The Colorado Avalanche came out firing early, but the San Jose Sharks have been in this spot before, and it showed. After going down early in the second period, the Sharks responded with four consecutive goals to secure a 5-2 victory on their home ice.
Leading 2-1 in the second period, the Avalanche had a four minute power play that could have given them a stranglehold on the game. Instead, the Sharks killed it off and carried the momentum through the rest of the period, scoring three straight goals and shutting the door in the third. The Avs would register only four even strength shots down by two goals in the third period, as the Sharks kept everything to the outside.
The Avs will need to bounce back in Game 2, much like they did against Calgary in the opening round. The Avs and Sharks meet again on Sunday night (5:30 p.m. MT).
What did we learn from this one?
- Philipp Grubauer, although not to blame, had his first sub .900 game in two months. The Avs had plenty of breakdowns in front of him, but he didn’t come up with the big save in the second period when they needed it most. I’m sure he would like the rebound back on the opening goal as well. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how he responds Sunday night.
- Erik Johnson had a really rough night, and didn’t see much ice in the third because of it. Johnson’s poor decision in the second period led to a shot block and the tying goal at the other end, which completely changed the game. In the third period, Johnson was dropped to the third pair and didn’t see much ice. He needs to be much better the rest of the series.
- Samuel Girard returned to the lineup, and didn’t look like himself. Whether it was the injury still bothering him, or just rust, Girard struggled at times with the puck and didn’t create as much havoc for the Sharks forwards as you would normally see. The Johnson/Girard pair was on the ice for the game-tying and game-winning goals.
- Tyson Jost is playing his best hockey in an Avs uniform and needs to be rewarded for it. Jost is skating as well as he ever has for the Avs, but is still barely seeing the ice – playing only 9 minutes in this game, despite an assist early. At some point the staff needs to recognize that he can probably take on more ice, especially in light of Carl Soderberg’s struggles offensively.
- It’s a long series. The Avs lost game one in Calgary and came back with adjustments to take control of the series. This is a veteran Sharks team, but there’s no reason to panic just yet.