Nichushkin breaks tie late, Avalanche edge Sharks

DENVER -- Valeri Nichushkin scored the go-ahead goal with 3:29 left in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche handed the San Jose Sharks their eighth straight loss with a 3-1 win at Ball Arena on Sunday.

Nichushkin, who also had an assist, made it 2-1 with a one-timer from below the right circle off a pass from Jack Johnson during a delayed penalty.

“I think we had so many good chances today,” Nichushkin said. “But sometimes when you can't score, you start [getting] nervous. So I think [it was] good today. We were still working hard in the third period, and we get a good chance and we score. So I like it a lot.”

Mikko Rantanen and Josh Manson also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 10 saves for the Avalanche (23-11-2), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games. Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to extend his season-opening home point streak to 19 games (15 goals, 25 assists).

“They've played us hard every game this year. Even the game we won 6-2 (on Dec. 17), it was a grind to try and get our offense going,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “You have no choice. If you want to win, you have to stick with it, and they all know that.

“If you don't stick with it and you fragment and go on your own, then things just get worse, and we've learned that lesson many times.”

Tomas Hertl scored, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 30 saves for the Sharks (9-25-3), who have been outscored 36-11 during their losing streak.

“We didn't have it today, puck-wise. We've been playing a lot better from a puck perspective than we did tonight,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “But one of the things I liked [is] we really defended hard, and we defended a lot, unfortunately. But I really liked our structure. I thought we were aggressive. I thought we had a physicality to us. Held them to 33 shots, and I think they only had 10 scoring chances after two periods.

“With our [defense] core as young as we are, and to hang in there against this team, I couldn't be prouder of our team. Our goalie was outstanding.”

Rantanen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 6:58 of the first period with a power-play goal. He converted on a one-timer off a cross-slot pass from MacKinnon.

“That was a good pass by Nate,” Rantanen said. “Had good looks after that, too, on the power play. Should have probably had two or three, but sometimes it is like that. Their PK did some big blocks and goalie was playing well.”

Hertl tied it 1-1 at 16:53 of the second with his own power-play goal, beating Georgiev glove side with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

“It's tough losing. Obviously, it's not easy,” Kahkonen said. “We just got to find ways, and that's what good teams do, but I still think overall, if you don't look at the score, I think it was a step forward in a lot of areas. Maybe it wasn't clean all the time. The whole game wasn't like clean, clean, but I think we did some small things out there.”

After Nichushkin put the Avalanche back in front, Manson scored into an empty net while short-handed at 18:53 for the 3-1 final.

“What I like about his play is he's creating his own offense,” Bednar said. “I think he's confident in his ability to help create offense.”

Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard, who missed the previous 20 games after entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, was plus-1 in 16:18 of ice time.

“He's missed some time. I didn't expect perfection right away,” Bednar said. “He's just steady, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. So, it's another veteran guy that helps you at both ends of the rink, whether it's penalty kill, power play. I mean, he plays everything for us.”

NOTES: MacKinnon's season-opening home point streak is the second-longest in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. Joe Sakic had a 23-game streak in 2000-01. … MacKinnon led the NHL with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in December. It also passed Peter Stastny (28) for the most in a calendar month in Avalanche/Nordiques history. … Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro left with an upper-body injury at 9:16 of the first period after a collision with MacKinnon. ... Hertl played in his 700th NHL game.