San Jose @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( May 8, 2019 ) Colorado 2, San Jose 3

The Avalanche are running out of wiggle room as they host the Sharks on Thursday in the first meeting since San Jose eliminated Colorado in the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs in seven games. Colorado has lost four straight (0-2-2) and is 3-6-3 in its last 12 contests after a 3-2 overtime loss to Dallas on Tuesday dropped it to third place in the rugged Central Division.

"I thought we were engaged start to finish, played hard, checked hard, worked hard defensively," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters. "I thought we played real hard, I don't know how else to summarize it. It seems like right now anything that can go wrong will go wrong, so we just got to keep grinding." Colorado has lost as many as it has won at home this season (11-7-4) and is 1-4-2 in its last seven at Pepsi Center. San Jose had a two-game winning streak snapped with a 6-3 loss at Arizona on Tuesday and is closer to the bottom of the Western Conference than postseason position. "We believe we've got the skill and the character on this team to get a playoff spot,'' Sharks forward Timo Meier told the media. "We've got to battle because every game is really important. We've got to take it day by day and go out there and win some games."

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS California, Altitude

ABOUT THE SHARKS (21-23-4): Evander Kane scored his team-high 19th goal Tuesday and also had assist, giving him 35 points - one behind injured leader Logan Couture. Tomas Hertl and defenseman Erik Karlsson also have 35 with Karlsson riding a six-game point streak. Kevin Labanc (club-worst minus-22) also had a goal and an assist versus Arizona for his second such game in the last three contests while Meier scored his 16th goal.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (25-15-6): Hart Trophy contender Nathan MacKinnon has five goals and seven assists in his last seven games, giving him 68 points - third in the league behind Connor McDavid (74) and Leon Draisaitl (73). Rookie defenseman Cale Makar is second on the team in points with an eye-popping 35 fewer than MacKinnon while Mikko Rantanen (31 points in 30 games) hasn't hit the scoresheet in four contests. Philipp Grubauer is 2-5-2 with an .898 save percentage in his last nine starts.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado RW Joonas Donskoi (concussion) could return to face his former team after missing the last two games.

2. San Jose C Joe Thornton needs three points to become the 14th player in NHL history to reach 1,500.

3. The Sharks are 5-for-13 on the power play in the last five games while the Avalanche are 1-for-13 during that span.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Sharks 2