SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 08: Timo Meier #28 of the San Jose Sharks battles for the puck against Philipp Grubauer #31 and Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 8, 2019 in San Jose, California (Photo by Brandon Magnus/NHLI via Getty Images) Staring down another daunting Game 7 the San Jose Sharks didn’t blink. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3 – 2 capping off Round 2 with a bang. They say that it’s a marathon and not a sprint, and the San Jose Sharks are exhibiting that analogy to a tee during this years Stanley Cup Playoffs. Team Teal has put together an extremely impressive and stressful Stanley Cup Playoff run. They’ve needed every possible game and goal in both of their first two series to reach the Western Conference Finals. Tonight was no different with the Colorado Avalanche taking this to the brink of regulation, nearly forcing overtime with a few close calls in the final moments of the game. There was a lot to love about tonight’s performance but there was also a few things that could be concerning in regards to Team Teal’s future success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here’s what stuck out in Game 7 of Round 2 versus the Colorado Avalanche. Pros The Captain Leads His Troops ~ The return of the Captain Joe Pavelski sparked the San Jose Sharks early in Game 7. He marched them to victory recording 2 points in his triumphant return to the Tank. The crowd went absolutely wild all game long for Pavelski and the team fed off of the energy, jumping on the Avalanche with a 2 – 0 lead in the first frame. Pavelski started the night right with a vintage goal off a Burns bomb from the point. The Captain Joe Pavelski makes his presence known putting the #SJSharks up front.#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/mDIYFaUqoy — Blades of Teal (@BladesofTeal) May 9, 2019 The crowd erupted and never really settled down until the final horn sounded. It was a heartwarming moment and something Sharks fans will never forget. San Jose is hoping to carry this momentum into Round 3 against the St. Louis Blues and potentially further into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “Playoff Martin Jones” ~ After a rough start to the 2018 – 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Martin Jones has stabilized his play in net. Jones got pulled twice during the first 4 games of Round 1, recording a 0.838 save percentage during that stretch of time. Since that rough patch, Jones has completely turned things around. In those 10 games since being pulled in Game 4 of Round 1, he’s put up a stellar 0.928 SV%, per naturalstattrick. His timely saves and calming presence have kept the Sharks alive in this series, and tonight was no different. The Colorado Avalanche put it all on the ice in the final minutes of Game 7. They threw everything they could at the 29-year-old netminder but Jones stood tall when it mattered most. Jones stays strong in the final moments of Game 7 for the #SJSharks#StanleyCup #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/GRdJQr4OP1 — Blades of Teal (@BladesofTeal) May 9, 2019 Martin Jones ended the night with 27 saves on 29 shots. With his game rounding into form and the Captain returning this team finally seems complete. This is perfect timing for the San Jose Sharks with them being only 8 wins away from their first Stanley Cup in team history. Tomas Put the Hertl on the Avalanche ~ I’m sorry… Anyway the 25-year-old continues to shine during this years Stanley Cup Playoffs. He registered 2 more points tonight putting his playoff total at 14 points, with 9 of them being goals. Hertl scores the second goal of the night for the #SJSharks#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/WbAdDQACoY — Blades of Teal (@BladesofTeal) May 9, 2019 Hertl continues to generate offense on a nightly basis, he leads the entire Playoffs with 42 high danger scoring opportunities, per naturalstattrick. This stat exhibits how effective the Czech forward is off the rush and in near the crease. His ability to get into the dangerous areas of the ice is unmatched among the other skaters on the Sharks roster. Team Teal will be relying on Hertl to push them past the St. Louis Blues and into the Stanley Cup Finals. Con Sharks, I Need More Power ~ The San Jose Sharks went 0 – 3 on the power play tonight, making them 2/19 during this series. It’s hard to think of any negatives to take away from another wild Game 7 victory so we won’t dwell on this too much. But it is something of concern for the Sharks who are up for a tougher match-up against the St. Louis Blues. There were probably a few reasons why Team Teal struggled so much with the man advantage. First off they were missing their most effective power play forward for most of this series and haven’t had a day off to focus on practicing their cohesion on the power play in a while. So hopefully the Sharks can center themselves with this time off before heading into Game 1 on May 11th. The San Jose Sharks are heading into Round 3 with destiny on their side. However they’ll be in for a tough task matching up against the St. Louis Blues. They have a much deeper roster than the Avalanche, and have a what appears to be a cyborg in net. This series should have a slower pace to it compared to the previous 2, but will no doubt be just as intense.