55% in favor of the Avalanche right now. I would need another strong performance from Anderson to feel really good about our odds.
The penalty kill was key too. Colorado’s special teams defense killed 7 penalties. That being said, 7 penalties is about 5 penalties too many to feel good about winning a game against the Sharks. Staying out of the box is better than killing penalties.
As far as the Sharks contribution, it must be tough to have three game-winning goals and be down 2-1 in the series. I find myself wondering if the Sharks are playing too hard; over-skating, over-thinking. That might have been their problem all along. They play well when it doesn’t matter, then get amped up for the playoffs and change what they did to get there.  (Shhh… don’t tell San Jose.)
1st Period
19:25 Right off the faceoff Paul Stastny lets his stick get away from him. 2:00 Penalty High Sticking So much for staying out of the box.
18:48 Apparently Karma had to go through a rebalancing after the Dan Boyle own-goal. Boyle rips from the right point PP Goal Sharks 1-0. Traffic in front, Andy couldn’t see.
13:35 The Avalanche are playing sooooo cautiously after the goal. They aren’t sending anybody down the ice out of the defensive zone, and they’re keeping the third attacker near the blue line. They’re trying to work in on their few offensive pressures rather than the dump and chase they are so good at. And worst of all, 0 shots on goal.
10:41 The Avalanche’s first good pressure of the game is set up by a third line dump and chase. Cody McLeod won a crucial board battle to earn a wrap-around attempt. Couldn’t beat Evgeni Nabokov.
7:09 The third and fourth lines for the Avalanche are getting a lot of playing time in first period. McLeod’s line has had the best play so far for the Avalanche. Only a pair of shots, but they are spending more time in San Jose’s zone than vice versa.
2:54 The Avalanche seem to have found their legs finally. They’re skating much harder now and are finally getting some good pressures. Catching up in shots too.
1:55 Adam Foote skates into Marc-Edouard Vlasic during an Avalanche pressure in which Matt Duchene was skating circles (literally) around the Sharks and gets hit with a penalty. 2:00 Penalty Interference It’s not just the high number of penalties… they are bad penalties too.
End Period Sharks 1-0
The Avalanche penalty kill appears to be back and fiercer than ever after the first penalty. The Avalanche are meeting the Sharks at the line and sending the puck down the ice nearly every attempted work in and outskating the Sharks on the dumps. They also seem to have found some energy and look a lot more in the game than in the first 10 minutes.  5 more seconds for a kill.
The biggest deference in the game is the San Jose stick handling has been vastly superior to Colorado’s. They do seem to have settled down after the goal and are playing more comfortably.
2nd Period
19:55 Avalanche win the face off. Kill
16:37 The Avalanche’s fourth line plays hard in the Neutral Zone to earn a pressure. On a shot from the point Rob Blake checks Kyle Quincey to the ice 2:00 Penalty Interference Hard skating and throwing the puck on net pays dividends for the fourth line.
16:34 Stastny wins the faceoff to John Michael Liles on the left point, shot, tipped by Stas PP Goal Tied 1-1 Faceoffs matter. Just ask the number one faceoff club in the league (Sharks).
15:29 First work in after the Goal, Joe Pavelski trips Marek Svatos coming into the zone. 2:00 Penalty Tripping. Svatos faked a long shot moving over the blue line which got Pavelski down on the ice and Pavelski just slid through Marek’s legs.
13:29 The Avalanche put together a good PP but Nabokov was brilliant.  Avalanche had 1 great chance on a pass in front to a knifing Cody Hendricks and a pair of open shots from the circles but Nabokov could not be solved. Kill.
9:34 After the goal and penalties the game has settled back down to what it was. The Avalanche are outskating the Sharks on the dump and chase and struggling with the work in. The only change is the Avalanche are all of a sudden winning in the Neutral Zone. When San Jose works it in the Avalanche zone they can keep it there and earn a shot or two regularly but they have been unable to get the puck in with consistency.
8:12 Devin Setoguchi misses the net by 4 feet on a 2 on 1. Maybe they really are cursed.
