Penalties, mistakes doom San Jose Sharks in loss to NHL’s best team

The Sharks made one too many mistakes against the NHL’s best team on Thursday night.

With the game tied and defenseman Nicolas Meloche serving a slashing penalty, Mikko Rantanen took a pass from Nazem Kadri and beat an outstretched Kaapo Kahkonen at the 12:17 mark of the third period to help give Colorado a 4-2 win over the Sharks at Ball Arena.

Andre Burakovsky added an insurance goal at the 15:16 mark of the third period, as the Sharks were swept on their two-game, two-day trip against Central Division teams. San Jose lost 5-2 to Arizona on Wednesday night.

The Sharks had earlier erased two one-goal Avalanche leads on goals by Brent Burns and Timo Meier. But Colorado was relentless, as they had had 77 shot attempts over three periods.

Colorado now has an NHL-leading record of 48-14-6. The Sharks are 29-30-8.

Meier scored his 31st goal of the season – a new single-season career-high – in the second period off a workmanlike assist from Tomas Hertl at the 12:09 mark. Meier had 30 goals in 78 games in 2018-2019, his third season as a professional.

Meier now had six goals and three assists in his last six games, as he and linemates Hertl and Alexander Barabanov have driven the bus offensively for the Sharks since they were put back together the March 20 game with Arizona in San Jose.

Kahkonen was making his second start for the Sharks after he stopped 36 of 40 shots in San Jose’s 5-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on March 24. He finished with 42 saves.

Kahkonen entered Thursday’s game with a 1-2-1 record and a .890 save percentage in four career games against the Avalanche, all with the Minnesota Wild. Kahkonen was also looking for his first win since Feb. 20 when the Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-3.

Since then, Kahkonen was 0-6-1 with an .879 save percentage.

Kahkonen sparkled in the first period, though, making 15 saves as the Avalanche played at its usual blistering pace. Three of those saves came on the penalty kill after Ryan Merkley was called for hooking Nathan MacKinnon at the 8:28 mark of the first period.

Colorado took a 1-0 lead at the 1:54 mark of the second period as Alex Newhook’s shot from just inside the blue line got past Kahkonen with traffic in front. The Sharks challenged for goalie interference, but the NHL situation room determined there was none.

Darren Helm also scored for Colorado. He took a pass from Valeri Nichushkin, who stole a breakout pass from Erik Karlsson, and beat Kahkonen for his sixth goal of the season.

The Sharks have Friday off and host Joe Pavelski and the Dallas Stars on Saturday.