<doc-sep>The chief reason why the San Jose Sharks were considered favorites over the Colorado Avalanche was depth. San Jose had it, Colorado did not. Not that you could tell after losing Game 6 to the likes of J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost. Logan Couture made pointed comments about the Sharks’ depth guys needing to step up. Peter DeBoer, perhaps excusing only Couture’s line, took a swipe at his forwards: “This time of year, you need all 12 of them going.” All 12 of them were going, at least in the first two periods of Game 7, as San Jose staked out a 3-1 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Joe Pavelski We saw some of the best individual qualities from this newly-formed line on this game-opening goal: Hertl’s (48) tree trunk frame kept Tyson Barrie (4) away from the puck, Kane’s speed and size combination lent itself to a forecheck that easily separated Alexander Kerfoot (13) from the puck, while Pavelski (8) tipped it home. “He proved it again, he’s one of the best. He tipped it again,” Hertl exclaimed. “It’s amazing. I try all year long [to tip it in], and every time, the puck is in the corner. But for him, every time it’s perfect.” Hertl deserves a double-feature. He put his body between Compher (7) and Erik Johnson (6), eventually luring Colin Wilson (22) one way before backhanding a pass to Kane the other way. This would lead to his own goal. Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Gustav Nyquist Speaking of Hertl’s goal, it was initiated by this Meier (28) drive. While this wasn’t the best example of it, Meier’s ability to take the puck wide on a defenseman with his combination of size and speed can be frightening. More often than not, it’s at least a sure zone entry. This Nyquist effort to get above Soderberg & puck was reason why puck stayed in zone for Donskoi goal pic.twitter.com/lOYOyhg1X8 — Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) May 9, 2019 Meanwhile, Joonas Donskoi’s (27) goal was initiated by this superlative Nyquist (14) effort. It was just another in a long list of positive plays that the playmaker made in this series. DeBoer said this before Game 7: Logan is the consummate “I’m not going to tell you, I’m going to show you what my commitment level is” [guy]. He brings that every night. At the end of Game 5, he blocked two shots in the last 30 seconds when they had the goalie out. Everyone looks at the goals, where he is in scoring. For me, he walks the walk at both ends of the rink. Those are the type of guys that you can win with. Here’s just another example of Couture’s will to win: Patrick Nemeth (12) is aiming for Compher’s stick with a hard shot-pass, Couture will have nothing to do with it. Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc In truth, this line has been quiet since their Game 1 eruption. But this third period shift was important. The Avalanche were making their push, while the Sharks had just killed off a power play. Labanc (62) flew in on the forecheck, batting down the Philipp Grubauer (31) pass. Colorado got it out, but Thornton (19) outraced Carl Soderberg (34) to a loose puck. Labanc chipped it back in, and now, it was Sorensen’s (20) time to shine. Sorensen skated through a Nikita Zadorov’s (16) stick interference, then closed on Ian Cole (28), who rushed a pass up because of the winger’s pressure. Zadorov lofted it out, onto Brent Burns’s stick. In a final frame controlled by the Avalanche, this was a meaningful defensive shift turned in by Jumbo and company. Joonas Donskoi — Barclaw Goodrow — Melker Karlsson Donskoi makes it 3-1 Sharks! pic.twitter.com/6xglhn3dMd — Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) May 9, 2019 First goal in 40 contests, and it’s a series-winner for Donskoi (27). His previous career-long slump was 27 games. After the disallowed Wilson goal, Erik Karlsson took a slashing penalty, which gave Colorado a chance to get it back. Instead, Goodrow (23) pickpocketed Mikko Rantanen (96), pressured a puck out and blocked a Barrie blast. Blink and you’ll miss it, but Goodrow’s linemate and penalty-killing partner, Melker Karlsson (68), provided strong support, denying Rantanen the slot (which led to Goodrow pickpocket) and running out at Barrie (hurrying shot that Goodrow blocked). “With so much on the line, it’s something you have to get done,” Goodrow said. To a man, the forwards got it done last night, to punch San Jose’s ticket to the Western Conference Final. “Every line, we stepped it up,” Hertl noted. “If you want to win a Cup, you need all four lines. Every line created chances.”