Avalanche Hold Off Sharks 5-3
SAN JOSE (AP) -- Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals and the Colorado Avalanche withstood a late San Jose rally to beat the Sharks 5-3 on Friday for their third victory in a row.
Cale Makar added a goal and two assists and Nazem Kadri and Darren Helm also scored for Colorado, which leads the NHL with 93 points and is 27-5-3 since Jan. 1.
With goalie Darcy Kuemper getting the night off, Pavel Francouz started for Colorado and made 25 saves. The Avalanche have won 10 of their past 12 against San Jose.
Trailing 4-0, the Sharks got a goal from Jeffrey Viel late in the second period. Rudolfs Balcers made it 4-2 and Erik Karlsson's goal with 1:25 remaining cut the deficit to one. San Jose pulled goalie Zach Sawchenko but couldn't force overtime.
Nichushkin scored an empty-netter for the final margin.
Kadri opened the scoring with a power-play goal off a beautiful pass from Mikko Rantanen in the first period, and Helm gave Colorado a 2-0 lead after one.
When Makar scored just 34 seconds into the second for a 3-0 Avalanche lead, it appeared a rout was in store until the Sharks swung momentum.
POWERING UP
Kadri's goal extended Colorado's hot streak on the power play. That gave the Avalanche eight goals in their past 17 chances with the man advantage.
NOT SO FAST
It appeared San Jose had grabbed an early lead when Logan Couture sprang loose with the puck in open ice and beat Francouz at 6:07 of the first. But referees reviewed the play and ruled Couture was offside.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday for the second of three meetings between the teams.
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