Avalanche hold off Sharks in Game 2, even Western series

SAN JOSE -- Tyson Barrie had a goal and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche held off the San Jose Sharks for a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at SAP Center on Sunday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is at Colorado on Tuesday.
Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon each had a goal and an assist, and Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves for the Avalanche, who won for the third time (including Stanley Cup Playoffs) in their past 24 games at SAP Center (3-15-6).
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Sharks highlights | Complete series coverage\]
"It's big for our confidence," Barrie said. "This is a tough building to win in, and we haven't had a whole lot of success here, but we wanted to come in and at least get the split, and we did that."

Brent Burns had two goals and an assist, Evander Kane had a goal and an assist, and Martin Jones made 28 saves for the Sharks, who had won four straight games dating to Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round.
"We had some Grade A looks throughout the first couple periods, we didn't capitalize," Kane said. "I know we scored two goals late, but we need to find a way to put more pucks by their goalie."
Matt Nieto gave Colorado a 3-1 lead at 10:10 of the third period. After Matt Calvert's initial shot trickled through Jones, Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon's clearing attempt off the goal line went off Nieto's stick into the net.
Burns cut it to 3-2 at 15:26 when his wrist shot from the right face-off circle deflected in off Barrie's stick, but MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal with 1:02 remaining to make it 4-2.
With Jones pulled for an extra skater, Burns scored a power-play goal on a one-timer to cut it to 4-3 with 11 seconds remaining.

"They're a good team, they're going to push back, we knew that," Burns said. "This time of year, you just have to forget about that one and move on to the next one, win or lose. You head [to Colorado] and got to get a win."
Kane gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 7:57 of the first period on a rebound in front off a shot by Burns.
After being outshot 11-6 in the first period, Colorado scored twice on 13 shots in the second.
"[The Sharks] are just really good. They're a really good team and they smothered us in the first period, and I thought we were really slow in the neutral zone, getting pucks up and tipping them in and forechecking," MacKinnon said. "We found some way to get some sustained pressure in the second and it paid off."
Landeskog tied it 1-1 at 8:21 on a redirection of a point shot by Barrie, who has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past three games.
"Barrie was involved right from the start and got better as the game went on," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Elite players find a way to generate offense even when the checking is tough, and that's what he did tonight."
Barrie scored his first goal of the playoffs to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 16:31. Mikko Rantanen outraced Marc-Edouard Vlasic to the puck behind the Sharks net following Nikita Zadorov's clearing attempt and sent a pass to Landeskog in the slot for a one-timer. Jones made the initial save, but the rebound kicked out to Barrie, who scored with a slap shot from the top of the right circle.
San Jose anticipated an icing call on Zadorov's clear.
"Our players did and they let up, they relaxed for a minute and it obviously wasn't," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "The lesson in that is don't assume anything in the playoffs. Play and make sure."

They said it

"I'm not saying it's game over if it's 2-0 for them, but we'd definitely be in a hole. Now all of a sudden, the series is shifting back to Denver and we got a split and all of a sudden, it's home-ice advantage for us." -- Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog
"[Grubauer's] a big reason why we are where we are. He's been lights out the last two months of the season and into the playoffs. Every night he's given us a chance to win hockey games and what more can you ask for?" -- Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie
"You got two really evenly matched teams. They found a way to get a split. We have to go there and win at least a game. It's that time of year, you're down to the final eight teams in the League and everybody's good." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

MacKinnon (four goals, seven assists) and Rantanen (five goals, six assists) each has 11 points during a six-game point streak. … Forward Micheal Haley led the Sharks with five hits in 4:47 of ice time in his return after missing five games because of a leg injury. ... Burns has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past four games. ... Grubauer had an assist on MacKinnon's goal. ... Sharks forward Tomas Hertl had two assists and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past five games.

What's next

Game 3 of Western Conference Second Round at Pepsi Center on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)