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Grier fuels Sharks past Avalanche

Dec 4, 2007 - 5:17 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- Aesthetically, it wasn't pretty, but Mike Grier's goal proved downright beautiful for the San Jose Sharks.

Grier's bouncing wrist shot from outside the right faceoff circle beat goaltender Jose Theodore midway through the third period as the Sharks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, on Monday.

The goal, which gave San Jose a 3-1 lead with 11:30 remaining in the session, was Grier's second game-winning tally against Colorado in the last three days.

"It hit their (defenseman's) stick and might have even bounced off the ice," Grier said. "I was just trying to throw it at the net. It was a lucky break."

Grier was credited with the deciding tally in the Sharks' 3-2 victory over the Avalanche on Friday after Joe Thornton attempted a pass which deflected off defenseman John-Michael Liles. The puck then hit Grier's skate and entered the net.

Andrew Brunette halved the deficit with 3:05 remaining on Monday.

After Brad Richardson won a faceoff in the offensive end, Brunette quickly wristed a shot from inside the left faceoff circle past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for his fifth goal of the season.

The Avalanche couldn't get anything else past the Russian netminder, who finished with 33 saves.

"We tried to play strong defensively and not take too many chances, especially in the third period," Nabokov said. "We had to protect the lead."

"In the third period, we started testing him more," said Ryan Smyth, noting that his team put 16 shots on goal during the session. "He held his ground and you have to give him a lot of credit."

Milan Michalek opened the scoring 3:14 into the first period.

The Czech native gained control of a loose puck and sent a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past Theodore for his eighth goal of the season.

Thornton assisted on the play to extend his consecutive game points streak to three. He has three goals and four assists during that stretch.

Colorado's Milan Hejduk leveled the contest just 12 seconds later.

Hejduk picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated in and beat Nabokov with a wrist shot from the inside of the right circle to tie the game at 1-1.

Hejduk's goal, his ninth of the season, extended his consecutive game points streak to four. He has three goals and three assists during that stretch.

Steve Bernier regained the lead midway through the second period, again with a little help from Thornton.

Thornton worked the puck off the left boards before feeding Bernier, who lost the puck momentarily before beating Theodore with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.

"We played a basic road game tonight," Bernier said. "We didn't do anything spectacular. We didn't want to have any turnovers. We had a couple of them. We're lucky Nabokov stopped the puck."

The Avalanche went scoreless on the power play for the seventh time in the last nine games. With Joe Sakic out of the lineup for the second straight game, that was one way Colorado was hoping to generate goals.

"We had a couple of opportunities, but we weren't able to get a goal," Liles said. "Nobody is ever going to replace Joe Sakic or some of the other guys that we're missing, but it's not an excuse not having those guys in the lineup. It's got to be a team effort all the way around."