Live updates, tweets, photos, analysis and more from Game 6 between Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks on May 6, 2019 at Pepsi Center in Denver. Mobile users, if you can’t see the live blog, tap here.<doc-sep>SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 04: Logan Couture #39 of the San Jose Sharks skate ahead with the puck against the Colorado Avalanche in Game Five of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 4, 2019 in San Jose, California (Photo by Kavin Mistry/NHLI via Getty Images) The San Jose Sharks can wrap up Round 2 earlier than anticipated with a road win in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. The series so far has been a roller coaster affair. Both teams have exchanged blows with the two clubs each recording statement victories in their opponents arena. Now with a 3 – 2 series lead, the San Jose Sharks can clinch a seat in the Western Conference Finals tonight at the Pepsi Center. After falling in the 2nd round of last years Stanley Cup Playoffs, Team Teal can reach their first Western Conference Finals since the 2015 – 2016 campaign. However winning another game in Denver will be a difficult task, especially with the Avs season on the line. The San Jose Sharks have seen plenty of Nathan MacKinnon and company during this series. MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rananten all have averaged nearly 24 minutes of ice time. Coach Jared Bednar has signaled at morning skate that he plans on using them even more of them in Game 6. Team Teal will need a total team effort to slow down this desperate Colorado club. They were successful in Game 5 suppressing the 3 of those skaters to only 5 shots total, per naturalstattrick. Marc-Edouard Vlasic did a very skilful job slowing down MacKinnon and will need to do it again tonight. However the Sharks should anticipate the Avalanche to use home ice and last change to get away from this match-up. It’ll be up to the Sharks depth to step up and limit the impact of this high-octane Avalanche offense. In Game 6 the Sharks got big contributions from Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, and Martin Jones. Having these 3 players clicking at this time of year spells bad news for teams hoping for a weakness on the San Jose Sharks. Even without their captain Joe Pavelski, Team Teal has seemingly rounded into a complete roster during the course of this series. Speaking of Joe Pavelski the captain participated in morning skate on Monday morning and spoke to media regarding his health. He explained that he was close, but wouldn’t be available for Game 6, however he did note that he would be ready for a Game 7 if it is necessary. That means that the Sharks will likely be icing the same lineup as Game 5 tonight in Denver. On the flip side of things the Avalanche have indicated that they are tweaking their lineup by using 11 forwards and 7 blueliners. Here’s a general idea of what to expect on the ice for both squads in Game 6. San Jose Sharks Forward Combinations Timo Meier ~ Logan Couture ~ Gus Nyquist Evander Kane ~ Tomas Hertl ~ Joonas Donskoi Marcus Sorensen~ Joe Thornton ~ Kevin Labanc Micheal Haley ~ Barclay Goodrow ~ Melker Karlsson Defensive Pairings Marc-Edouard Vlasic ~ Brent Burns Brenden Dillon ~ Erik Karlsson Joakim Ryan ~ Justin Braun Goalie Projected Starter ~ Martin Jones Backup ~ Aaron Dell Colorado Avalanche Forward Combinations Gabriel Landeskog~ Nathan MacKinnon ~ Mikko Rantanen JT Compher ~ Carl Soderberg ~ Matt Nieto Alexander Kerfoot ~ Tyson Jost ~ Colin Wilson Patrick Nemeth ~ Derrick Brassard ~ Gabriel Bourque Defensive Pairings Ian Cole ~ Erik Johnson Nikita Zadorov ~ Tyson Barrie Cale Makar ~ Samuel Girard Goalie Projected Starter ~ Philipp Grubauer Backup ~ Semyon Varlamov The San Jose Sharks can avoid another Game 7 with a victory tonight versus the Avalanche. They’ll be in for a tough task with Nathan MacKinnon and company playing in desperation mode considering their surprising season will be on the line in front of their home crowd. Puck drop for tonight’s game at the Pepsi Center is at 7:00 PM PT. The game will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The audio can be streamed on the NHL and Sharks Apps courtesy of 98.5 KFOX.<doc-sep>DENVER — If you had told the Sharks in late March — when they were in the midst of losing nine of 10 — that they would have a Game 7 at home with an opportunity to move on to the Western Conference final with one win, they would have gladly jumped on that chance. That still didn’t take the sting out of Monday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche, though, as Gabriel Landeskog scored 2:32 into the extra session to send the series to a seventh and deciding game on Wednesday at SAP Center. The Sharks never led but came back from one-goal deficits three times — twice in the second period and once in the third when Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied the game 3-3 with 2:28 left in regulation time. In overtime after the Sharks failed to get the puck out of their zone, Cale Makar sent a puck toward the net that Landeskog picked up and directed toward Martin Jones, who couldn’t stop the fluttering puck. Now the Sharks return home where they have a 5-2 record so far in the playoffs. They’re 3-0 in elimination games, having won two games in those situations at SAP Center in the first round. “Confident,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “We’ve won Game 7s in our building before, so right now pretty pissed off that we lost this game, but we’ve got to go win a home game.” “We wanted to finish it tonight,” Vlasic said. “Now we have to do it at home on Wednesday.” Some takeaways from Monday night at Pepsi Center. Depth is paying off, for the Avalanche: There was a lot of talk before the series began, and even just midway through last week, about the Sharks’ forward depth and how that was going to huge factor against the seemingly top-heavy Avalanche. But through six games, the Avalanche have shown that they have some weapons besides Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Landeskog. Matt Nieto and Colin Wilson both have two goals and an assist this series, and J.T. Compher had the game of his life Monday with two goals and as assist after he went without a point in the first five games. It was all the more frustrating for the Sharks considering through three periods, MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen were all minus-3. “Their depth