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		Sharks close out Avs in 6 By Jeremy Harness April 24, 2010
	DENVER, CO - APRIL 24 : Goaltender Craig Anderson #41 of the Colorado Avalanche reacts as Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks celebrates his goal in the first period of Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 24, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
	Now, it's pretty safe to say that the Sharks have put last year firmly behind them. A year after bowing out in the first round of the playoffs that saw them enter with the NHL's best record, the Sharks are on to the second round after eliminating the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of their opening-round series, 5-2, at Denver's Pepsi Center. To do it, San Jose recovered from a one-goal deficit to score four times in the third period – two of them coming from empty-netters after Colorado brought in an extra skater in an effort to get back into the game. After the first four games that saw neither team gain any more than a one-goal advantage during any point, the Sharks blew the doors open in the final two, outscoring the Avalanche 10-2 to close out the series. The Sharks will now wait to find out who their second-round opponent will be. The Detroit Red Wings will host the Phoenix Coyotes in the sixth game of their series, with Detroit holding a 3-2 advantage and a chance to move on. To get to this point, the Sharks kept putting pressure on Colorado goalie Craig Anderson, just as they have for the entire series. Joe Pavelski had two goals to boost his total for the series to five, the first of Saturday's game coming after 47 seconds gone by in the game. However, Colorado, one of the youngest teams in the NHL this year, clawed back into the game with a second-period goal by Marek Svatos and then took the lead when Brandon Yip beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov at 4:51 of the third. Then the Sharks got going. Dan Boyle, who had the fluke own-goal in overtime of Game 3 to give the Avalanche the win, put the puck in the opposing net at 7:33 to tie the score before Pavelski gave San Jose the lead at 9:02. The Sharks' defense was superb, even when the Avs went to an extra skater in the final minutes. Nabokov saw only three shots in the final period, and 18 total while the Sharks sent 32 shots to the net, the final two from Devin Setoguchi and Douglas Murray that found the open net.