Alexandar Georgiev, sent from Colorado to San Jose in the trade along with Nikolai Kovalenko, a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, started for the Sharks and made 27 saves.
“It’s a little weird because you know the tendencies of the players, and that’s not always a good thing for a goalie,” Georgiev said. “You don’t want to overcommit to whatever guys are doing. For me, [I was] just trying to play the guys fair, like usual. I know how to play hockey, so just not overthink.”
Mikko Rantanen scored a goal to extend his points streak to seven games (four goals, nine assists). Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon each had two assists for the Avalanche (19-15-0), who are 5-2-0 in their last seven games.
“First period, especially, I thought we were shooting the puck, created lots of chances. Second period wasn’t as good. I thought they took it over a little bit in the second,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “But I liked our third again. I thought we got back on to what we were doing in the first period. I thought our penalty kill [came] up huge tonight.”
William Eklund and Carl Grundstrom scored for the Sharks (11-19-5), who have lost three straight and six of seven.
“I don’t know if it’s psychological. I didn’t mind our third period at times. I thought we did some good things, but there’s a fine line of winning in this league,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “They make a couple plays, we don’t make a couple plays, and it’s in the back of our net. That’s the difference of the hockey game.”
