San Jose @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 28, 2019 ) Colorado 4, San Jose 3

The San Jose Sharks pushed their chips to the center of the table in the offseason by acquiring one offensive-minded defenseman to pair with another. After being done in by another like-minded blueliner in their last contest, the Sharks aim to regain the edge in their Western Conference second-round series on Tuesday when they play Game 3 against the host Colorado Avalanche.

Defenseman Tyson Barrie recorded his second three-point performance in three contests on Sunday by scoring the go-ahead goal and adding two assists in Colorado's 4-3 win. "Elite players, they find a way to generate offense even when the checking is tough, and that is what he did (on Sunday)," coach Jared Bednar told reporters of the 27-year-old Barrie, who had three assists in the Avalanche's Game 5 win over Calgary in the first round. San Jose defenseman Brent Burns followed up his four-point performance in Friday's 5-2 victory with his fifth career playoff contest with at least three points when he scored two goals and set up another in Game 2. Burns, who will bid for his second Norris Trophy in June, has clobbered Colorado with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in five games -including playoffs - in 2018-19.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA

ABOUT THE SHARKS: While the jury is out about the health of Erik Karlsson, the two-time Norris Trophy recipient continues to contribute with a team-leading 10 assists in the playoffs. "Moving effortlessly now. He's starting to look like he should. He's not thinking about (the lower-body injury) now. There's no hesitation," coach Peter DeBoer told reporters. Tomas Hertl boosted his point total to seven (four goals, three assists) in his last five contests after setting up a pair of goals in Game 2 for his first career multi-assist performance in the playoffs.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE: Colorado's bread and butter continues to be its top line, with Nathan MacKinnon (four goals, seven assists) and Mikko Rantanen (five goals, six assists) each extending their respective point streaks to six games apiece on Sunday. The pronounced runs have the forwards tied with Joe Sakic for the second-longest postseason point streak in Avalanche history, one behind Peter Forsberg. Captain Gabriel Landeskog scored and set up a goal to post his fourth career multi-point playoff performance and first since last year's first-round series against Nashville.

OVERTIME

1. San Jose RW Marcus Sorensen has set up four goals during his three-game assist streak.

2. Colorado G Philipp Grubauer, who posted a 10-5-1 mark at home this season, has turned aside 62 of 66 shots at Pepsi Center in the playoffs.

3. Sharks RW Joonas Donskoi (undisclosed) skated on Monday, but it was not immediately known if he would make his series debut in Game 3.

PREDICTION: Sharks 4, Avalanche 3