If it wasn't for a late tip-in goal by the San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton, the Avalanche would have been on their way to a 1-0 victory. Instead, Thornton did have that goal, which sent the game into overtime. And after five minutes of OT, the teams went to a shootout. On the first penalty shot, San Jose's Ryan Clowe scored on a wristshot from about 10 feet out. Five shooters and no other goals later, David Jones had one last try to keep the Avalanche in the contest. He failed, and the Avalanche lost the shootout, 1-0, and the game, 2-1.
Erik Johnson scored the first goal of the game at 1:18 in the third, and the Avalanche were only minutes away from winning before Joe Thornton had that lucky tip-in to tie the game at one.
Avalanche goalie Brian Elliott was in line for the shutout victory before the Thornton goal, stopping 34 of 35 shots. Antti Niemi faced only 19 shots and stopped 18 of them.
The Avalanche (26-30-8, 60 points) extended their losing streak to four games now and are winless in 14 of their last 15 games. However, they did gain a point, for what little comfort that provides. They are off until Saturday when they host the Edmonton Oilers. The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. MT.