Nazem Kadri was in the Avalanche doghouse last week. On Thursday night, he was the celebrated hero.
Kadri, who recently had a team-worst minus-9 rating, scored twice and assisted on another goal in the third period to lift the Avalanche to a 3-0 victory and two-game series sweep over the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena.
Colorado (5-3) had scored 15 goals in its last two home games but was held scoreless for the first 49:55 against the Sharks (3-5), who became the first opponent the Avs have swept.
Kadri struck at 9:55 of the final frame, beating Devan Dubnyk in front of the goalie’s left post. Linemates Brandon Saad and former Shark Joonas Donskoi got the assists with hard work, and Saad eventually slid the puck to Kadri from atop the crease.
The Avs doubled their lead 1:58 later, with Andre Burakovsky tapping home Kadri’s pass from above the right circle. Saad got the second assist on the goal.
Kadri and Saad, along with defenseman Sam Girard, led the Avs with a plus-2 rating on the night.
“I thought it was a character win,” Saad said. “Sometimes you’re going to have games like that. We’re not going to win every game by seven goals. For us to stick with it, knowing each period by period play a tight-checking game we’re going to score offense with this team.”
The Sharks took the game’s final penalty and Kadri redirected in Cale Makar’s shot from the point. Makar’s team-high nine assists are tops among all NHL defensemen.
Colorado outshot the Sharks 38-21 — including 20-8 in the third period.
“From talking to the guys, I don’t think we had great legs in the first,” said Avs coach Jared Bednar, who picked up his 150th. “We wanted to stick with it in the second and we started to create some scoring chances, some power plays, and I thought, for the most part, was a really good period. We hit a couple posts, had some good chances, and just didn’t capitalize on them. The message was simple: Just stick with it and not pass up on any of our shots. We were getting a little too selective. We could have put a few more pucks to the net. I thought we did that in the third.”
Both teams entered the final frame scoreless and 0-for-3 on the power play. Avs goalie Philipp Grubauer had made 13 saves through two periods and Dubnyk had 18 in front of the other net.
Grubauer went on to record his second shutout of the season — matching his total from last season.
“Playing in those tight games, I think, is a benefit for us because if we skate and play our game there’s not many teams that can beat us,” Grubauer said.
The Avalanche plays next on Saturday to begin a four-game slate against the Wild. The first two games are in St. Paul, and the latter two in Denver.
Injured. Avs fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare suffered what might be a serious injury in the first period. He collided with Donato in the neutral zone and Bellemare’s right leg was compromised.
With no fans in the building, Bellemare could be heard screaming in pain. He did not return and finished with just 2:20 of ice time. Bednar did not have a postgame update on Bellemare’s status.
Colorado’s Matt Calvert, who normally is Bellemare’s right winger, missed his second game will an illness. Calvert has a concussion history and it was revealed that he is not feeling well but has not been diagnosed with a concussion.
Footnotes. The Avs were 4-of-4 in penalty killing and have now killed off their last 17 disadvantages. They are a perfect 15-for-15 at home. For the season, they are 28-for-31 (90.3%), ranked third. ranking third in the league. … Colorado went 1-for-4 on the power play and has a league-high 12 power-play goals for the season. … Goalie Pavel Francouz, who has yet to play this season, remains out with a lower-body injury, and Hunter Miska continues to back up Gruabuer. … Avs star center Nathan MacKinnon produced a shot in his 228th consecutive game to surpass Joe Sakic for the all-time club record. MacKinnon’s streak, the longest active stretch in the NHL, began Oct. 14, 2017, at Dallas. MacKinnon has led the NHL in shots the past two seasons. … San Jose’s Patrick Marleau, 41, played in his 1,731st NHL game to tie Ron Francis for fourth all-time. Marleau is in his 23rd NHL season. Gordie Howe holds the record for all-time games played with 1,767. Mark Messier is second (1,756) followed by Jaromir Jagr (1,733). … The Avs and Sharks met for the 100th time in the regular season.