When the Avalanche fell behind 2-0 in the first period Sunday night at the Pepsi Center against the San Jose Sharks, the Western Conference’s No. 1 team, Colorado seemed in danger of losing its fifth consecutive game and failing to lift the recent pall that seemed to have been hanging over the team.
Then, a bit improbably considering their recent struggles, the Avs got going and ultimately claimed a 5-4 victory when John-Michael Liles scored at 2:59 of overtime.
Peter Mueller scored twice, helping the Avalanche gain an important two-point lead over Calgary in the fight for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
On second thought, maybe it wasn’t so improbable. It was the eighth time this young Avs team has come back from two goals down to win this season.
Calgary lost 4-1 at Chicago on Sunday. So the Easter results mean the Flames will have to make up three points on the Avalanche during the final week of the season to snag the postseason berth. That’s because Colorado has the edge in the tiebreaker.
The Avalanche has four games remaining, the Flames three.
If the Avs get four points in the final four, they are in the postseason regardless of what Calgary does. That needed number of points would drop correspondingly each time the Flames don’t win.
San Jose took the 2-0 lead after Douglas Murray beat Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson with a one-timer from the left point at 8:01 of the first period.
Only 56 seconds later, Jamie McGinn finished off the Sharks’ 3-on-2 rush with a shot from the left circle.
The Avalanche closed the gap when a nifty Ryan O’Reilly pass set up Kyle Quincey, who was coming out of the penalty box, for a breakaway. The Avalanche defenseman beat San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov at 13:41 of the first.
The Avalanche couldn’t break through for the tying goal on a 34-second, 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period, with Nabokov making one key save on Matt Duchene.
At 13:58 of the period, though, Mueller made it 2-2. Adam Foote’s pass sprung Mueller on a 2-on-1 advantage. He kept the puck and fired it through Nabokov’s legs from the right circle.
Mueller also beat Nabokov at 18:07 of the second period, converting a drop pass from Duchene, to put Colorado ahead.
The goal was Mueller’s 13th of the season — and his ninth in the month since he joined the Avalanche in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes.
In the opening seconds of the third period, Mueller had a chance for a hat trick, but Nabokov made the save and the puck ended up behind the net. There, Milan Hejduk picked the pocket of former teammate Rob Blake and fed Paul Stastny, who scored to make it 4-2 at 20 seconds.
Patrick Marleau’s 43rd goal of the season for the Sharks made it a 4-3 game at 8:13 of the third period, and San Jose pulled back into the tie when Joe Pavelski put the rebound of a Dany Heatley shot past Anderson at 14:41.
In the final minutes, Blake, the Sharks’ captain, shoved Mueller into the end boards.
A shaken Mueller stayed down and eventually had to be helped to the Avs’ dressing room. He was done for the night.
Colorado goes on the road for games at Vancouver on Tuesday and Edmonton on Wednesday.
