Fansided

San Jose Sharks Look to Take Command of Series in Game 4 Versus the Avalanche

By Lucas Burrell |
DENVER, CO - APRIL 30: Kevin Labanc #62 of the San Jose Sharks skates against Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche in Game Three of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 4-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)"n
DENVER, CO - APRIL 30: Kevin Labanc #62 of the San Jose Sharks skates against Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche in Game Three of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 4-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)"n

The San Jose Sharks stole home ice-advantage back in Game 3 with some heroics from Logan Couture. Now a determined Team Teal is looking to take control of the series in Game 4.

The Avalanche made a late push in Game 3 to make things interesting, but the San Jose Sharks were able to hold on to win the contest 4 – 2.

Logan Couture led the way for San Jose recording his first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs hat trick (4th overall of his career), per hockey-reference. Despite the impressive accomplishment the 30-year-old center didn’t celebrate much post game. In fact during his interviews he preached that he and Team Teal needed to play better. This type of rhetoric isn’t surprising coming from someone who’s only missed the playoffs once in his decade long career.

Martin Jones continued his hot stretch of play in Game 3 making 25 saves while facing 27 shots. That brings his save percentage to a fantastic 0.935% since his disastrous 4 game start against Vegas in Round 1, per naturalstattrick. The coaching staff’s patience with the 29-year-old netminder has payed off huge. He’s going to relied upon heavily in Game 4 with the big guns of the Avalanche looking to put on a show in front of their home crowd.

The San Jose Sharks started strong last game, but needed some timely saves and a goal from Logan Couture to hold off the high-powered Avalanche. However Team Teal might have had an easier time if the post didn’t deny them on 4 separate occasions.  Hopefully the bounces go their way in this one so they don’t end up sweating it out towards the final moments of the game.

Unsatisfied with special teams the coaching staff made some changes to the configurations. Nyquist is now seeing time on the top power play unit. They’ve gone 1/8 in this series and have only recorded 7 shots on goal in their 14:38 of power play ice time, naturalstattrick.  These opportunities to put up points against this potent Colorado Avalanche squad are crucial if Team Teal wants  to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Judging by morning skate the San Jose Sharks don’t plan on making any changes to the lineup. The Colorado Avalanche are expected to have Matt Calvert back after he missed Game 3 due to injury. There aren’t any guarantees until puck drop but here’s who could be on the ice for Game 4 in Denver.

San Jose Sharks

Forward Combinations

Timo Meier ~ Logan Couture ~ Gus Nyquist

Evander Kane ~ Tomas Hertl ~ Lukas Radil

Marcus Sorensen~ Joe Thornton ~ Kevin Labanc

Micheal Haley ~ Barclay Goodrow  ~ Melker Karlsson

Defensive Pairings

Marc-Edouard Vlasic ~ Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon ~ Erik Karlsson

Joakim Ryan ~ Justin Braun

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Martin Jones

Backup ~ Aaron Dell

Colorado Avalanche

Forward Combinations

Gabriel Landeskog~ Nathan MacKinnon ~ Alexander Kerfoot

Mikko Rantanen ~ Carl Soderberg ~ Colin Wilson

Matt Calvert ~ JT Compher ~ Matt Nieto

Derick Brassard ~ Tyson Jost  ~ Gabriel Bourque

Defensive Pairings

Ian Cole ~ Erik Johnson

Nikita Zadorov ~ Tyson Barrie

Cale Makar ~ Samuel Girard

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Philipp Grubauer

Backup ~ Semyon Varlamov

Trending. Logan Couture Strives in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. light

The San Jose Sharks are on a mission to take control of Round 2 with a win in Denver. However the Colorado Avalanche are carrying some late game momentum and home ice advantage into a Game 4 that could make or break their season.

Puck drop for tonight’s game at the SAP Center is at 7:00 PM PT. The game will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The audio can be streamed on the NHL and Sharks App courtesy of 98.5 KFOX.

Home / Analysis