Sharks take 2-1 lead into game 4 against the Avalanche

San Jose Sharks (46-27-9, second in the Pacific Division during the regular season) vs. Colorado Avalanche (38-30-14, fifth in the Central Division during the regular season)

Denver; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT

WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: San Jose leads series 2-1

BOTTOM LINE: The San Jose Sharks visit the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference second round with a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams meet Thursday for the seventh time this season. The Sharks won the last matchup 4-2. Logan Couture scored a team-high three goals for the Sharks in the victory.

The Avalanche are 22-20-8 in conference games. Colorado averages 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the fourth-most in the NHL. Ian Cole leads the team serving 115 total minutes.

The Sharks are 17-8-4 against opponents from the Pacific Division. San Jose averages 9.1 penalty minutes per game, the seventh-most in the NHL. Evander Kane leads the team serving 153 total minutes.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 41 goals, adding 58 assists and totaling 99 points. Mikko Rantanen has five goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Colorado.

Brent Burns has collected 83 total points while scoring 16 goals and totaling 67 assists for the Sharks. Couture has nine goals and three assists over the last 10 games for San Jose.

DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Sharks: Averaging 3.5 goals, 5.9 assists, 4.8 penalties and 12.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game with a .901 save percentage.

Avalanche: Averaging 3.1 goals, 5.6 assists, 5.0 penalties and 12.0 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game with a .910 save percentage.

Avalanche Injuries: Matt Calvert: day to day (upper body).

Sharks Injuries: Radim Simek: out (lower body), Joe Pavelski: day to day (upper body), Joonas Donskoi: day to day (undisclosed).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.