The festive San Jose Sharks’ locker room was all about football.
Huddled around the only television in the room, Sharks players seemed more concerned about “Monday Night Football” than the 3-2 victory they secured over the Avalanche minutes earlier at the Pepsi Center.
Colorado’s locker room, meanwhile, was quiet and deserted. Players had exiled themselves to the showers or an adjacent lounge, still thinking about hockey and how they lost another game to the Sharks.
San Jose, which also beat the Avs 3-2 on Friday night in northern California, got another great performance from center Joe Thornton and 33 saves from Evgeni Nabokov to help Mike Grier’s fluky third-period goal stand up as the game-winner.
Grier, who also had the game-winner Friday, scored with 11:30 to play to make it 3-1. His long wrist shot above the right circle nicked defenseman John-Michael Liles, who was playing Grier tight, and the puck knuckleballed about 15 feet in on Jose Theodore. The puck hit the goalie on his left leg pad and then bounced into the net for a goal softer than your favorite pillow.
“It was a tough break, tough bounce, and fortunate play for them,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’re still coming and pressing, and got ourselves back after that, but it was a tough goal to give up.”
Andrew Brunette made it 3-2 with 3:05 to go, but Colorado didn’t produce much of an attack from then on, including in the final minute with Theodore (25 saves) on the bench for a sixth attacker.
Thornton assisted on San Jose’s first two goals, giving him five consecutive points against the Avs. He had two goals and an assist on Friday.
“He was very dominant in San Jose and again tonight,” Quenneville said. “He’s one of those top players that really can influence the outcome of the games.”
Milan Michalek and Steve Bernier scored San Jose’s first two goals Monday. Bernier’s screened wrist shot from between the circles broke a 1-1 tie that was forged after Milan Hejduk scored 12 seconds after Michalek early in the first period.
“Four points lost,” Avs forward Ryan Smyth said of the two losses to San Jose. “Obviously it’s a tight race, and there’s going to be a logjam the whole way and these are important games, whether they’re in your division or in your conference. They answered, with a lucky break on their third goal tonight, but by and large they deserved it.”
Theodore started consecutive games for the first time this season. He seemed to make the difficult saves look easy but allowed too much net inside the near post. As with Grier’s goal, Michalek beat Theodore near post.
“Theo played great for us, made huge saves,” Liles said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s just one of those (goals) that goes off a shin guard and takes a funny hop.”
Avs Recap
Three stars
1. Joe Thornton. Had two assists for San Jose and has had a hand in five of the past six goals against the Avs.
2. Evgeni Nabokov. Sharks’ goalie made 33 saves.
3. Milan Hejduk. His wicked, top-shelf wrist shot made it 1-1 just 12 seconds after the Sharks opened the scoring.
What you might have missed
Former University of Denver defenseman Matt Carle had 6:18 of ice time for the Sharks through two periods but just 7:42 for the game. He recently signed a four-year, $13.75 million extension with San Jose.
Up next
At Columbus, 5 p.m. Wednesday. Mike Chambers
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
