NHL Hockey 3/28/10
Colorado Avalanche (41-26-2-5)-San Jose Sharks (46-19-4-6)

By Mark-Sunday, March 28th 2010 8 PM EST
Line- San Jose -1.5 +155

Colorado comes in off a 6-2 loss to Phoenix which has them sitting in the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. As the NHL season heads towards the finish line teams are looking for some momentum to carry with them into the playoffs. The Avalanche are six points ahead of 9th place Calgary so they would have to have something of a collapse to be over taken.

That said it's difficult to build momentum when you have a lone overtime win to your credit in the last five games. Much of the attention has been focused on G Craig Anderson who has appeared in a franchise record 65 games. An iron man year from a guy signed as an unrestricted free agent during the off season but the rigors of playing every game have many questioning if he is showing signs of wear as five goals on 31 shots to the Coyotes points to a player that could be losing their edge.

San Jose won their third straight with a 4-2 win over Vancouver. The upside besides the winning streak was G Evegeni Nabokov reached the record books with his third 40 win season in a row sitting beside Martin Brodeur as the only net minders with that achievement. Patrick Marleau set a personal mile stone with his 42nd goal of the year and three other players scored but the win was also costly.

The Sharks lost two players to injury in the final five minutes of the game in Joe Thornton and Manny Malhotra. Thornton was helped off the ice after an awkward hit in to the boards and Malhotra was hit in the face with the puck. Their availability for today's game is unknown but Thornton's 379 straight appearances could be in jeopardy.

Colorado is 3-9 in the last 12 as an underdog, 3-7 in the past 10 as a road underdog and 1-4 in their last 5 versus the Western Conference. The Sharks are 69-29 in the last 98 as a home favorite, 23-11 in the past 34 versus a team with a winning record and 20-8 in their past 28 versus the Northwest.

These teams are obviously heading in different directions with San Jose turning it on and Colorado struggling to hold on to the final playoff spot. The Avalanche do need the win arguably more than the Sharks but I'm banking on the stronger home team and better goal tending in this one.