The San Jose Sharks have survived yet another Game 7 in these playoffs and they'll be heading to the Western Conference Final for the second time in the last four years. The Sharks edged out the Avalanche with a 3-2 victory at home on Wednesday night, closing out the second round of the playoffs. San Jose saw Joe Pavelski return to the lineup for the first time since the captain suffered a scary head injury in the finale of their first-round series against the Golden Knights. Pavelski scored in his return. As for the Avs, they had to endure half a period without star center Nathan MacKinnon, who suffered an injury scare in the first period. They also were dealt a tough hand when a potential game-tying goal in the second period was wiped off the board due to a controversial offside call. In the end, though, it was the Sharks who came out on top The Sharks move on to face the St. Louis Blues, who won their Game 7 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Neither team will have a rest advantage after going the distance in Round 2. Games on NBC, NBCSN and USA can be streamed via fuboTV (Try for free). NHL Playoffs for Wednesday, May 8 Game 7: FINAL -- Sharks 3, Avalanche 2 (SJ wins series 4-3) [Box score] Avs make it interesting, but fall short Colorado came out with a great start to the third period and Tyson Jost pulled the Avs to within a goal just 51 seconds into the period. It's Jost's third straight game with a goal, But San Jose hung on and preserved that 3-2 scoreline for the balance of the game, holding off a late push from the Avs to earn the Game 7 win and stamp their ticket to the Western Conference Final. San Jose gets another big break in Game 7 The Avalanche appeared to tie the game in the second period when Derick Brassard forced a turnover that allowed Nathan MacKinnon to set up Colin Wilson in front of the Sharks' net. But that goal was challenged by the Sharks and officials determined that the play was offside because Gabriel Landeskog didn't get into the Colorado bench in time. Here's a look at the sequence. Watch Landeskog at the top of the screen. It was really close but the Sharks benefit from yet another big officiating call in a Game 7. They capitalized on that good fortune and created a big swing when they scored the next goal. It came later in the period when Joonas Donskoi unleashed a turnaround ripper to make it 3-1. Colorado has 20 minutes to erase a two-goal deficit or their season is over. Avalanche get big buzzer-beater Tomas Hertl doubled the Sharks' lead following the Pavelski goal and the Sharks appeared to be in full control of the game as it headed toward first intermission. However, the Avs got some signs of life later in the period. MacKinnon returned to action and Mikko Rantanen cut the Sharks' lead back down to one when he tipped a shot past Martin Jones with about seven seconds remaining in the period. Joe Pavelski announces his return Sharks captain Joe Pavelski returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a head injury in Game 7 of San Jose's first-round series against Vegas. He wasted no time in making an impact, scoring the Sharks' first goal of the night in the opening period. Pavelski showcased his elite deflection skills by tipping a Brent Burns shot past Philipp Grubauer for the early lead against Colorado. MacKinnon exits early Nathan MacKinnon is Colorado's most important player and he was expected to shoulder a heavy load for the Avs in Game 7, but things did not go to plan. MacKinnon got injured just a few minutes into the game when he crashed into the boards and appeared to suffer an upper body ailment. The star center headed to the locker room for evaluation and hasn't been seen since. Colorado could be in real trouble if they're without MacKinnon.<doc-sep>The Colorado Avalanche are just 2-18 in their last 20 road games against the San Jose Sharks. The Avalanche will try to solve the Sharks and advance to the Western Conference final with a win on Wednesday night in Game 7. Colorado is a +120 road underdog on the NHL odds in San Jose at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Sharks are looking for their second Game 7 victory of this postseason as a -140 favorite at home. Colorado Avalanche Notes The Avalanche needed only two minutes and 32 seconds to find the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 as Gabriel Landeskog fired a bouncing puck past Martin Jones to give Colorado a 4-3 win at home. With the win, Colorado moved to a perfect 15-0 in its last 15 games when scoring at least three goals. Comparatively, the Avalanche are 0-10 in their last 10 games when scoring two goals or less; the path to victory for this team is clearly tied to the production of the offense. Since March 17, Colorado is 15-7 on the moneyline per the OddsShark NHL Database. Four of those seven losses have come against the Sharks. San Jose Sharks Notes Marc-Edouard Vlasic brought a hush over the Pepsi Center in Game 6 with his game-tying goal late in the third period, but that silence was only temporary as the Sharks were unable to score a game-winner to end this series. So they return to San Jose for Game 7 where they are 2-1 in this series and 6-2 in their last eight overall. The Sharks are also 8-4 in their last 12 home games in the postseason. Avalanche at Sharks Betting Total Wednesday’s total is set at 5.5 goals at online betting sites. The OVER is 6-1 in San Jose’s last seven playoff home games. Four of the first six games in this series have had at least six total goals scored with three landing on exactly seven. This has been an exciting and fast-paced series, but only one of these teams can move on to the Western Conference final. After San Jose’s comeback from down 3-0 to win 5-4 in overtime in its Game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights in the last round, it will be interesting to see what the Sharks will do for an encore. For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Game 7: Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks, 9 p.m. ET (Series tied 3-3) NBCSN Call: Chris Cuthbert, Joe Micheletti, Pierre McGuire Series preview Stream here Pre-game coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN with NHL Live CONFERENCE FINALS COVERAGE BEGINS THURSDAY NIGHT WITH GAME 1 OF BRUINS-HURRICANES AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN Coverage of the 2019 Conference Finals begins tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins host Justin Williams and the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at TD Garden in Boston. The Bruins defeated the Blue Jackets in six games to advance to their first Eastern Conference Final since 2013. Carolina swept the Islanders in the Second Round to clinch their first trip to the Eastern Conference Final since 2009. Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher will have the call of Game 1 in Boston. [NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]<doc-sep>
Photo : Josie Lepe ( AP ) It would have been very on-brand for the perennial choke-artist San Jose Sharks to blow it against the 8th seed in the second-round of what might be the most wide-open NHL playoffs of all-time. But to their credit, San Jose recovered from Gabriel Landeskog’s Game 6 overtime winner and got the win they needed in Game 7 against the Avalanche, riding the return of Joe Pavelski and a few fortunate breaks to a 3-2 win that vaults them into the Western Conference Finals. This was a tough-luck night for the Avalanche, and the first sign that they might be destined to lose appeared when superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon—their best player in the playoffs so far—picked up what looked like a shoulder injury within the first two minutes of the game. MacKinnon came back to the bench before the period was over—and maybe his presence for the 14 minutes or so that he missed wouldn’t have even made a difference—but in the time he was off, the Sharks scored a pair of goals to go up 2-0. The second came courtesy of Tomas Hertl, but the first and most dramatic was an exquisite deflection by the stick of Joe Pavelski, giving the captain a goal in his first game back since his injury that turned the tide in Game 7 against Vegas last round. The Avs battled to st ay alive, first with a goal very late in the first from Mikko Rantanen (who hadn’t scored all series), and then in the second with an apparent equalizer by Colin Wilson. Unfortunately for them, that goal got overturned on review because of a brutal offsides call on a line change that didn’t affect the play at all. Five minutes later, Joonas Donskoi scored to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead, and even though the Avs got a goal back with a furious start to the third, Colorado couldn’t get another puck past Martin Jones to avoid becoming toast. With this win, the heavily favored Sharks dodge ridicule and crushing disappointment, even if their performance throughout the series wasn’t necessarily becoming of a top-tier Stanley Cup contender. They’ll face the St. Louis Blues in a third-round battle of sad-sack underachievers, where both teams will compete for the right to try and win their first-ever championship.