The Avalanche did not need a bigger boat.
Not to catch these Sharks. In the most lopsided game of the season by a nautical mile, the Avs swarmed San Jose 6-0 on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
“Now is I think the most important part of the season for the playoffs,” Valeri Nichushkin said. “We have to keep the play our way. Be ready.”
The circumstances made it arguably the most blatant should-win game of the season for the Avs (35-21-5) — exactly what they needed to snap a three-game winless streak and get back to circling their prey in the playoff hunt.
The Sharks entered Ball Arena as the NHL’s third-worst team, with a .391 point percentage. They were barely a week removed from trading star Timo Meier. And they were finishing a back-to-back after playing the previous night in Winnipeg, making this a rare occasion on the Avalanche schedule in which they were the better-rested team.
“We finally catch a team that’s a little bit tired,” coach Jared Bednar said. “And we were rested, and after the weekend I expected us to be a hungry team. … It’s not the end of the world when you get off the rails for a couple games.”
Colorado outshot San Jose 19-2 in the first period, not allowing a shot on goal for the first 13:35. Both shots were from behind the faceoff circle. When Alexandar Georgiev was finally credited with his first save, it was only a SOG in the scorebook; Andreas Johnsson shoveled a backhand pass from the boards that happened to be directed at the goal. The Sharks didn’t manage a single shot attempt in the period without Erik Karlsson on the ice.
“I felt like I got a few touches at least,” Georgiev said when asked if it occurred to him that he hadn’t faced a shot through 13 minutes. “But you try not to think about it and just play the game. I can’t control how many shots they get.”
Meanwhile, the Avalanche triumvirate did something it had never done before. Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen all scored in the same period for the first time, supplying the 3-0 intermission lead that became 5-0 three minutes into the second period.
Denis Malgin’s goal finally marked the end of the leash for San Jose starting goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. Shots were 24-2 Colorado when he was pulled from the net, 34-7 at second intermission and 43-13 at the final horn.
Makar compiled four points in his first true return to form since consecutive concussions in February. With help from an Artturi Lehkonen screen, Makar started the scoring with a clean shot from the blue line, located top shelf. It was his first goal since Jan. 16 and his 14th of the season.
“I feel like we should have the confidence as a group to always be able to do this,” Makar said. “But I think tonight we knew they could be vulnerable coming out of a back-to-back, and that shifted our mindset. So maybe we just have that mindset going into every game now.”
After adding three assists, he was back over the point-per-game mark (50 in 49 games). He’s already tied for the most career three-point games (17) by a defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
Nichushkin and MacKinnon both matched Makar with four points. MacKinnon, smelling blood in the water after Colorado’s opening tally, harpooned a shot to the same spot as Makar. The center has scored in seven consecutive home games and has reached 200 career multi-point games. He has 78 points in 51 games this season.
Nichushkin deflected a Makar shot and added three assists for his first four-point game since his rookie season.
“So, like, 10 years?” Nichushkin said. “Ten years ago it was, that I had four points. Probably next (four-point) game will be in 10 years again.”
San Jose’s only controlling stretch of the night lasted the first two minutes of the third period. Half of that was with a man advantage — Jack Johnson had two penalties for the Avs — but nonetheless, the Sharks got four consecutive shots at Georgiev. Then they didn’t register another for the next 11 minutes.
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