Sharks' Pavelski scores against Avalanche after return from head injury

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was back in action Wednesday night for Game 7 of San Jose's Western Conference semifinal series against the visiting Colorado Avalanche, and he scored the game's first goal. Pavelski, who hadn't played since sustaining an apparent head injury in Game 7 of San Jose's first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, started Wednesday. Then at 5:57 of the first period, he tipped in a point shot from Brent Burns for his third goal of the postseason.

The Sharks had viewed Pavelski's status as uncertain earlier in the day, and they waited to see how he did in warmups to determine if he would play. Coach Peter DeBoer said there was an awareness that Pavelski participating in warmups would pump up the crowd inside the SAP Center. Pavelski scored a team-high 38 goals and added 26 assists in the regular season. He has two goals and two assists in seven games this postseason.

He was injured when his head hit the ice after a cross-check by Vegas forward Cody Eakin on April 23. Eakin has assessed a major penalty for cross-checking, and the Sharks scored four times on the ensuing power play en route to a 5-4 overtime win. The NHL subsequently apologized for the call, ruling that Eakin shouldn't have been assessed a five-minute major. Pavelski also agreed that it shouldn't have been a major penalty.

Pavelski got on the ice for the first time since the injury on Monday, then told reporters he is closer to returning. "It still really is day-to-day, I think, and go from there," Pavelski said Monday. "I wish we had a set-in-stone answer. 'Go here, do this and be ready.' We're just kind of taking everything into play."

(With inputs from agencies.)