Avalanche open second round series Friday in San Jose

After finishing off the Western Conference regular season champion Calgary Flames last Friday night, the Colorado Avalanche finally know their opponent for the second round. The San Jose Sharks advanced last night after what will likely do down as the most wild game of these 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. Colorado will take on a San Jose team that was able to come back from being down 3-1 in the series as well as a three goal deficit in game seven to dispose of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The third period of game seven is almost too wacky to describe. Trailing 3-0 with half a period left in the game, the Sharks would score four goals in a 4:01 span. They would then blow a one goal lead in the final minute before ultimately ending the hopes for Vegas in overtime.

It was the type of excitement hockey fans live for and proof that nothing is predictable in the NHL.

It will be interesting to see if San Jose can ride the momentum into the next round or if the emotional high of games six and seven leads to a short term let down. They’ll only have two days to prepare for the NHL’s hottest team so there’s a good reason to hope Colorado can steal the game one.

The Avalanche will travel to San Jose for their first game Friday night at the SAP Center. According to Sportsnet, the remainder of the series will follow every second day with games at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.

The schedule means that the Avalanche will have an entire week between games - something that can only help a team looking for a long playoff run. Sam Girard is skating with the team but still hasn’t been cleared for contact, hopefully the extra time will be enough for him to work his way back into the lineup.

This will be the first playoff matchup between these two teams since the Sharks eliminated the Avs in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.