Early penalties sink San Jose Sharks in loss to Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon has four points to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the San Jose Sharks

Nathan MacKinnon made sure the San Jose Sharks weren’t going to be able to engineer another dramatic comeback victory away from home on Sunday.

With the Sharks trailing by three and pressing to make it a more competitive game, MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal with 4:49 left in regulation time to cap a four-point night as the Colorado Avalanche handed San Jose a 6-2 loss at Ball Arena in Denver.

Tomas Hertl, who played a key role in comeback victories over the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings on the road earlier this month, scored two power-play goals for the Sharks, with the first coming at the 9:01 mark of the second period.

But the Sharks were already down 4-0 at that point as the Avalanche scored three times in the first period, with two coming on the man advantage.

Jonathan Drouin had two assists for the Avalanche, who have eight straight wins over the Sharks since May 2021.

The Sharks killed penalties for a good chunk of a one-sided first period — and paid the price.

Jacob MacDonald was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski just 2:47 into the first period. The Sharks killed most of it off, but shortly after losing a faceoff deep in their own zone, Valeri Nichushkin tapped a Drouin pass past goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.

Roughly eight minutes after MacDonald was ejected, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro took double-minor for roughing. Ferraro went after Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid, who leveled Sharks winger Matt Hoffman with a check well away from the puck.

That led to Mikko Rantanen’s goal at the 12:15 mark. Colorado then made it 3-0 just 6:05 later as Miles Wood scored on a sharp-angle shot that beat Blackwood above his right shoulder.

The Sharks, who face the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday at home, also went without a defenseman, Calen Addison, for the third period.

The Sharks won just 21 of 55 faceoffs for the game.