Mackenzie Blackwood likely will make his season debut for the Avalanche on Saturday when Colorado visits his former team, the San Jose Sharks.
The 28-year-old goaltender, returning from a lower-body injury, spent parts of two seasons with the Sharks before being dealt to the Avalanche on Dec. 9, 2024. He is 4-1-0 in five career appearances against San Jose with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Blackwood served as the backup to Scott Wedgewood on Friday as the Avalanche doubled up the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Las Vegas to improve to 4-1-2 on the road this season.
Martin Necas, who signed an eight-year contract extension reportedly worth $11.5 million annually on Thursday, led the way for Colorado on Friday with a goal and two assists. Cale Makar added a goal and an assist while Brock Nelson and Brent Burns also found the back of the net.
The Avalanche have won back-to-back games after going winless in four straight (0-2-2).
“I thought we handled ourselves pretty good,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We got an early lead, obviously that’s a big start to the game and were able to play with the lead most of the game. Second period got a little hairy with all the penalties, but 5-on-5 I thought we did a nice job.”
The Saturday contest will be the first of three meetings between the Avalanche and Sharks this season. Colorado won all three games against San Jose last season, outscoring the Sharks 15-6.
The Sharks enter the Saturday game looking for their first back-to-back wins since March 22 and March 27. They earned a 5-2 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Alexander Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev each had a goal and an assist as San Jose jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead. William Eklund, Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Sharks, who won on home ice for the first time this season (1-3-2).
Timothy Liljegren added a pair of assists and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves in the victory.
“Just compete and just play,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Get to our game. I liked our start again. We did some really good things. I liked our game in the third. It matured as it went on, something we continue to build on.”
Sharks forward Ryan Reaves, who left the Thursday game at the end of the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return, is expected to be sidelined on Saturday.
San Jose rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson had 14:23 of ice time in the win over the Devils, his ninth game of the season. The 19-year-old, who was selected 11th overall in the 2024 draft, must remain with the Sharks for the rest of the season should he play in a 10th game.
“He’s here today,” Warsofsky said on Friday. “We’re taking this thing day by day, game by game, week by week, and he was here today. So that’s good.”
Warsofsky would not confirm whether Dickinson would be in the lineup on Saturday.
Dickinson said of playing in the NHL, “Just to get a taste of it now is pretty surreal. The opportunity to stay here for the year is potentially right around the corner, and it’s everything that I’ve worked for.”
Nedeljkovic, expected to start Saturday, is 2-2-1 in five games this season with a 3.60 GAA and an .887 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
