Avalanche clinch playoff berth in OT victory against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- The Colorado Avalanche clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 4-3 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.

Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist and reached 100 points for the first time in his NHL career when he scored on a breakaway at 3:13 of overtime.
"Tons of amazing players on this team helped me a ton," MacKinnon said of the milestone. "Obviously, I don't need to say the names, but everyone has helped me a lot throughout the season. So, it's fun to get it for sure."

Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews each had two assists for the Avalanche (46-24-6), who clinched a playoff berth after regulation combined with the Calgary Flames' 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves.
Colorado moved into a tie with the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild for first place in the Central Division. The Avalanche have a game in hand on both teams.
"Huge two points, and I liked the way our guys played," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought we competed hard right from the start of the game. Obviously things got tight in the third period, but we continued to play, and you know, we fought the puck at times. I thought we had some guys, like a handful of guys, that struggled with the puck making plays or execution, but intentions were good. Competitiveness was good."
Kevin Labanc scored twice, and Logan Couture had two assists for the Sharks (22-39-16), who host the Avalanche again Thursday. Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves.
"A little bit of frustration, but really proud of the way we competed and the way we played, especially after what happened the last time we played these guys (a 6-0 loss at Colorado on March 7)," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I really thought we came with an effort and a compete that we're going to need from here on in."

Jack Johnson gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 4:29 of the first period when his shot from the point redirected off Henry Thrun's skate.
"They got a fortunate bounce for the first goal, but I think we kept going," Kahkonen said. "We never stopped playing throughout the whole game. There were moments where we needed big blocks or good sticks or whatnot from the guys, and they made those plays."
Evan Rodrigues made it 2-0 at 6:24, scoring on a rebound of MacKinnon's shot.
Labanc cut it to 2-1 at 12:55 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to finish a 2-on-1.
"[Labanc] has definitely made strides and he's going in the direction we want him to go in," Quinn said. "It's good to see him getting rewarded on the stat sheet."
MacKinnon made it 3-1 at 17:54 with a shot through traffic that beat Kahkonen five-hole.

Jacob Peterson made it 3-2 at 5:50 of the third period with a power-play goal before Labanc tied it 3-3 on a rebound at 7:11 for his 15th goal of the season.
"We're just all competitors," Labanc said. "It doesn't matter if we're in it or not. We're competing every single game. We compete to win, and we compete for each other. [Some] guys are playing for contracts. Guys are playing to move up in the lineup, make a good showing for themselves for next year. We're all working hard. We're all competing."
NOTES: Sharks forward Tomas Hertl did not play in the third because of an upper-body injury. Quinn said he is day to day. … MacKinnon is the first Avalanche player to reach 100 points since Joe Sakic in 2006-07. He also became the franchise's all-time leader with 10 overtime goals. … Colorado has won seven straight on the road since March 13.