Avalanche at Sharks
The Colorado Avalanche look to maintain first place in the Central Division as they continue their season-ending four-game road trip against the San Jose Sharks on Friday. Colorado pulled even in points with St. Louis on Thursday thanks to a 4-2 triumph at Vancouver but technically is ahead of the Blues thanks to the tiebreaker. Paul Stastny scored twice and defenseman Tyson Barrie snapped a tie with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third period as the Avalanche extended their point streak to nine games (8-0-1).
San Jose has dropped two straight and four of six, losing out on a chance for the Pacific Division title as a result. The Sharks dropped a 5-2 decision at Anaheim on Wednesday, allowing the Ducks to claim the division crown. Colorado is 2-0-1 in the season series as each game was decided by one goal - one in a shootout - and won by the home team.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Altitude (Colorado), CSN California Plus (San Jose)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (52-21-7): Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves en route to his league-leading 41st victory on Thursday. The Russian also set the single-season franchise record for wins, eclipsing coach Patrick Roy's mark. Whether or not it wins the Central, Colorado is guaranteed to have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs as it cannot be passed by third-place Chicago.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (49-22-9): San Jose completes the home portion of its regular-season schedule Friday before visiting Phoenix for the season finale a day later. Regardless of the results, the Sharks will have home-ice advantage in its first-round playoff series against Los Angeles. Antti Niemi has won only two of his last five starts and has allowed three or more goals in four of those contests.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado RW PA Parenteau was not ready to return from his knee injury against Vancouver but could be in the lineup Friday.
2. San Jose has scored a total of four goals in its last three games (1-2-0).
3. The Avalanche are 2-0-0 on their four-game trek.