Logan Couture Powers San Jose Sharks Past Vancouver
Logan Couture picked up his first career hat trick as San Jose notched their league-best 26th road win of the season.
A night after being robbed on multiple occasions by Jonathan Quick, Logan Couture made up for it in a big way on Tuesday. Couture recorded his first career hat trick, scoring the final three goals for the San Jose Sharks as they rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
It was quite the bounce back for Couture who’s endured a tough campaign after battling a couple of serious injuries earlier this season.
Fresh off their playoff clinching victory over the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose lacked the jump in the first period as they allowed a struggling Vancouver squad to take it to them. If not for the exploits of James Reimer, the Sharks would have found themselves trailing after the opening frame, but Reimer stood tall making 13 stops in the first.
After regrouping between periods, Joe Pavelski would deposit a rebound off a Brent Burns blast from the point for his 37th tally of the year, and second in the past two nights for team teal. The goal came just 20 seconds into the period and would give the Sharks a boost after a sluggish first.
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Then, San Jose would go on the power play for five minutes after Jake Virtanen received a five-minute major and game misconduct for interference after hitting Roman Polak late in the neutral zone. Polak was down for a few minutes, but he was able to return to the game as it looked like he got the wind knocked out him. It was definitely a dirty hit by Virtanen, although he didn’t make any contact with Polak’s head which was good from a Sharks perspective.
Team teal looked to capitalize on the ensuing power play, but it was actually the Canucks who would strike as Chris Higgins fired one past Reimer shorthanded to tie things back up at one.
However, San Jose would find a way late in the middle frame as Couture picked up a loose puck in front and slid one past Jacob Markstrom to open his account on this night. The goal came with 11 seconds remaining as the Sharks scored a goal in the opening and closing seconds of the period. You could see the huge sigh of relief from Couture who snapped a 10-game goalless drought with his 11th goal of the year.
In the third, the Sharks would find themselves with a golden opportunity to break things open after a series of Canucks penalties. With San Jose on a 5-on-3 advantage, Couture found himself all alone in front and squeaked one through the five-hole to give team teal their first two-goal advantage of the night.
From there, Reimer was impressive between the pipes including a great sliding save on Yannick Weber with just a couple minutes remaining in the third.
After being so close to his first career hat trick on numerous occasions, Couture was able to find the empty-net with 17 seconds left in the third as he was mobbed by his teammates. This was a much needed night for Couture who’s been snakebit in recent games.
If Couture can regain his scoring ways heading into the playoffs, the Sharks will welcome that with open arms. He gives San Jose another offensive weapon and only adds to the depth of this group.
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With the victory, the Sharks find themselves two points behind Anaheim and three behind L.A. in their long shot hopes of moving up in the Pacific.
Both of these teams will return to the Bay Area as they get set to meet again on Thursday night, this time at SAP Center. San Jose will look to extend Vancouver’s woes as the Canucks have now dropped nine-straight games as they limp to the finish. If the Sharks can pick up another win on Thursday, they will have taken four of the five contests against the Canucks this season.