The Colorado Avalanche are out. After a stunning series win over the Calgary Flames in round one, the Avalanche came one win away from reaching the Western Conference Final as an eight-seed, falling to the Sharks in seven games. So, how did it happen? The top line didn't take over Colorado's top trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog is maybe the best and most explosive in hockey. This isn't a one-line team anymore, but the Avs are still largely carried by the MacKinnon line and were likely always only going to go as far as that top unit could take them. They didn't have a bad series by any means -- MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog combined for six goals and eight assists over the seven-game series. They were instrumental in Colorado's wins, with four of those goals and five of those assists coming in the three victories. But they weren't nearly as consistently dominant as they proved to be in the opening round, when they accounted for nine goals and 12 assists in five games. While it's almost impossible to completely shut down a line as dynamic and talented as this one, the Sharks found a way to limit their damage. Here's how the goal share broke down at 5-on-5, via Natural Stat Trick: MacKinnon: 6 GF, 9 GA 6 GF, 9 GA Rantanen: 5 GF, 7 GA 5 GF, 7 GA Landeskog: 5 GF, 10 GA It certainly didn't help Colorado that the line seemed to be banged up by the end of the series, either. Rantanen appeared to suffer a lower body or hip injury that hobbled him in Game 6, and MacKinnon missed about half of the first period of Game 7 after suffering what looked to be a significant upper body injury. The Couture line Logan Couture continues to be a playoff monster for San Jose and he had another great series on both ends of the ice against Colorado. He had three goals in the series -- all of them coming in a 4-2 Sharks win in Game 3 -- and added three assists. Couture's linemate Timo Meier also had an extremely strong series, adding six points of his own (two goals and four assists). The 22-year-old Meier is rapidly emerging as a dominant force in this league. Gustav Nyquist also had a solid series, recording a goal and four assists. While on the ice at 5-on-5 in this series, Couture's line controlled about 53 percent of shot attempts while going up against some of Colorado's top players. Couture and Meier each had a 78 percent goal share (seven for, two against) at 5-on-5, while Nyquist had a 71-percent goal share (five for, two against). Strong play from Burns-Vlasic It's not exactly a secret that the Sharks are capable of beating you from the back end. They've got two former Norris-winning defensemen in Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Burns was the better of the two in this series and he was a difference-maker for San Jose. The Avs gave him too much breathing room in this series. As a result, Burns led all players in points with 10 (four goals and six assists) over the seven games. He bookended the series pretty strongly, putting up four points in Game 1 and two points in Game 7. Burns received some serious support and protection from Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, who also made some surprising contributions offensively in the series (two goals and an assist). At 5-on-5, Burns was on the ice for 12 goals for, eight against. Vlasic had 10 goals for, nine against. A lifeless power play Well, it's more accurate to say two lifeless power plays, as Colorado went 2-for-23 on the power play and San Jose went 2-for-19 in the series. While you can't really say that San Jose had much of an advantage, you can certainly say that Colorado's inability to seize their opportunities played into why they couldn't come out ahead in this series. They went 0-for-9 in the final three games, with their two losses in those games coming by just one goal. With Colorado's front end failing to dominate the series at 5-on-5, the Avs really needed to get a boost from special teams. That disallowed goal in Game 7 There, I mentioned it... are you happy? In all seriousness, I think it's tough to make a definitive ruling on this one either way, but you can argue that Gabriel Landeskog could have shown a more awareness by getting to the bench quicker. Truthfully, this ruling embodies pretty much everything I hate about the offside review. Landeskog was about 100 feet away from the puck and had no significant impact on the development of the play. The spirit of the offside rule is to prevent attacking teams from gaining an unfair advantage behind the defense. Landeskog did no such thing. It then gets extra confusing when you consider the fact that Landeskog was considered to be on the ice enough for the goal to be ruled offside, but not on the ice enough for the Avs to get whistled for "too many men." It's contradictory. However, it's not like this play happened in the final 10 minutes of the third period or something. The Avs had plenty of time to bounce back and get another goal. Instead, they allowed the next score -- a major swing goal off the stick of Joonas Donskoi -- and it put them in a hole they couldn't climb out from. I didn't like the ruling but anyone using it as the excuse for why the Avalanche lost Game 7 is guilty of a lazy take.