DENVER (AP) - Nazem Kadri had two goals, one midway through the third period to snap a scoreless tie, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Thursday night.
Kadri also had an assist, Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves and Andre Burakovsky scored for the Avalanche.
Colorado scored 15 goals over its previous two home games, including seven in Tuesday’s win against San Jose, but offense was hard to come by Thursday. The Avalanche had just 18 shots on goal through two periods and also hit the post a few times.
Devan Dubnyk had 35 saves for San Jose, which finished 3-5 on its eight-game trip to open the season.
Colorado played most of the game with only 11 forwards after fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare suffered a left leg injury when Ryan Donato skid into him late in the first period. Bellemare went to the locker room and didn’t return.
The Avalanche then lost defenseman Devon Toews early in the third period when he took a puck to the skate and limped off the ice. He returned later in the period and took a penalty.
Soon after Toews went to the locker room, Colorado broke the tie. Kadri put an initial shot on net, and after a couple of saves by Dubnyk and a scrum in front of the net, Kadri knocked in a loose puck at 9:55.
Less than two minutes later, Kadri fed Burakovsky as he came down the slot, and Burakovsky redirected it at 11:53. Kadri added a power-play goal, his third of the season, at 18:54.
San Jose forward Sasha Chmelevski was slated to make his NHL debut Thursday night but was ruled out before the opening faceoff due to roster issues with the taxi squad. Marcus Sorensen took his place on the fourth line.
UP NEXT:
Sharks: Scheduled to play their first home game - in Arizona - against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.
Avalanche: At the Wild on Monday for the first of two games in St. Paul.
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