5:40 The fourth line earns a pretty good little scoring chance after Darcy Tucker lays out Jason Demers with a brutal hit. I think what Joe Sacco may be thinking is have the 3rd and 4th line just harass and frustrate and beat up San Jose and when they have nothing left send in the top lines. After the play, matching minors for Jamie MiGinn and Stephane Yelle. 2:00 4 on 4 Roughing, Roughing.
3:40 Kind of a boring four on four. Just skating and chasing the puck. Full Strength.
0:52 Bad news. The Sharks have figured out the Avalanche Neutral Zone defense and have once again started peppering Andy.  Avalanche look a little pooped. Don’t know why, the top lines have been sitting on the bench so much.
End Period Tied 1-1
Apart from the final 4 minutes of the period the Avalanche looked like the better club the entire way through. My favorite part of the period (other than the goal) was not having to go on the penalty kill once.
But the Sharks have found new legs at least for now. They’re working it in effortlessly. Now I know Andy has been the man before (see: April 18, 2010), but the game looked much more winnable when the Avalanche were spending most of their time in front of Nabokov.
3rd Period
17:20 Both teams are playing it very cautiously to open the period. They’re both allowing the work-in and then stack the crease to absorb bad shots.  Avalanche are Hitting though.
14:38 The Sharks are making use of one of their favorite strategies (and mine if you have the size and strength to pull it off). They are putting the puck down into the corner and trying to muscle it in along the base line. So far unsuccessfully.
10:43 I think what I am seeing right now is “Nobody make a mistake, in fact, nobody take a chance†hockey. If both coaches and captains agree could we just go to overtime now, because with a cautious as the teams a playing, next goal is going to win anyway. In all seriousness I don’t expect either team to play this way for much longer. The pressure will get to somebody and a chance will be taken.
8:55 It gets to the Avalanche first. They abandon their defense and almost give up an awful goal. Andy had to be paying attention and on his game, but he made the save.
7:12 This fourth line for the Avalanche has really impressed me tonight. Not many shots but they’ve caused loads of trouble.
6:27 Andy makes another huge save on Patrick Marleau moving right to left on a cross-ice pass.
6:05 After a freeze by Andy, Quincey and Marleau get matching minors for pushing and shoving.    2:00 4 on 4 Roughing, Roughing Either team could find their legs and find the open ice favorable.
4:05 Once again, a lot of chasing the puck. Full Strength.
2:01  Avalanche are turning up the heat to close the period. They’re skating hard. The third line had another great shift with a shot and a pair of hits.
End Period Tied 1-1
That was easily the most boring period of the series so far. The Sharks’ only chances to score came on Avalanche mistakes, and the Avalanche only really got good chances after they started skating hard and clogging the Neutral Zone towards the end.
I can’t see the Sharks changing their strategy. They are on the road and under an enormous amount of pressure and have made mistakes in two game so far this series. The Avalanche will probably ratchet it up in the first OT in hopes of taking a commanding lead in the series.
OT
18:43 The Sharks open with a flurry of shots. I guess I was wrong about them hanging back.
15:04 The Avalanche follow with a flurry of their own. The Sharks’ gambit has cost them a few chances, the most recent was from a Christ Stewart work-in drop pass to T. J. Galiardi.
13:54 Andy just made his 40th save and pretty much every save in the OT has been on a good shot. The Sharks are testing him.
11:18 San Jose just got caught in a long shift and committed icing; they were forced to call a time out. A faceoff win here would be huge. (San Jose wins the face off)
9:36 On a work-in up the middle, Doug Murray moves the puck in and draws two Avalanche defenders to him. The puck gets tipped to the left and Pavelski collects it, wrist shot through traffic, top shelf glove side. Goal Sharks 2-1 Game Over Perfect shot.
End Game Shark 2-1
This game could have gone either way and the Sharks just got the last break. Â Avalanche hung tough and their reward will be the daunting task of winning 2 of 3 with 2 on the road.
Andy played well, and this game can’t be hung on his neck. Even the last shot he really had no chance to save. No, I put this loss on the slow play in the beginning of the third period. The Avalanche were playing better hockey when they were forcing the issue.
This series really could go either way but I’m leaning toward San Jose around 66%. I think the Avalanche win this series 1 in 3 times. Finding a way to get the offense and the defense going at the same time seems to be the largest obstacle for Colorado right now.