<doc-sep>SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Gabriel Landeskog returned to the Colorado Avalanche bench and sat down just as teammate Colin Wilson put the puck behind San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. Game 7 on Wednesday night was tied, 2-all, in the second period. The Avalanche had new life. Or so Landeskog believed. "I didn't think anything of it, to be honest with you. And then we were wondering why they weren't dropping the puck," the Avalanche captain said. The Sharks have a video coach, Dan Darrow, who is tasked with quickly assessing plays to see whether there's an opportunity for a coach's challenge. Most people watching the game saw Derick Brassard make a sweeping one-handed pass into the Avalanche's attacking zone and Nathan MacKinnon speed to the puck to set up Wilson, and all of them appeared to be onside. Darrow saw something else: Landeskog, standing at the door to the Avalanche bench, his skates appearing to land inside the attacking zone before the puck did. Based on Darrow's suggestion, the Sharks challenged the play with 12 minutes, 11 seconds left in the second period. Lose the challenge, and they would have been assessed a delay of game penalty. "He's the lead on it, every night. Ballsy call," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said of Darrow. The on-ice officials discussed the play with the NHL War Room in Toronto. The decision: No goal. "I saw some replays on the bench. From what we saw, it could have gone either way," Landeskog said. The NHL didn't issue an explanation of the call until after the Sharks' 3-2 victory to eliminate the Avalanche, an uncharacteristic move given the importance of the decision and the game. "After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the Linesman, 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 league said. "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.'" Essentially, after Landeskog went offside, his skate touched the blue line at one point, so he wasn't offside. Then his skates both went back to the right of the blue line as he slowly entered the Colorado bench, putting him offside again. To have this type of offside called was uncommon, the Avalanche said. "I would say it's pretty rare," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said with an exasperated laugh. "In a Game 7, even more so. That player has nothing to do with the play that's going on. It seems like such a minute detail, whether he's onside or offside. So it's strange, you know? It's strange. And it's something we could have done without tonight, no question." Controversial officiating in a Sharks Game 7 is officially a trend in these playoffs. They also eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights thanks in part to a five-minute major penalty on which they scored four goals and for which the NHL eventually apologized to Vegas. The decision left Colorado despondent. Just under five minutes later, Joonas Donskoi scored to make it a 3-1 lead for the Sharks. "We thought it was 2-2, and then we kinda got caught sleeping. And then it was 3-1," Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole said. "No matter what that call is, we have to keep playing. We have to learn that when things don't go our way, we have to take momentum back as quickly as possible." If that sounds like the dulcet tones of personal responsibility, that's because the Avalanche took it after Game 7. In the same dressing room where Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said the NHL should be "embarrassed" for the controversial major penalty in the Knights' Game 7 loss, Landeskog took the officials off the hook and shouldered the blame for the critical overturned goal. "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," Landeskog said. "Hopefully, the linesmen got it right. I haven't been in that position at all, to have to make that call in a Game 7. It's a tough job. It's a tough call to make. Hopefully, they got it right. I'll take the blame for that. Ultimately, it's my skates on the ice. But there was a lot more to the game than that." Landeskog and his teammates pointed to a variety of other factors that went into their Game 7 defeat. There was MacKinnon's unfortunate shoulder injury in the first period that limited his ice time; MacKinnon said it's an injury he'll need to rehab, but that "they shot me up with something, and I came back." There was the slow start, as captain Joe Pavelski's return from injury energized the Sharks and propelled them to a 2-0 lead in the first 11:35 of the game. There was the Avs' push at the end when the score was 3-2 that produced several good chances but not the equalizing goal they needed. "In the last minute, we could have tied it up. But nothing would go in," said MacKinnon, who played 20 minutes, 58 seconds in Game 7. "It's unfortunate. But we felt with the way the East is shaking out, and the West as well, we could have won the Cup this year. It truly felt like we could have won everything. It was up for grabs. It sucks." The Avalanche have a young core of players and more prospects on the way. Their window to win extends beyond this postseason. What veteran players such as Cole hope is that the experiences from a Game 7 loss -- from the frustrating overturned goal to the missed opportunities -- are the learning experiences they'll need to eventually win a series like this. "There's always turning points in every game. I think, hopefully, if we can learn from them and better recognize those situations, then maybe we can continue to grow as a team," he said. "Because we did a ton of growing this year."<doc-sep>
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.