WESTERN CONFERENCE Avalanche face elimination as Sharks near West final

Colorado trails 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- After practicing at San Jose's training complex earlier in the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche held their Friday skate at the Shark Tank.
Perhaps coach Tony Granato was just reminding his team that unless the Avalanche quickly get comfortable in this imposing building, their season is finished.
The Avalanche need a victory in Game 5 this afternoon to extend their second-round playoff series against the second-seeded Sharks, who have a 3-1 lead and plenty of confidence playing at home. San Jose is one victory shy of the franchise's first trip to the Western Conference finals.
But Colorado doesn't seem rattled by its predicament, particularly after posting a tense overtime victory in Game 4. Afterward, Milan Hejduk boldly assigned all the pressure in the series to San Jose -- and several Colorado players say they're looking forward to a chance to play on just the third team in league history to recover from a 3-0 playoff series deficit.
Vincent Damphousse and the rest of the Sharks chuckle at these notions. Though they scored just one goal in the last two games in Denver, San Jose's forwards have generated plenty of chances this spring -- and with their sixth straight home victory, the Sharks could set off an unprecedented celebration at home.
"We want to get it over with as soon as possible," Damphousse said Friday. "We're back with our crowd behind us, and we'll do whatever we can to make sure we don't go back to Colorado. There's no pressure on us at all. We usually come out ready to play at home, and this shouldn't be any different."
The Sharks are 5-0 at home in the playoffs this season, outscoring St. Louis and Colorado 16-5. Captain Patrick Marleau has scored all of his league-leading seven playoff goals at the Shark Tank, and goalie Evgeni Nabokov has one shutout and three one-goal performances.
"The pressure still rides with Colorado," coach Ron Wilson said. "They have to win this game. We have three opportunities to knock them out, and we'd like to do it as soon as possible."