MacKinnon and Grubauer Push Avalanche to Take Game 4 vs. Sharks, 3-0

The series between the Colorado Avalanche and the San Jose Sharks are just heating up. That is for sure. Last night’s game at the Pepsi Center indicated that this might be another seven-game battle.

Colorado won 3-0, and tied the overall result in series to 2-2. It was a breath of fresh air especially after losing the first game in Denver. A defeat here would put them in an awful situation. The Sharks would need only one victory to clinch the series, and Game 5 is played at the SAP Center in San Jose.

But that didn’t happen.

The importance of the game was apparent in the first period, when there were no goals. Defenses were in the middle of the attention, with Philipp Grubauer and Martin Jones combining for 22 saves.

Until the end of the game, Avalanche coach kept the same rhythm and recorded his first playoff shout out ever. The 27-year old was unbeatable last night, and deserved the man of the match award.

“…we needed was the win,” Grubauer said. “As long as we could keep the zero up there, the better it is, the better the chance we have to win. I learned from last game, that was horrible.”

Avalanche lost Game 3, after coming back from 0-2, tying the result in the third period. But the guests bounced back and stopped hosts’ swing, inflicting them a painful 2-4 defeat.

This time, Colorado opened the game with more caution. They were focused and poised not allowing to be broken by the pressure of possibly reaching a bad situation in the series.

32 saves for Philipp Grubauer in his first career #StanleyCup Playoffs shutout!#GoAvsGo #GoAvsGo https://t.co/2Y90TctmbE

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 3, 2019

Nathan MacKinnon broke the lock of the guests at the mid-point of the second period extending his magnificent point streak to eight consecutive games in the playoffs. Right now, Avalanche center has six goals and seven assists, for 13 points in total.

For his teammates and the majority of experts MacKinnon is currently the best hockey player in the league. The strong defenseman Erik Johnson also said that he feels lucky because they two play on the same team, because he wouldn’t like to face him one-on-one.

“If he’s not the best player in the world right now, I don’t know who is,” Johnson said, who himself scored one goal in this match. “Thank God he’s on our team, because he’d made a lot of us look silly, that’s for sure.”

Even before MacKinnon’s goal, the game became a little bit more physical on both sides, but it was the guests who often crossed the limits of regular play. When the final period started, that was too apparent, and the officials gave four minor penalties throughout that sequence.

During the first one, Collin Wilson extended the advantage to 2-0, and after that Johnson sealed the victory delivering an empty-net goal with 1:09 before the final buzzer.

Peter DeBoer had nothing to lose, and he decided to pull out Martin Jones, and to put in an extra player. It only increased the deficit.

This victory was huge for Colorado who proved that a 4-3 win in Game 2 wasn’t just a product of some lucky turn of events. They couldn’t beat the Sharks on six straight occasions, before that, and after they lost the first clash in Denver, some of the fans were saying that Game 2 simply happened and that Avalanche can’t repeat the same.

This result surely silenced all those voices, and not only that, it boosted the morale for Jared Bednar’s boys.
It showed them that not only they can play against the rival from SAP Center, but they can hurt them really bad, and even prevent Sharks from scoring