Recap: Avalanche outmuscle Sharks, win 4-1 for second straight

The Colorado Avalanche are back in the win column again as they continue to shine after rough start.

Ross Colton scored twice, Justus Annunen made 25 saves in his first start of the season and the Colorado Avalanche kept the San Jose Sharks winless in a 4-1 drubbing Sunday night at SAP Center.

Colton now has five goals in his last three games to kick off his hot start. Here’s how it all went down.

First Period

The Sharks got off to a solid start, but the Avs were holding strong behind a solid defensive performance. However, San Jose’s lack of awareness cost them as they were called for too many men on the ice penalty. Nathan MacKinnon fed Colton in the slot from the left wing and latter fired in a juicy one-timer to give Colorado a 1-0 lead on the power play.

Colton made it a 2-0 score at 16:37 with a wrist shot over the blocker of Sharks netminder Vitek Vanecek, whose name was spelled incorrectly on his jersey during the game. Surely someone will be getting a scolding after spreads throughout social media during the game.

William Eklund scored his first goal of the 24-25 season on the power play with 1:35 remaining in the frame, to cut the Avalanche lead to 2-1. But that was all for the Sharks offense. The rest of the game was a one-sided showing for Colorado.

Second Period

Jan Rutta has been a penalty machine to start the season and committed another infraction to begin the second period. The entire Sharks team has been pretty undisciplined to be fair, as Mikael Granlund was also whistled. This is the third straight game that San Jose has faced a 5-on-3 power play.

Well, if you can’t score, get creative. Tyler Toffoli drew two penalties in an attempt to get the Sharks some much-needed offense. He drew an interference call against Miles Wood and a tripping call against Josh Manson. To the chagrin of San Jose fans, their power plays came up empty against the Avs PK unit to hold the one-goal lead with one period to go.

Third Period

You can’t knock the Sharks for the lack of effort. They outshot the Avalanche 26-21 in the game, which is a bit shocking for a winless team, albeit also not surprising at the same time. Colorado is still missing a lot of their top-six forwards, but on Sunday, they still could not be defeated. With a commendable performance from Annunen, who some argue should be the starting goaltender, the Avs are now on a two-game winning streak.

Cale Makar, who scored an empty net goal at 18:23 for the 4-1 final, extended his point streak to six games. He also had two assists on the evening. MacKinnon finished the night with two assists and also extended his point streak to six games.

Takeaways

They were playing the Sharks, but Annunen looked pretty solid in his first start of the year. Alexandar Georgiev — the NHL victory leader last year — has struggled mightily to start the season. Kappo Kahkonen, who was claimed off waivers from Winnipeg, has cleared immigration and could get a start on the road trip. This could mean Annunen could be headed back to the Eagles even after this great performance.

The Sharks failed to win a game until November last year and it appears they are on a similar trajectory this season. Colorado fans endured the 48-point season in 2016-17 and it’s a lonely feeling. But the Sharks aren’t the only winless team. The Nashville Predators are the other squad without a victory to this point.

Upcoming

The Avalanche continue their road trip as they take on the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Puck drop is at 6:30 p.m. MT for all to watch on ESPN on the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy day.