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Quick Bite: Sharks force shootout but fall to Avalanche

Joel Ward’s goal with Martin Jones pulled helped force a shootout, but the Sharks fell to the Avalanche 4-3 to wrap up their five-game road trip.

Neither San Jose shooter scored in the extra frame after a back-and-forth overtime period ended with no goals. The Avalanche scored in two of their three opportunities to snag a pair of points. The Sharks finish the road trip 3-1-1 with seven of a possible 10 points — I think that’ll suit Pete DeBoer just fine.

It took San Jose a long time to find its footing in a game Colorado controlled from the beginning till deep into the third period. The Sharks scored first but that lead didn’t last long, neither did the 2-1 lead San Jose held for a short while in the third. The Avalanche out-shot the Sharks, out-corsi’d the Sharks and out-fenwick’d the Sharks as Martin Jones held San Jose afloat for much of the contest.

The first period saw a pair of first goals with new teams as Nick Spaling scored on his first shot for the Sharks to put San Jose up 1-0 but was eventually canceled out by former teammate Shawn Matthias’ tally for the Avalanche. Colorado held a possession edge as the Sharks spent lots of time in their defensive zone. Martin Jones played well to keep the game even.

Things got worse in the second period as the Avalanche put on more pressure while the Sharks struggled to find their footing. Colorado out-shot the Sharks 14-7 in the middle frame and enjoyed plenty of zone time as Jones was again San Jose’s best player.

Brent Burns got the Sharks a lead early in the third period but it was quickly erased by Jarome Iginla and Gabriel Landeskog scored to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. With Jones pulled, Joel Ward got the game-tying goal to earn the Sharks at least a point.

In overtime the Sharks and Avalanche traded chances with San Jose getting the better of the looks. Joonas Donskoi and Brent Burns both had one-on-ones with Calvin Pickard and neither could find the back of the net. With time winding down Burns and Logan Couture had a 2-on-1 that didn’t end with a shot on goal.

[Fancy Stats] – [Avalanche Reaction] – [TOI Log] – [Faceoff Report] – [Event Summary] – [PBP Log]

Fear the Fin’s Three Stars

1) Gabriel Landeskog

2) Joel Ward

3) Martin Jones

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