<doc-sep>SAN JOSE, Calif. — From the hockey rink to the horse track, technology is killing the spirit of the thing, too often turning our sports into an endless, whiny argument. And on Wednesday night, geeky obsession with the slow-motion, re-examination of every detail on a disputed goal killed any chance the Avalanche had of advancing in the NHL playoffs. The scoreboard showed San Jose defeated Colorado 3-2 in the decisive game of this best-of-seven series. But who really beat the Avalanche? Not Joonas Donskoi, credited with the game-winning score for San Jose on a beautiful wrap-around goal during the second period. The most valuable player for the Sharks wasn’t on the ice at the arena. It was an instant-replay official who disallowed a Colorado goal by Colin Wilson in the same soulless manner a hall monitor refuses admission to the rest room to a third-grade kid. This will be called sour grapes. Am I salty? You bet. But let’s call out this absurdity for the nonsense it is. Instant replay hasn’t made sports better. It has turned us into a nation of whiners. We argue like children on the playground, with the three most overused words in sports: Upon further review. Upon further review, the best horse didn’t win the Kentucky Derby, because it was determined Maximum Security was guilty of a foul after a 21-minute review. By the same token, Colorado didn’t lose to San Jose in Game 7, so much as Sharks coach Peter DeBoer cried foul to erase a critical goal that would’ve allowed the Avs to tie the score 2-2 in the second period. On the disallowed goal, it was determined Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog was offside, although he was not part of the play, and standing at the doorstep to the Colorado bench. It required the freeze-frame technology of instant replay to make the call that changed all momentum in Game 7. Was the decision ultimately accurate? I’m not so certain, and neither was anybody on the Avalanche’s side. “It’s a tough call to make, so hopefully they got it right,” said Landeskog, an honorable man refusing to blame this defeat on the officials. “Listen, there were 10 things I could’ve done differently on that play. Wish I got off the ice a lot quicker, and I should’ve jumped the boards. If I could’ve done it again …” Landeskog paused, tortured by the coulda, shoulda and woulda buzzing through his brain. “It’s an expensive lesson to learn in Game 7,” he said. “It’s frustrating.” Wash away the bitter taste of the replay nitpick, and what lingers? Left for dead in the Shark Tank, the Avs thrashed and fought and spit bile until the bitter end. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Colorado during the opening 12 minutes of this win-or-go-home night. Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon crashed into the boards near center ice and was forced to seek medical attention back in the dressing room. Even worse, San Jose scored two quick goals, the first by captain Joe Pavelski, returning to the lineup for the first time since a bloody head injury in Round 1 against Las Vegas. But quit? Not the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen gave Colorado life, scoring with only seven seconds remaining in the first period, cutting the visitors’ deficit to a manageable 2-1. As the Avs walked off the ice at the first intermission, one loud voice that declared the battle rejoined as players turned for the room: “We’re baaack! We’re baaack!” Those defiant words reminded me of an old movie. When surrendering would have been easy, the Avalanche instead took the hard way and decided to it would be more fun to be poltergeists at the Sharks’ victory party. Related Articles Kiszla: Nuggets fans booing Carmelo Anthony are foolish to let Melo live rent-free inside their heads Kiszla: Nastiness of Nuggets-Blazers playoff series can be summed up in single four-letter word: Melo. Lunch Special: Denver sports live chat with Mark Kiszla Kiszla: On Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon’s mission to win Stanley Cup, we are all his wingmen Kiszla: Embarrassed by Portland and old man Melo, Nuggets better buy a broom to sweep up pieces of shattered championship dream Just when San Jose had good reason to believe two goals early in the first period had buried the Western Conference’s gritty, little eighth seed? Not so fast. They’re baaack. Colorado didn’t have quite enough to beat San Jose, but the Avs have forced themselves back in the Stanley Cup conversation. This Colorado team is relentless by nature, a trait that will be essential to the Avs’ pursuit of a championship in the years ahead, every bit as critical as the development of young defenseman Cale Makar or the world-class skill of MacKinnon. As Avs defenseman Ian Cole, a two-time champion with Pittsburgh, said on the morning of Game 7: “Our goal as a hockey team is to win the Stanley Cup. … Anything short of that, you’re shooting for failure.” No more moral victories. Look out, NHL. The Avalanche has arrived. “We’re not always going to say, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ We want to win now,” Landeskog insisted. “We are past the feel-good thing or whatever you want to call it. We want to win. And there’s only one way to do that. You have to get your name on the Cup.”