San Jose Sharks (1-0-1) At Colorado Avalanche (1-1-0), 7 P.m.
(Sports Network) - The San Jose Sharks will continue their season-opening four-game road trip tonight, when they visit the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. The Sharks opened the season with a shootout loss in Edmonton on Thursday, but rebounded with a victory in Vancouver the following night. San Jose earned a 3-1 triumph on Friday and received some big help from new Shark Jeremy Roenick, who scored twice in his team's first win of the campaign. Roenick, who was signed as a free agent last month, now has 497 goals on his career and is looking to become just the third American-born player to reach the 500-goal plateau. The others to reach the mark are Mike Modano and Joe Mullen. Joe Thornton added a goal while Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for the Sharks, who had lost 3-2 to Edmonton in the season opener. The Sharks, who were an impressive 26-14-1 on the road last year, will complete their four-game swing Wednesday night in Chicago. San Jose will open its home schedule at HP Pavilion next Saturday against the Boston Bruins. Colorado has split its first two games of the season after getting shut out in Nashville on Thursday. Jason Arnott's two first-period goals were more than enough for Nashville goalie Chris Mason, who saved all 35 shots he faced, as the Predators blanked the Avalanche, 4-0, at Sommet Center. Peter Budaj got the start in goal for the Avalanche and was shaky, saving 18 of 22 shots before being replaced by Tyler Weiman, who stopped all 10 shots in an attempt to keep Colorado within striking distance. Colorado won its opener Wednesday with a 4-3 win over visiting Dallas, as Budaj saved 31 shots and Paul Stastny recorded his first career hat trick. Avalanche centerman Joe Sakic came into this season needing just one point to tie Phil Esposito (1,590) for eighth place on the league's all-time list. However, Sakic, who has spent his entire 19-year career with the Quebec/Colorado franchise, has been held scoreless in the first two games of the season. Colorado defenseman Scott Hannan will meet his former team for the first time this evening. Hannan was drafted by San Jose in 1997 and played for eight seasons with the Sharks before signing a four-year deal with the Avalanche this offseason. The Sharks and Avs split four meetings last season, but San Jose has taken five of the last seven matchups overall. However, Colorado has won five of its last eight home games against the Sharks.
Copyright 2007 Courtesy of The Sports Network.







