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Associated Press
Sharks-Avalanche Preview

GAME: San Jose Sharks (8-6-1) at Colorado Avalanche (7-4-2).

TIME: Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST.

A pair of teams that each had their respective winning streaks snapped in their last outings meet when the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche face off for the first time since the 2004 Western Conference semifinals.

San Jose had won five straight before losing 3-1 Saturday to the Minnesota Wild, while Colorado saw its four-game run come to an end with a 3-2 shootout defeat to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The Sharks had 36 shots on goal compared to Minnesota's 25, but San Jose goaltender Nolan Schaefer had his 143:21 scoreless streak end as Brian Rolston scored all three Wild goals.

"The team played a great game again and we outshot them," Schaefer said. "They had a couple of good opportunities where I couldn't shut the door and that was the difference."

Schaefer and the Sharks will now be facing a high-scoring Colorado squad.

The Avalanche are among the NHL leaders with 55 goals, and have played extremely well on special teams. Colorado has converted on just over 21 percent of its power-play chances, and has killed off almost 87 percent of opponents' chances. That's not good news for San Jose, which is 26th in the league on the power play.

Colorado had scored at least four goals in seven straight games before Saturday's loss, in which the Stars were the aggressors with 35 shots on goal.

Despite the defeat, Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville was content with his team's effort.

"I think we were working in the third period and we kept ourselves in the play and in the game," Quenneville said. "We were there in the overtime too. They might have been the better team tonight."

San Jose defeated Colorado in six games in 2004 to advance to the conference finals for the first time in its history.

This is the last game of a six-game homestand for Colorado, which plays nine of its final 12 contests this month on the road.

STANDINGS (through Nov. 7): Sharks - 17 points, 3rd place (tied), 3 PB, Pacific Division. Avalanche - 16 points, 5th place, 6 PB, Northwest Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Sharks - Patrick Marleau, 7 goals, 9 assists and 16 points; Mark Smith, 32 PIM. Avalanche - Antti Laaksonen, 6 goals; Alex Tanguay and John-Michael Liles, 10 assists; Liles, 14 points; Ian Laperriere, 34 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through Nov. 7): Sharks - Power play: 13.8 percent (14 for 101), 26th in NHL. Penalty killing: 83.5 percent (66 for 79), 13th. Avalanche - Power play: 21.3 percent (19 for 89), 6th. Penalty killing: 86.7 percent (72 for 83), 5th.

GOALTENDERS: Sharks - Schaefer (5-1-0, 1 SO, 1.94 GAA); Evgeni Nabokov (3-2-0, 3.52). Avalanche - David Aebischer (6-3-0, 3.23); Peter Budaj (1-1-0, 2.67).

2003-04 SEASON SERIES: 1-1-1.

LAST MEETING: May 4, 2004; Sharks, 3-1. At Denver, the Sharks scored three goals in the second period and Nabokov was stellar in goal to help the Sharks finish off the Avalanche.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Sharks - 4-5-1 on the road; Avalanche - 5-2-2 at home.


Associated Press



SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
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