The Colorado Avalanche are going to face the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center this afternoon. Both teams need to keep winning if they want to get a decent seed in the playoffs. These groups are pretty equal in strength. If these teams were to battle for the cup today, they would play each other in a best out of seven series. Now its time to take a look at the matchup tonight.
If you're the Sharks you want to get a win and climb up the standings so you can face a weaker team in April. Antti Niemi will start in net this afternoon for San Jose. He hasn't been as sharp in his last five games. Niemi has been up and down in terms of save percentage. Sometimes posting a .968 and other times a .853. He is going to need to play well in order to beat this Avalanche team. All four lines from the Sharks need to have a good game. Any line from this Colorado team can score or build momentum. If the Sharks manage to do what I said above they will have a good chance of winning.
The Colorado Avalanche are going to need a solid effort to beat this talented Sharks team. First, lets look at the starting goalie. Semyon Varlamov will be getting his fourth straight start tonight. The Russian goaltender has been nothing but superb this season. He has the eighth highest save percentage in the league (.928) and intends to keep it there. The Avalanche haven't lost in regulation when they score the first. That needs to happen tonight. If Colorado nets the first goal, they will probably win the game.
It should be a very interesting matchup tonight. One mistake could determine wether the Sharks or the Avalanche win. Both teams want points to solidify a playoff spot, and both of them are going to have to play hard to win the game.
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