Before the game, the Colorado Avalanche breathed a sign of relief.
Then they went out and beat the San Jose Sharks.
X-rays on the hand of star forward Nathan MacKinnon were negative and he was on the ice for 22:38 in the win. MacKinnon injured his hand in a fight in the game against Minnesota last weekend.
Mikko Rantanen scored the go-ahead goal at 12:17 of the third period that put the Avs up 3-2. Andre Burakovsky added a goal nearly three minutes later to provide some cushion.
Pavel Francouz started in net for Colorado. He made 25 saves.
The Avs host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, April 2 at 1 p.m. MDT.
Postgame comments from Avs defenseman Darren Helm (l), forward Alex Newhook (r), goalie Pavel Francouz and head coach Jared Bednar.
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