Stanley Cup Daily Playoffs – Sharks reach final oven after outlasting Avalanche

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7:07 AM ET

  • Greg WyshynskiESPN

The Colorado Avalanche are done, and the San Jose Sharks are now 2-0 in Games 7 in this postseason, following their 3-2 victory on Wednesday night.

Here's what happened in the NHL last night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN +) and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN's Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:

Jump ahead: Last night's game | Three stars
Play of the night | Today's game | Social post of the day

About last night …

Game 7: San Jose Sharks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (Sharks win series, 4-3)

2 Related

There were times when this felt like a coronation for the San Jose Sharks, like when Joe Pavelski – playing in his first game since his horrific Game 7 head injury in the previous round – scored a goal and assisted on Tomas Hertl's tally to give San Jose a 2-0 lead just 11:35 into the game. There were times when, in a playoff full of upsets, it came into the world, when it came into play when Mikko Rantanen scored with seven seconds in the first, or when Tyson Jost scored 51 seconds. 3-2.

In the second half of the year, Martin Jones's stellar was late in the game. The Sharks move on the St. Louis Blues. The Avalanche see a very impressive season come to an end.

Three Stars

1. Joe Pavelski, C, San Jose Sharks. The captain returned from concussion-like symptoms to play his first game of the series, and his impact was immediate: His defection of a Brent Burns shot at 5:57 of the first opened the scoring, and he assisted on Hertl's goal at 11: 35. He skated 19:49 for the game, he did not take a faceoff, sparking speculation that he might still be having some injury he's dealing with. At one point, the camera put Pavelski on the Jumbotron and a response to a fist pump, to the roar of the crowd. It was that kind of night.

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Joe Pavelski sends a pass in front for Tomas Hertl, who was one-timer to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead over the Avalanche in the first period.

2. Martin Jones, G, San Jose Sharks. Jones made 27 saves and gave up two goals, appearing to fight the puck during the game. But it was there when it counted, making 14 saves in the third period to preserve the lead 3-2 and win his second game 7 of the playoffs.

3. Samuel Girard, D, Colorado Avalanche. The young defenseman was one of the strongest players in the game, with a plus-9 in Corsi, an expected goals percentage of 83.42 to lead the team and the primary assist on Rantanen's goal. Just a reminder that, despite the loss, he will be bright for the Avalanche.

Play of the Night

The Avalanche thought they tied Game 7 in the second period but the goal was off the board because "The Situation Room determined that Gabriel Landeskog did not legally tag up the front line to the puck entering the offensive zone. In accordance with Rule 83.3 (i), "All players of the team at the same time (skate contact with the blue line), permitting the attacking players to re-enter the attacking zone …"

In other words, the Sharks won their coach's challenge.

Landeskog, to his credit, took the blame: "It's a clumsy mistake, you know? Get off the ice." If I could have done something different on that play, I would have jumped the boards a lot quicker, "he said.

Dud of the Night

Less "dud" than "bummer" of the night. MacKinnon appeared to hurt his shoulder in the first period of Game 7, limiting him to just five shifts in the first period. MacKinnon said the injury will be rehabbed, and that "they will get me going with something, and I will come back." Bednar praised his star for playing through the bread, saying, "He would have gone out of the building to come back [in that game]. "

On the schedule

Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins, Game 1, 8 p.m. AND

The "Bunch of Jerks" take on the Bruins in the Eastern Conference final, trying to pull another upset in their postseason push. To do so, they're going to the wall Tuukka Rask, who had a 1.71 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in the Bruins' six-game series win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Social post of the day

The San Francisco 49ers' offensive line showed up to 7 and gave each other a beer bath.

Quotable

"We have the way to the East is shaking out, and the West, we could have won the Cup this year. – Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

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