<doc-sep>The last game 7 is upon us to set up the Western Conference Finals. The Colorado Avalanche battle the San Jose Sharks in the final second-round matchup on Wednesday night. The playoffs have been a whirlwind so far, with these two series being the fourth and fifth to go to seven games. NHL Playoffs Schedule Game 7 Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks (Series Tied 3-3) Game 7 Date: Wednesday, May 8th Wednesday, May 8th Game 7 Start Time: 9:00 PM ET 9:00 PM ET Game 7 TV Channel: NBCSN NBCSN Game 7 Live Stream: fuboTV (Watch for free) EASTERN CONFERENCE Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – BRUINS WIN SERIES 4-2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders – HURRICANES WIN SERIES 4-0 WESTERN CONFERENCE Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues – ST. LOUIS WIN SERIES 4-3 In the Eastern Conference, Carolina stormed past their second-round foe in a second-straight upset for the Wild Card seed. They’ll travel to Boston well-rested before Thursday’s game against the favored Bruins. Boston’s 4-2 series win was closer than the scoreline appears, with Tuuka Rask standing on his head to keep the Blue Jackets fury of shots out of the net. The Bruins are well-coached but may not be recuperated enough to take advantage of their home ice. 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The Colorado Avalanche are done, and the San Jose Sharks are now 2-0 in Game 7s this postseason, following their 3-2 victory Wednesday night. Here's what happened in the NHL Wednesday night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for Thursday night in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily: Jump ahead: Last night's game | Three stars Play of the night | Today's game | Social post of the day About last night ... Game 7: San Jose Sharks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (Sharks win series 4-3) There were times when this felt like a coronation for the Sharks, like when Joe Pavelski -- playing in his first game since his horrific Game 7 head injury in the previous round -- scored a goal and assisted on Tomas Hertl's tally to give San Jose a 2-0 lead just 11:35 into the game. There were times when, in a postseason full of upsets, it appeared Colorado was going to pull another one, like when Mikko Rantanen scored with seven seconds left in the first, or when Tyson Jost scored 51 seconds into the third to cut the lead to 3-2. But in the end, there were too many times when the breaks went San Jose's way, such as the overturned goal on a coach's challenge in the second period because of an offside, or the stellar play by Martin Jones (27 saves) late in the game. The Sharks move on to face the St. Louis Blues. The Avalanche see a very impressive season come to an end. Three stars 1. Joe Pavelski, C, San Jose Sharks. The captain returned from concussion-like symptoms to play his first game of the series, and his impact was immediate: His deflection of a Brent Burns shot at 5:57 of the first opened the scoring, and he assisted on Hertl's goal at 11:35. He skated 19 minutes, 49 seconds for the game, although he didn't take a faceoff, sparking speculation that he might still be dealing with injury. At one point, the camera put Pavelski on the JumboTron and he responded with a fist pump, to the roar of the crowd. It was that kind of night. 2. Martin Jones, G, San Jose Sharks. Jones made 27 saves and gave up two goals, appearing to fight the puck a bit during the game. But he was there when it counted, making 14 saves in the third period to preserve the 3-2 lead and win his second Game 7 of the playoffs. 3. Samuel Girard, D, Colorado Avalanche. The young defenseman was one of the strongest players for the Avs in Game 7, with a plus-9 in Corsi, an expected goals percentage of 83.42 to lead the team and the primary assist on Rantanen's goal. Just a reminder that despite the loss, the future is bright for the Avalanche. Play of the night The Avalanche thought they tied Game 7 in the second period, but the goal was wiped off the board because "the Situation Room determined that Gabriel Landeskog did not legally tag up at the blue line prior to the puck entering the offensive zone. The decision was made in accordance to Rule 83.3 (i), 'All players of the offending team clear the zone at the same instant (skate contact with the blue line) permitting the attacking players to re-enter the attacking zone...'" In other words, the Sharks won their coach's challenge. Landeskog, to his credit, took the blame: "It's a clumsy mistake, you know? 'Get off the ice.' If I could have done something different on that play, I would have jumped the boards a lot quicker," he said. Dud of the night Here's the injury to Nathan MacKinnon. #SJSharks>#GoAvsGo>pic.twitter.com/NG6FSqGl1E - Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) May 9, 2019 Less "dud" than "bummer" of the night. Nathan MacKinnon appeared to hurt his shoulder in the first period of Game 7, limiting him to just five shifts in the period. MacKinnon said he'll have to rehab the injury, and that "they shot me up with something, and I came back." Colorado coach Jared Bednar praised his star for playing through the pain, saying, "He would have had to have been stretchered out of the building to not come back [in that game]." On the schedule Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins, Game 1, 8 p.m. ET The "Bunch of Jerks" take on the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals, trying to pull another upset in their postseason push.