San Jose Sharks lose to Colorado Avalanche, Skid reaches six games

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks knew they needed an answer after ending their recent road trip with two lackluster performances.

The Sharks took a step in the right direction on Sunday, but failed to capitalize on their numerous opportunities in a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.

With the Sharks trailing 2-0, William Eklund scored a power play goal at 18:25 of the first period. However, the Sharks were unable to score on four other power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 play spanning 70 seconds, as they lost their sixth straight game to start the season.

The Sharks (0-4-2) dominated much of the second period as they defeated the Avalanche 13-6. However, they allowed an even goal from Joel Kiviranta midway through the third period and a scoreless goal from Cale Makar with 1:37 left.

Ross Colton scored two goals for Colorado, including a power play goal just 6:23 into the first period after the Sharks needed too many men.

Colton scored a second goal at 16:37 of the first period and Avalanche goaltender Justus Annunen made 25 saves. Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves in his third straight game.

The Sharks now embark on a four-game road trip with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Utah.

The Sharks had Eklund and Will Smith back in the lineup Sunday as they tried to end a five-game losing streak.

Eklund was a scratch for Friday's game in Winnipeg after playing the first two games of the road trip. He was on the roster for the first game of the trip against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, but did not practice the following day in Chicago. He overcame the injury Thursday night against the Blackhawks in a 4-2 Sharks loss, providing two assists in over 19 minutes of ice time.

Eklund entered Sunday with three assists in four games while averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time, second-best among all Sharks forwards.

Smith played against the Blackhawks and had his best game of the season, playing over 19 minutes, according to Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. But as part of the team's development plan for the 19-year-old center, the Sharks rested Smith for the following night's game in Winnipeg, where the Jets cruised to an 8-3 win.

When these two returned to the lineup, Givani Smith and Klim Kostin were devastated. Jack Thompson also replaced Matt Benning in the Sharks' third defensive pairing, playing alongside Henry Thrun.

After their poor performances against the Blackhawks and Jets, the Sharks wanted to return to their play from the first three games. San Jose lost 5-4 in overtime to St. Louis on Oct. 10 and 2-0 to the Anaheim Ducks two days later before losing 3-2 to the Stars in a shootout.

“Are we on our way with our reloads?” Are we following? Are we physical? I would say those three things are the big things I look for,” Warsofsky said before Sunday’s game. “Do we stop and start with pucks?

“Of course we didn’t have much of that in Winnipeg. Hopefully we can get this thing going again somehow. We played the first three games.”

CELEBRINI UPDATE: Macklin Celebrini has started skating again, Warsofsky said, although he has been battling a lower-body injury week-to-week and has no concrete timetable for a return.

The fact that Celebrini can ice skate again is a sign of progress. Until recently, he had been kept off the ice since his NHL debut on Oct. 10 due to a hip injury he had been dealing with since training camp. On October 1, in a preseason game against the Utah Hockey Club, Celebrini stumbled on a partial breakaway in front of the net, fell and landed hard – hip-first – into the end boards.

Celebrini left the game midway through the second period, but returned to Sharks practice on October 7 and skated with the team every day until the season opener against St. Louis. In his debut, Celebrini scored a goal and an assist in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Blues.