Blackwood makes 26 saves, Avalanche shut out Sharks for 10th straight win

DENVER -- Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves for his second shutout in as many starts, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 6-0 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

“Tonight, we were great. They did a heck of a job limiting chances and burying theirs,” Blackwood said. “These guys care so much, and they take pride in it, no matter what the score is. So that makes me so freaking happy that those guys are like that. It makes me want to go to war for them.

“This team, for as offensive as we are, they take pride in the D-zone. So guys care, and it matters to them. They don't like getting scored on almost more than they like to score goals”

Colorado has shut out its opponents three times in the past three games, which ties an Avalanche/Nordiques franchise record set Nov. 14-18, 2001.

“We got two guys at the top of their game, and it's great for us, and I'm really happy for both those guys, what they're accomplishing,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I think our goalies are showing up at their best right now on the penalty kill. Like we're giving up some dangerous chances, as you always kind of will, but you need your goalie to be your best penalty killer, and those guys are doing a really nice job. Again tonight, too.”

Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (17-1-5), who also extended their point streak to 14 games (12-0-2). Ross Colton, Josh Manson, Sam Malinski, and Joel Kiviranta each scored a goal. Blackwood's shutout was his 16th in the NHL.

“I liked the start to the game. I thought we had good jump. Looked like we got our legs back tonight,” Bednar said. “We [had a] couple quiet nights offensively on the road and we wanted to bounce back, and things we talked about going into the game, I thought the guys executed really well.”

Yaroslav Askarov allowed four goals on 19 shots for the Sharks (11-10-3) before he was replaced after Manson’s goal made it 4-0 at 4:51 of the second period. Alex Nedeljkovic made 21 saves in relief.

“We were chasing it right from the drop of the puck. Fast, physical team, and they put us on our heels early,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “This is not [going to] be the last time we play these guys. Won't be last time we play a top team, and every night's a challenge in this League, and you got to go out there and you got to play the right way. You got to compete.”

Colton scored to make it 1-0 Colorado at 3:39 of the first period when he located a loose puck off the leg of Alexander Wennberg at the top of the offensive zone and fired a snap shot from the right dot that went in far side off the left post.

"It was nice to, kind of, I think it was the first or second shift there, kind of just get us on the board. So took the weight off my shoulders,” Colton said. “I think, obviously, we're getting amazing goaltending with that tandem back there. So they give us all the confidence in the world to play our game in front of them, which, on a nightly basis, is awesome.”

MacKinnon extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 19:07. He one-timed Cale Makar’s pass at the top of the left circle through a screen from Lehkonen in front.

The Avalanche then scored three goals in a 1:16 span in the second period.

“We got waxed. They're a great hockey team,” Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini said. “They capitalized on chances early and went up a couple goals.”

Malinski made it 3-0 with a long-distance wrist shot that went in over Askarov's glove at 3:44.

Manson pushed the lead to 4-0 with a wrist shot through traffic from the top of the left face-off circle that went blocker side at 4:51.

“That's the best team in the League, and that's where we want to be. So just kind of shows how much work we've got to do and put into to get to that level,” Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson said. “I think that's kind of just what you take from this game.”

Kiviranta extended it to 5-0 at just nine seconds later at 5:00 when he finished a cross-crease pass from Ivan Ivan over the right pad at the left post. It was Kiviranta's first goal of the season in his return to the lineup after missing the past 17 games with a lower-body injury.

"I thought he was great,” Bednar said. “When he comes back, he's ready to go, and he beat his injury timeline, which says a lot. And then to be able to come back and be ready like that and chip in for us again. Penalty kill, scores a goal, was part of that [fourth] line, which I thought was really good again tonight. So yeah, kudos to him for the work he put in.”

Lehkonen tapped in his own rebound after it bounced off the right pad of Nedeljkovic for the 6-0 final at 16:15 of the third period.

NOTES: MacKinnon passed Peter Stastny for the second-most assists (669) in Avalanche/Nordiques history. ... The Avalanche have the third-longest start to a season with one regulation loss (23 games), behind the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks, who went 25 games (21-1-3), and the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers, who went 37 games (26-1-10). … Colorado has won 12 straight home games against the Sharks dating to the 2019-20, which matches the Hurricanes (12 games vs. Buffalo and 12 games vs. Montreal) and Stars (12 games vs. Detroit) for the longest active streak against a single opponent. … The Avalanche's 10-game win streak tied their second-longest run in franchise history (also 2021-22 and 2017-18). The record of 12 games was set in 1998-99.