By: Phillip Torres

COLORADO-The San Jose Sharks 47-20-9) were hosted by the Colorado Avalanche (47-21-6) on Saturday at in Colorado. The Avalanche came away with an impressive 3-2 victory to earn a playoff birth against a possible opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov recorded a season high 47 saves on the night to preserve the one goal victory.

Colorado never trailed in the game as they got the scoring started off early in the first period. Paul Stastny knocked in a wrist shot at 1:33 in the opening period. His wrist shot that found the net passed Antti Niemi was assisted by Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.

The Sharks tied the game back up at 1-1 less than two minutes later with a goal from Joe Pavelski. The score was Pavelski’s 38th goal on the season, and it came via a backhand shot, assisted by Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Although San Jose answered back fast, the tie did not remain for long. Cody McLeod put the Avalanche back on top before the first intermission with a wrist shot at 10:34.

With the score 2-1 Colorado heading into the second period, Colorado put the game away with the eventual winning goal at 6:32 in the middle period. John Mitchell made it a 3-1 game with a wrist shot on a power play goal. The goal was assisted by Jamie McGinn and Erik Johnson.

Dan Boyle made it a 3-2 game later in the period but that goal capped the scoring on the night for both teams. The third period was a defensive showing by both opponents, especially Colorado who was great on the penalty kill all night. The Sharks had their fair share of opportunities in the final period to send the game to overtime, but it came to no avail.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Tuesday April 1st as they will be back at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks will host the Edmonton Oilers and the puck will drop at 7:30 pm.