Teemu Selanne, held without a goal in Round 1, broke out for two, helping his Sharks take Game 1 and home ice advantage in their Western Conference semifinal against the Avalanche 6-3.
"We knew they were tired and banged up and we had a few days of rest," forward Mike Ricci told Hockey Night in Canada after the game.
"We know Game 2 (Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Colorado) is going to be tougher."
From left, San Jose Sharks Marcus Ragnarsson, Scott Thornton, Teemu Selanne and Patrick Marleau celebrate after Selanne's goal. (AP/Jack Dempsey)
Ricci, Patrick Marleau, Scott Thornton and Bryan Marchment also scored for the Sharks. Chris Drury, Greg de Vries and Peter Forsberg replied for the Avalanche.
The Sharks came out fast, going up 3-0 before allowing the Avs to get within one, before pulling away again.
"It was a big win for us," Marleau told HNIC. "We came out pretty strong, got lackadaisical in the second and came back strong in the third."
The second-seeded Avalanche didn't have much time to prepare for the Sharks. They needed seven games to get past the Los Angeles Kings in the West quarter-finals, while the Sharks more easily disposed of the Phoenix Coyotes in five.
Colorado led the league in defence during the regular season, but struggled in their own end on this night. Part of the problem for the Avs was the absence of former Norris Trophy winner Rob Blake, who didn't play due to an unspecified leg injury.
Goalie Patrick Roy also struggled getting beat on two long shots. He finished with 17 saves. Evgeny Nabokov made 27 stops for the Sharks.
The Sharks got on the board 6:13 into the game courtesy of some nifty give-and-go passing between Niklas Sundstrom and Ricci.
Ricci picked up the puck along the boards and sent it to Sundstrom in the corner, then raced to the front of the net just in time to receive Sundstrom's return pass and beat Roy.
Selanne made it 2-0 when he took Marcus Ragnarsson's pass at centre, raced up the right wing and then beat Roy on the glove side with a blast from the right faceoff circle.
He got his second goal of the night at 11:28 of the second period when Marco Sturm collected a loose puck behind the net and passed to Selanne, who was left alone in front of the net. Selanne quickly fired a shot between Roy's pads before the Colorado netminder could get set.
Drury put the Avalanche on the board at 14:33 of the period when Adam Foote's blast from the point hit him in the arm and deflected past Nabokov.
The Avs cut San Jose's lead to 3-2 at 17:57 when Joe Sakic won a draw in the Sharks' zone and fed the puck back to Greg de Vries. De Vries took a couple strides and then blasted the puck in.
Marleau made it 4-2 at 12:34 of the third with a shot from just inside the Colorado blue line that handcuffed Roy. The Sharks made it 5-2 when Sundstrum passed from behind the net to Thornton who was alone in front.
Forsberg cut the lead to 5-3 when he deflected Peter Skoula's point shot between Nabokov's legs.
Marchment added an empty-netter in the game's closing seconds.
