DENVER (AP) With the core of Colorado’s scoring attack sidelined Adidas Rasmus Andersson Jersey , backup goalie Jonathan Bernier put together a stifling performance.Gabriel Bourque and Tyson Jost scored 2:14 apart in the second period, Bernier stopped 38 shots and the Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night.Bernier was solid once again in place of starter Semyon Varlamov, who missed 11 games with a groin injury before returning to the crease Saturday. For the second time in 2 1/2 weeks, his backup delivered a gem at the expense of the Sharks.”Bernier would be making $20 million a year if he played us every night,” said San Jose coach Peter DeBoer, whose team lost 5-3 to the Avalanche on Jan. 18 in large part because of 45 saves by Bernier. ”He’s been unbelievable against us.”Colorado returned from a six-game road trip and won its ninth straight at the Pepsi Center, the club’s longest home winning streak since moving to Denver in 1995. The Avalanche are 19-7-1 at home this season and one point out of the second wild card in the Western Conference.”We’ve had some success at home,” Bernier said, ”but we have to get that success on the road if we want to be a good team and to make the playoffs.”They’ll have to find some more offense, too.Colorado struggled to generate many chances without Nathan MacKinnon (left shoulder) and Mikko Rantanen (lower body), the team’s top two scorers. In their absence, the Avalanche were outshot 39-20.”We lost two of our best players on our team, one of the best players in the NHL right now (in MacKinnon) Adidas Dalton Prout Jersey ,” Jost said. ”Guys have to step up.”The Sharks pulled goalie Martin Jones in the final minute and had a flurry of chances to tie it, but J.T. Compher iced the game with an empty-net goal with three seconds remaining.Jones stopped 17 shots for the Sharks, who have won just twice in their last seven games. Joel Ward scored his first goal since Nov. 22.”Yeah, their goalie played well,” San Jose center Logan Couture said. ”It was tough to get one, and obviously we didn’t get two.”San Jose had 16 of the first 20 shots but found itself down 2-0 early in the second.Bourque opened the scoring 2:31 into the period after the Sharks turned the puck over in their own zone. Jost took control and pushed it ahead to Compher, who slid an expert pass along the crease to Bourque for his third goal of the season.The Avalanche added to it as they connected on two long passes to set up Jost. The 19-year-old split two defenders just in front of the blue line and beat Jones’ glove for his fourth of the season.Ward cut the deficit to 2-1 with 6:31 left in the period after scoring on a rebound. The goal was originally waved off, but video replay showed the puck slipped just inside.The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 26-10 through two periods.”Berns was good,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”He gave us a chance.”NOTES: C Joe Thornton missed his sixth straight game and is expected to be out several weeks for San Jose. … Jost and Compher each had a goal and an assist. … MacKinnon is expected be out two to four weeks, while Rantanen missed his first game of the season. … The Avalanche are in the midst of playing 13 of 16 games away from home.UP NEXTSharks: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.Avalanche: Start a three-game road swing at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.—This story has been corrected with Bernier’s save total to reflect official scoring change.— WASHINGTON (AP) For better or for worse, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is an expert when it comes to knowing what the NHL looks for when punishing someone for a dangerous hit, and he thinks Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman could be in trouble.Wilson, who served a three-game suspension earlier this postseason Adidas Derek Ryan Jersey , spoke out about the way Stralman slammed him into the glass in the first period of what turned into a 4-2 victory for Tampa Bay over Washington in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night.Stralman was sent to the penalty box for boarding on the play.”It’s a vulnerable position. There’s no doubt there’s contact with my head. If I’m wearing a helmet from five years ago, I think I’m probably unconscious. So we’ll see what they say,” Wilson said, referring to the possibility of the league’s department of player safety reviewing the matter.On the play, Wilson was facing the glass not too far from the Capitals’ bench when Stralman hit him from behind. Wilson dropped to the ice and put his right glove to his helmet.After the game, which allowed the Lightning to cut their series deficit to 2-1, Wilson talked about the ”goose egg on the side of my head” and acknowledged, ”It took me a little bit to collect myself.”He said the hit included ”everything I’ve heard all year: He sees (jersey) numbers for a good amount of time, and he elevates through the back of my shoulder and head.”Capitals coach Barry Trotz referred to those as ”red flags,” and added, ”I understand where Tom’s coming from, no question.””That’s a lot of `don’ts’ for me. From what they’ve been telling me, that’s a lot of `don’ts.’ If I make that hit Adidas James Neal Jersey , 100 percent I’m probably sitting out. So we’ll see. It’s playoffs. It’s an intense time of year,” Wilson said. ”I don’t think he’s a malicious player, at all. But it’s a pretty dangerous hit. I think a lot of people will say that.”The game was scoreless at the time of that hit, but Tampa Bay would go on to take a 3-0 lead en route to the victory. Wilson thought that Stralman’s play might have set a tone that affected the way play went.”(When) someone gets run from behind, for the next couple shifts, you might be a little more tentative coming back for pucks,” Wilson said. ”We’ve got to play through it. There’s going to be emotion.”Senior vice president of player safety George Parros was at Tuesday’s game. During the season, Parros and Wilson met for about an hour to go over video clips of various hits so the player could understand what the league is watching for.During Washington’s elimination of two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs, Wilson missed three games after breaking Penguins rookie Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw in a violent collision.Wilson also was forced to sit out two preseason games following a late hit on an opponent, then was suspended for the first four games of the regular season for boarding a player shortly after his return.—