Joe Pavelski was positioned just a few meters away from the spot where he was bleeding from his head on the ice just more than two weeks ago, when he did what he has done so often in his brilliant career: He got his stick on a shot that he redirected into the net to give the San Jose Sharks a Game 7 lead they would not relinquish.
The Sharks got their captain back and are moving on to the Western Conference Final.
Pavelski on Wednesday made a triumphant return from a gruesome head injury by posting a goal and an assist in the first period that helped send the Sharks to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Photo: AP
“I got to watch these guys play for six games. They gave a lot of motivation for me,” he said.
However, no one was more important than Pavelski, who carried his team to another Game 7 victory after the epic comeback in the first round against Vegas.
He scored the first goal and assisted on Tomas Hertl’s goal as the Sharks advanced to their fourth conference final this decade.
“I wish I could tell you what he’s gone through from seeing it firsthand. You wouldn’t believe that he’s playing right now, let’s just say that,” teammate Logan Couture said.
Joonas Donskoi ended a 39-game goal drought, Martin Jones made 14 of his 27 saves in the third period and the Sharks capitalized on a favorable replay review that negated a potential game-tying goal by Colorado in the second period.
San Jose are now to play St Louis in a conference final matchup between two successful teams seeking their first championship.
Game 1 is tomorrow night in San Jose, California.
Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost scored for the Avalanche, who were trying to make their first conference final since 2002, as Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves..
The excitement started early at the Shark Tank, with fans cheering loudly when Pavelski stepped out for warmups.
Pavelski took less than six minutes to provide more than just inspiration. He deflected Brent Burns’ point shot past Grubauer for the opening goal of the game and celebrated with a fist pump.
Pavelski then set up Hertl with a pass from behind the net to make it 2-0 midway through the period.
Colorado lost star Nathan MacKinnon early in the first when his shoulder crashed into the boards, but his return after getting an injection late in the period helped spark the Avalanche.
He created a couple of scoring chances and Colorado then converted with MacKinnon on the ice in the closing seconds of the period when Rantanen deflected a point shot from Samuel Girard with 6.8 seconds remaining in the first.
The Avalanche appeared to tie the game midway through the second when MacKinnon set up Colin Wilson, but DeBoer challenged the play for offside. The play was overturned, because captain Gabriel Landeskog was still in the zone as he went off the ice on a line change.
The Sharks restored the two-goal lead later in the period when Donskoi beat Grubauer high to the short side for his first goal since Jan. 10.
Colorado got a goal in the first minute of the third from Jost, but the Sharks managed to hold on from there for the win.
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