Avalanche Falls Again to Sharks

Colorado put itself in a precarious position for its Friday night game against Dallas, but the Avalanche can take heart:

At least it doesn’t have to play San Jose again.

The lowly Sharks beat Colorado, 4-1, on Wednesday night in Denver to put the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in position to lose its place atop the NHL.

Colorado has 105 points, and after beating Toronto, Dallas has 104.

San Jose has 62, but the Sharks have beaten Colorado three times in a row and twice in the last five days.

“We won the season series against both Dallas and Colorado,” said Bob Errey, whose first two goals in a month highlighted a three-goal third period for San Jose.

“Obviously, that’s not something really to brag about because we’re not in the playoffs. But it gives us a little bit of pride and something to look forward to in a season that just kind of slipped away from us.”

The top spot in the Western Conference seems to be slipping away from the Avalanche, which has lost four of its last six games.

“It’s beyond frustration for us right now and we’ve got to try and forget about it and refocus for the Dallas game,” Adam Deadmarsh said. “If we can’t get up for that Dallas game, it’s going to be very frustrating.”

Dallas 3, Toronto 2--Greg Adams touched off the Stars’ three-goal second period with a power-play goal as they extended their home unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1).

Detroit 3, Edmonton 3--The Oilers moved into a fifth-place tie with Phoenix in the Western Conference with the a tie at Edmonton. Detroit’s Tomas Sandstrom had a short-handed goal in the third period for the game’s final score.

Vancouver 6, Phoenix 4--Lonny Bohonos had two goals and an assist during a five-goal first period for the Canucks at Phoenix.

St. Louis 1, Chicago 0--The Blues clinched a playoff spot at Chicago behind Brett Hull’s goal and Grant Fuhr’s 23-save shutout in goal.

Florida 4, New Jersey 2--Dave Lowry scored two of the Panthers’ four third-period goals at Miami as they ended the Devils’ undefeated streak at six games (5-0-1) and also ended their own winless streak at six (0-4-2).

Ottawa 5, Hartford 4--The Senators kept their playoff hopes alive when Randy Cunneyworth scored with 7:11 to play for a victory in Kanata, Canada.

Montreal 3, N.Y. Islanders 1--Shayne Corson’s power play tip-in with 4:27 to play gave the Canadiens a win in Uniondale, N.Y., and ended the Islanders’ hopes of making the Eastern Conference playoffs.