Avalanche season comes to an end in close Game 7 with the Sharks

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Just over two weeks after being helped off the ice while bleeding from his head in a Game 7 win in the first round against Vegas, Pavelski inspired the crowd and carried his team to another Game 7 victory. He scored the first goal and assisted on Tomas Hertl's goal as the Sharks advanced to their fourth conference final this decade.






Pavelski took less than six minutes to provide more than just inspiration. He deflected Brent Burns' point shot past Grubauer for the opening goal of the game and celebrated with an exaggerated fist pump. Pavelski tipped the puck from almost the exact same spot in the faceoff circle where he was knocked out and bleeding from his head after the awkward fall on April 23 against the Golden Knights.

That play led to a major penalty that the Sharks converted into four power-play goals to erase a 3-0 deficit and help carry San Jose into the second round where his teammates vowed to extend the season long enough for Pavelski to return.


Colorado lost star Nathan MacKinnon early in the first when his shoulder crashed into the boards, but his return late in the period helped spark the Avalanche. He created a couple of scoring chances and Colorado then converted with MacKinnon on the ice in the closing seconds of the period when Rantanen deflected a point shot from Samuel Girard with 6.8 seconds remaining in the first.

The Avalanche appeared to tie the game midway through the second when MacKinnon set up Colin Wilson, but Sharks coach Peter DeBoer challenged the play for offside. The play was overturned because captain Gabriel Landeskog was still in the zone as he went off the ice on a line change.


