Sharks thrash Avalanche, 6-1

SAN JOSE – The Sharks powered past the Colorado Avalanche 6-1 Tuesday night at SAP Center to improve to fifth place in the Western Conference.
A combination of eight wins and two overtime losses left streaking San Jose with 56 points, trailing only Los Angeles in the Pacific Division.
Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward scored power-play goals in the second period to highlight the San Jose scoring and help goaltender Martin Jones to a 23-13-3 record for the season.
Pavelski garnered his 25^th goal of the year while San Jose was on a 5-on-3 power play. Pavelski jammed home a cross-ice pass from Joe Thornton for the 3-0 cushion at 15:28, giving Thornton 1,300 NHL points.
Ward scored 50 seconds later, scrambling toward the Colorado goal and deflecting the puck into the net for his 15^th goal.
Defenseman Paul Martin extended the lead to 5-0 with an unassisted empty-net goal at 8:21 of the third period.
Nathan MacKinnon, who had a hat trick on Dec 28 in Colorado’s 6-3 win at San Jose, produced a power-play goal 11:35 into the third period.
Dylan DeMelo completed the scoring with his first NHL goal at 19:03 on a power play.
The Sharks return from the NHL All Star Game Weekend to start a four-game roadtrip Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. San Jose’s next home game is February 11 against Calgary. Pavelski and Brent Burns will represent the Pacific Division at Nashville’s All-Star festivities.
San Jose produced even-strength goals from Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Burns, tied for 19^th place in the NHL scoring race entering Tuesday’s game, provided the primary assist on Karlsson’s goal. Burns turned a long endboards pass from Chris Tierney into a high shot from the right point. The puck flew past forward Dainius Zubrus before glancing off Karlsson’s sweater and inside the right post at the 6:19 mark.
Thornton extended his point streak to 10 games by igniting the scoring play to make it 2-0. Colorado’s defenseman Erik Johnson was about to leave the Avalanche zone when Thornton pulled the puck away and passed it to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The defenseman’s shot from the left post was turned back by goaltender Calvin Pickard. Hertl, at the left post, controlled the rebound, made one quick chip at the puck near the post before pulling the puck between Pickard and the post at 10:13.