On the power-play goal Logan Couture scored Saturday afternoon
to spark the Sharks to a 2-0 nail-biting victory over the Boston
Bruins, he didn’t look like somebody whose energy was sapped by the
flu.
BOSTON
On the power-play goal Logan Couture scored Saturday afternoon to spark the Sharks to a 2-0 nail-biting victory over the Boston Bruins, he didn’t look like somebody whose energy was sapped by the flu.
But that’s how he felt.
“I had some shifts, came back to the bench, looked up at the clock and could see I was only out there for 20 seconds. It felt like I was out there for five minutes,” said the rookie center who missed San Jose’s previous two games. “The lungs weren’t there, but to score, to help the team, I really had fun.”
Couture has been having a lot of fun this season, sick or healthy. His backhand shot that beat Boston goaltender Tim Thomas at 7:22 of the first period ended up being his seventh game-winner of the season, tying him for the NHL lead with Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin.
But more importantly, on a day when a Sharks team that had led the league in shots could muster only 18, it combined with Devin Setoguchi’s empty-netter to give San Jose just enough offense for a 2-0 record on this seven-game trip, and to reward goalie Antti Niemi with his third shutout of the season — and the first for the Sharks over the Bruins.
“Solid,” coach Todd McLellan said of Niemi’s play. “Saw the puck, made the first save, was there when he had to take care of the second. There were a few scrambles, but he made the team in front of him feel very comfortable.”
McLellan explained the recent strong performances from Niemi as part of the evolutionary process as well as current circumstances with backup Antero Niittymaki sidelined.
“He is now a Shark,” the coach said of Niemi. “He knows the guys, he knows how everybody’s going to react in certain situations. He also knows he’s playing. With the injuries we have to the goaltending group in our organization, he knows that he’s going to put the pads on.”
But on the defensive side, it wasn’t just Niemi and his 26 saves.
Equally significant was the Sharks’ overall play in their own zone — the 25 blocked shots that were nearly twice the team average, the cleared rebounds. Essentially, a lot of the little things the Sharks were struggling with before going on what is now a 7-0-1 run.
“It’s just better support. Guys are coming down, we’re tighter, we’re moving better as a unit,” forward Joe Pavelski said. “We’re in the right position. That’s the biggest thing. We’re in better spots.”
Couture has been finding himself in good spots all season, but Saturday it was centering two forwards for the first time.
The Sharks had won both games in the rookie’s absence, and McLellan left his top two lines intact Saturday. That gave Couture newcomers Kyle Wellwood and Ben Eager as his linemates, and McLellan’s motivation was more than convenience.
“Logan had the benefit of playing with two guys who are really hungry right now,” McLellan said of his new players’ motivation to prove themselves. “I put Logan with them because I thought they would bring that energy, and it would make Logan’s workload a little easier. As it turned out, it went that way.”
Eager, for example, played 12 minutes, 4 seconds, his most as a Shark; Couture played 15:17, almost three minutes below his average.
For Couture, it was the second time in a week that he got the better of Thomas — the NHL’s top goalie this season with a 1.82 goals against average and a .945 save percentage.
The first was strictly for show as Couture slid the puck through Thomas’ five-hole during the skills competition at the NHL All-Star Weekend.
Saturday’s goal, with Couture taking a drop pass from Ryane Clowe and cutting across the crease as Setoguchi drove the net, mattered a lot more as the Sharks beat the Bruins in Boston for the fourth consecutive time — three of those victories coming since that November 2005 trade that sent Joe Thornton west.
—The Sharks are having a problem keeping their backup goaltenders healthy.
Niittymaki was unable to return from a groin injury Saturday, and minor leaguer Alex Stalock suffered a bad cut Friday when a skate struck the back of his leg during the third period of a Worcester (Mass.) Sharks game in the American Hockey League.
Carter Hutton found himself in the middle of both situations.
First he played the final minutes in Worcester’s 4-3 shootout victory over Manchester, then drove down the Mass Pike for the chance to be Niemi’s backup in Saturday’s shutout victory in Boston.
“It’s been kind of a quick turnaround, playing last night, getting thrown in and getting the quick call-up today,” said Hutton, a 25-year-old who played four seasons at nearby UMass-Lowell.
Niittymaki injured his groin Jan. 20 during pregame warm-ups in Vancouver and appeared to tweak the same spot at a Friday practice. Sharks assistant general manager Wayne Thomas indicated Niittymaki may not need to miss many more games.
Stalock, considered an up-and-comer in the San Jose organization, was hurt during a third-period scrum in front of his net. Thomas said Stalock is out indefinitely.
—The Sharks felt they had to contend with some questionable officiating Saturday.
Douglas Murray appeared to score at 7:37 of the second period, but referee Dennis LaRue waved it off because Eager had become entangled with Thomas a few seconds earlier.
“The explanation that Denny gave me was exactly how I saw it in the video,” McLellan said. “It’s a decision he has to make instantly. He went with it, and we have to live with it.”
The Sharks were also unhappy with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed their bench midway through the second period, many suggesting the language that prompted it was no worse than what usually goes unpunished.
— Story by David Pollak, San Jose Mercury News
