• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sharks-Avalanche Preview

Apr 3, 2010 - 5:47 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

San Jose (48-20-10) at Colorado (41-29-7), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The San Jose Sharks could face the Colorado Avalanche in a first-round playoff series. That's certainly what Colorado is hoping for at this stage.

The Avalanche look to end a four-game slide and bolster their postseason hopes Sunday night when they host the Western Conference-leading Sharks.

Colorado (41-29-7) had a chance to build a four-point lead over Calgary for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West before suffering a 2-1 home loss to the Flames on Friday. The Avalanche and Flames are tied with 89 points, and Colorado has a game in hand as well as the tiebreaker advantage.

"The ball's in our court," goalie Craig Anderson said. "We've got to win our games, that's the bottom line."

That's exactly what the Avalanche haven't been doing recently. They led Calgary by nine points on March 17, but Anderson is 1-6-1 with a 3.96 goals-against average since.

Colorado is also 1-5-1 in its last seven games against San Jose (48-20-10), which leads Chicago by three points in the race for the best record in the conference. The Avalanche's lone win was a 5-2 victory in the season opener that heralded this surprising season, but their play over the last few weeks has definitely created some doubt.

"We just have to look forward to San Jose coming in on Sunday," right wing Chris Stewart said. "We should be ready for them."

The Avalanche's power play has produced four goals in 27 chances (14.8 percent) over the last eight games. Stewart has one of his team-high 28 goals in that span while rookie center Matt Duchene enters with a season-high 11-game goal drought.

San Jose has played the last three games without Joe Thornton, who has a team-high 85 points. The Sharks thought he may return Friday, but Thornton missed a 3-2 victory at Minnesota.

Thornton has been held without a point in his last four games against Colorado.

Patrick Marleau has two goals and two assists versus the Avalanche this season while Ryane Clowe has three points.

Clowe played Friday after taking a puck to the throat in Wednesday's 5-1 loss at Dallas. He has seven points in his last seven games.

Evgeni Nabokov was pulled after two periods against the Stars, and bounced back Friday with 27 saves.

"It's always good after you lose a game to come out stronger," said Nabokov, who is 10-3-1 with a 2.53 GAA in his last 14 starts against the Avalanche.

Rookie Logan Couture scored the winning goal in the third period against the Wild. Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra had first-period goals.

The Avalanche face all three division leaders in the West over their last five games, with contests upcoming against the Blackhawks and Vancouver.

"We're still in a good spot," left wing T.J. Galiardi said. "It hasn't gone the way we planned the last month or so, but we're a resilient team and we're going to show it over the last (five)."