Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks (7:00 p.m. MT)

Blackhawks, both of whom Colorado earned shutouts against in their wins, they return home to Colorado today to take on the San Jose Sharks. This will be the second of three regular-season matchups between these two teams, with San Jose having won the first game.

Colorado Avalanche (16-1-5)

Funnily enough, the Avalanche’s last loss was against the Sharks way back on November 1. Flash forward almost a month, and Colorado has now won nine straight games after that OT loss, and tonight they look to win their tenth straight. Whatever the situation might be in any game, the Avs just keep finding ways to win, over and over again. You can certainly make the argument that they didn’t play their best against Nashville or Chicago on the most recent back-to-back, but when both your goalies put up shutouts, and you win games 3-0 and 1-0 respectively, it’s really tough to complain. After all, they don’t ask how, they just ask how many. Guys have been stepping up all across the lineup, and you should expect the same here tonight.

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin NecasRoss Colton – Brock Nelson – Gabriel LandeskogParker Kelly – Jack Drury – Victor OlofssonIvan Ivan – Zakhar Bardakov – Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews – Cale MakarJosh Manson – Brent BurnsSamuel Girard – Sam Malinski

Mackenzie BlackwoodScott Wedgewood

San Jose Sharks (11-9-3)

This San Jose team has arguably been one of the best stories of the NHL season so far. Everyone knew that they certainly had talent throughout their lineup, but I don’t think anyone expected them to be sitting just two points out of a wild-card spot for the playoffs. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have been extremely good for this Sharks team to start the year, and they look like they’re going to be a problem for the league for years to come in just their second year in the NHL.

William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Will SmithPhilipp Kurashev – Alexander Wennberg – Tyler ToffoliAdam Gaudette – Ty Dellandrea – Collin GrafBarclay Goodrow – Zack Ostapchuk – Ryan Reaves

Dmitry Orlov – Timothy LiljegrenMario Ferraro – Shakir MukhamadullinSam Dickinson – Vincent Desharnais

Yaroslav AskarovAlex Nedeljkovic

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