guys beat us tonight,” Couture said. “We got beat by J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost. Second, third, fourth line.” Meanwhile, several Sharks forwards have been missing in action. Evander Kane and Marcus Sorensen have gone four straight games without a point, Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc in five straight. The Sharks’ fourth line of Melker Karlsson, Barclay Goodrow and Micheal Haley had decent possession numbers Monday but have two assists combined this series, both by Karlsson. Whenever Logan Couture or Tomas Hertl, or both, have not produced in the last four games, there hasn’t been enough coming from the other forwards. “For me tonight, we got three goals from our defensemen,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “If there was one disappointing area, I thought the forwards could have found a way to do a little bit more. As a group they have to be better for us if we’re going to move on here. “There’s a couple exceptions. I’m not grouping the whole group in that. But this time of year, you need all 12 of them going.” There’s a chance the Sharks will get Joe Pavelski back, which, if it happens, will probably push Joonas Donskoi to the fourth line and Haley out of the lineup. Still, it might be tough to expect much from Pavelski in his first game in two weeks. Sharks could have used another couple penalty calls on the Avalanche: Right after Vlasic scored late in the third period, Timo Meier, in his exuberance, fell into the back of Landeskog’s right leg. Landeskog was not happy, and cross checked Meier. Should a penalty have been called there? You can argue that if that had transpired earlier in the game, or the regular season, that two minutes would have been doled out. Also, less than 30 seconds before Landeskog’s overtime winner, Marcus Sorensen appeared to be hooked by Nikita Zadorov just as the puck slid his way with a wide open net in front of him. “I’m not surprised it’s seven, based on how we played each other,” DeBoer said. “I think it’s been punch, counterpunch, punch. We had a chance to win the series tonight. Related Articles San Jose Sharks reach last-minute settlement over Google’s downtown development NHL Draft Lottery: San Jose Sharks now know their chances of winning San Jose Sharks final grades: Too many key players fell short of expectations Items from Patrick Marleau’s historic night to be on display Bob Boughner believes associate coach will be an NHL bench boss soon “Just before they scored, we had a grade A at the other end. So, that’s this time of year. You’ve got to finish those or you’ve got to bounce back and capitalize on them when you get the next chance, which will be Wednesday night.” No penalties were called after the midway point of the second period. The Sharks had just one power play, which came in the first period and lasted all of 34 seconds. “No, the whistles were in the pockets,” DeBoer said. “Yeah. What are you going to do? It’s Game 7. One game at home to move on to the Western Conference finals. I think we would have taken that at any point in the season.”<doc-sep>
DENVER — The Sharks did things the hard way in the first round, and they’ll be going the distance in the second round as well. Gabriel Landeskog scored just 2:32 into overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win over the Sharks in Game 6 of their second round series, setting up a winner-take-all seventh game on Wednesday in San Jose. Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored with 2:28 left in regulation time to send the game into overtime as the Sharks erased three one-goal deficits. They’ll play a decisive seventh game for the second consecutive round. The Sharks slowed down Nathan MacKinnon Monday but had no answer for J.T. Compher, who had two goals and an assist at Pepsi Center. Compher gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at the 4:00 mark of the third period, as he got behind the Sharks’ defense in front of the crease and lifted a pass from Derick Brassard past Martin Jones. Vlasic and Brent Burns both scored second-period goals for the Sharks. In Game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 23, the Sharks trailed by three goals in the third period, only to score four consecutive goals and win in overtime 5-4. They’ll be back in that same spot Wednesday. The winner of Wednesday’s game will play the winner of Tuesday’s Game 7 between the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final, which may begin this weekend, although the NHL will not announce the schedule until after the second round is complete. Jones made 21 saves through three periods Monday, but Landeskog took hold of a soft shot in front of the net, put it on his forehand and snuck it past Jones, who got a piece of the puck. Since the start of Game 5 against the Golden Knights until the end of Game 5 against the Avalanche, Jones posted a 6-2 record, a .936 save percentage and a 1.94 goals against average. Just in this series, Jones had a .926 save percentage and a 2.02 goals against average, just slightly better than counterpart Philipp Grubauer (.925, 2.44). Burns scored with 10 seconds left in the second period to tie the game 2-2, capping a wild middle frame. Tyson Jost opened the scoring at the 4:05 mark, taking a pass from Compher on a 2 on 1 and beating Jones with a shot upstairs for his second goal of the playoffs. Vlasic tied the game with 5:24 to go in the second, as Timo Meier drove the net around Cale Makar. Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer got his stick on the puck, but it went right to Vlasic, who scored his second of the playoffs on the rebound. Compher gave the Avalanche the lead with 1:16 to go in the second, as his shot from the blue line got past a screened Jones. But the Sharks responded in the final minute. Meier took the puck into the Colorado zone, surrounded by three Avalanche players. The puck was knocked off his stick right to Erik Karlsson, who fed a saucer pass to Burns. He took a stride and fired a wrist shot past Grubauer for his point since Game 2. Jones had 17 saves through two periods, including two big stops on Gabriel Landeskog to keep the Avalanche’s top line off the scoresheet. The Sharks escaped the first period tied 0-0, as Jones made 10 saves and the Avalanche hit the post twice. Colorado dressed only 11 forwards Monday, hoping to get their top forwards more ice time. MacKinnon played 9:06 of the first period and 18:05 through two periods.