Defeating the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena on Wednesday would give the Avalanche 10 straight wins for the fourth time in team history.
The feat was accomplished with this core group when they won the Stanley Cup in 2021-22, as well as in 2017-18 — the year they started their playoff streak. The only other time it was done was in 1998-99, when they hit 12 wins in a row.
The Sharks are the latest challenge for Colorado. Not only has Jared Bednar’s club beaten some of the hottest teams in the league and won on back-to-back nights twice, but they’ve done most of their work in regulation. Eight of the nine wins have come in 60 minutes.
The Sharks present a new challenge. It’s the first team that can beat the Avs twice this year. They started the season 0-4-2 but have since gone 11-5-1. The 23 points they’ve collected in that stretch is fourth in the NHL behind Dallas, Colorado, and Tampa Bay.
It’s a dynamic team. They’ve got some high-end players that are shooting the puck really well,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said.
Colorado is 16-1-5 through the first 22 games. One of those five OT losses came at the hands of the young upstart Sharks. On Nov. 1, in Mackenzie Blackwood’s season debut, the Sharks won 3-2 thanks to a game-winning goal in the extra frame from Philip Kurashev.
“They gave us all we could handle in their building. The first time we played them, especially in the third period, when we had a lead and we’re defending the lead, they poured it on us,” Bednar said. “So I think you can expect the same kind of effort and same kind of ability out of their guys that have kind of really started to develop and grow into their game. And now they’re getting great goaltending too.”
That game was also the last time the Avs lost.
Blackwood, who is 3-0-1 this season, gets the nod in goal. His most recent appearance was a 35-save shutout against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Sharks have completely turned their season around. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and are sniffing around the wildcard race for the first time in more than a half decade. Superstar center Macklin Celebrini, at just 19 years old, is second in the league in points behind Nathan MacKinnon.
But another bright spot for their roster is goalie Yaroslav Askarov. He’ll get the nod for San Jose tonight, just as he did in his 37-save performance in the first meeting between the two clubs.
