Artturi Lehkonen had two goals, Josh Manson scored a go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 in Denver on Wednesday night.

Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to reach 700 for his career, Valeri Nichushkin contributed three assists, Brock Nelson had a goal and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 23 shots for Colorado.

The Avalanche head into the Olympic hiatus with a league-leading 83 points. They have won two of their last three games after dropping four of their previous five.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, MacKinnon cycled the puck to Nichushkin, he fed Manson at the point and the defenseman’s one-timer beat a screened Yaroslav Askarov at 12:44 of the third.

Nelson sealed it with an empty-net goal at 18:43.

Timothy Liljegren and Philipp Kurashev scored goals, and Askarov made 38 saves for San Jose. The Sharks have lost four in a row heading into the Olympic break.

The Avalanche put 14 shots on goal in the first period but couldn’t get one by Askarov. They finally broke through early in the second.

Askarov made a save on Cale Makar’s shot from the right circle but couldn’t corral the rebound. Sharks defensemen John Klingberg and Dmitry Orlov battled Lehkonen for control, but it was poked into the net at 1:05, and the goal was confirmed after a review.

Lehkonen struck again later in the period when he got a pass from MacKinnon through the slot and wristed a shot by Askarov at 15:47 to give MacKinnon his milestone.

MacKinnon is the second player in franchise history to record 700 career assists, joining current team president Joe Sakic, who finished his career with 1,016.

San Jose got one back in the first minute of the third period when Liljegren’s shot from the point went off the stick of Colorado’s Parker Kelly, bounced off the ice and into the top corner at 43 seconds.

Kurashev tied it 2:51 later when he went in alone on net and beat Blackwood with a shot under his right arm.

–Field Level Media

PALO ALTO, Calif. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice as on-field preparations for Super Bowl LX against Seattle shifted gears.

The second-year quarterback, who injured his right shoulder during the AFC championship game, took all of the team’s first-team reps during a 90-minute practice at Stanford Stadium. He had told reporters earlier in the week that he was “feeling good” and that certainly appeared to be the case as the team worked through seven-on-seven and full-squad drills in full shoulder pads.

While the team installed much of its game plan during practices last week in Foxborough, head coach Mike Vrabel said his staff saved several elements of that plan so they would have new information to present to players in meetings and practices here in the Bay Area. This was a suggestion from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is coaching in his 10th Super Bowl as a member of the Patriots’ staff.

“No one has more experience than Josh with this, and he felt like that we needed to do something to keep them engaged and stimulated, so they weren’t looking at some things for the second or third time,” Vrabel said.

Vrabel is taking that engagement literally. After practice ended, Vrabel pulled a group of interior defensive linemen aside for extra instruction. Vrabel even got down into a three-point stance to work with defensive tackle Cory Durden on pass rush technique.

“We’re now talking about 36 hours being critical here, before people come in, friends and obligations that come with this game,” Vrabel said.

Team owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft arrived at Stanford with legendary Patriots receiver Julian Edelman. Like McDaniels, those three men are quite familiar with the Super Bowl preparation process, but it’s all new for most of Vrabel’s squad. No Patriot remains on the roster from their last Super Bowl and only five players on the current roster have prior Super Bowl experience.

“We’ve got some things to clean up, and then we’ve got to forge ahead,” Vrabel said. “We want to continue to keep the energy and the enthusiasm, but the execution is going to end up really helping us win the game.”

Maye was listed on the team’s first injury report with the shoulder, but as a full participant. Linebacker Robert Spillane was the only Patriots player who did not participate as he continues to recover from an ankle injury he suffered in the AFC title game in Denver. Linebacker Harold Landry was listed as a limited participant with a knee injury. Other players listed on the injury report were backup offensive lineman Thayer Munford Jr. (limited, knee) and defensive tackle Joshua Farmer (full participant, hamstring.) Farmer remains on the injured reserved list but has been designed to return.

–Pro Football Writers of America

Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and Victor Wembanyama added 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the host San Antonio Spurs to a 116-106 win over the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in a battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

The win was the second straight for the Spurs as they captured the season series against Oklahoma City 4-1 — although Wednesday’s victory should come with an asterisk.

The conference-leading Thunder had just eight available players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), Chet Holmgren (back spasms), Isaiah Hartenstein (eye corneal abrasion) and Luguentz Dort (patellofemoral joint inflammation) all stayed back in Oklahoma City as did Jalen Williams (hamstring strain) and Alex Caruso (adductor injury management), with the latter two players missing their ninth and eighth consecutive game, respectively.

Even undermanned Oklahoma City made the Spurs work for the win. San Antonio led by 15 points at halftime but by only 95-88 after Kenrich Williams’ 3-pointer 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Thunder pulled to within four points on Kenrich Williams’ layup with 4:03 left before Stephon Castle answered for San Antonio with back-to-back baskets to give the hosts some separation and they held on from there.

De’Aaron Fox had 15 points and 10 assists for the Spurs while Castle hit for 14 points, Carter Bryant scored 11 and Luke Kornet grabbed 15 boards.

Kenrich Williams led Oklahoma City with 25 points, with Jaylin Williams adding 24 points and 12 rebounds, Aaron Wiggins scoring 20, Brooks Barnhizer hitting for 14 and Cason Wallace finishing with 13 points.

San Antonio built a 39-26 lead after one quarter behind 12 points off the bench from Johnson.

The Spurs stoked their lead to as many as 22 points after a Julian Champagnie layup at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter before Oklahoma City worked to shoot itself back into the game. The Thunder poured in five 3-pointers over the next four-plus minutes to pull within 58-48. San Antonio led 73-58 at the break.

Wiggins led all scorers with 16 points before halftime while Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams added 10 each for Oklahoma City.

Johnson’s 13 points paced the Spurs, with Wembanyama and Bryant hitting for 11 points apiece in the first half.

–Field Level Media