Couture’s ‘gutsy’ return inspires wounded Sharks
Veteran forward downplays performance in San Jose’s Game 1 win over Edmonton
To Logan Couture, his return to action in Game 1 against the Edmonton Oilers was a clumsy effort barely worthy of a passing grade.
To head coach Pete DeBoer, it was one of the grittiest performances he has seen.
Given the state of Couture’s face, still in shambles after being hit by a slap shot two weeks ago, the coach is probably right on this one.
“Fortunately we were able to win, but for me, I can be better,” said Couture, who played almost 21 minutes wearing a full cage to protect what’s left of his mouth in San Jose’s 3-2 overtime win.
“Handling the puck, making plays. Especially on the power play, I felt like I threw some pucks away and lost some pucks that normally I make better plays on.
“Part of it is being away from the game for 21/2 weeks and part of it is getting used to playing with that cage.”
DeBoer says they will have to agree to disagree.
“I thought it was a gutsy performance by him,” DeBoer said. “He has high standards for himself, which is what makes him great. But if you knew what he’d been through in the last month and the damage to his face and his mouth and what he’s been able to eat and drink and how little he’s slept and all those things, I thought it was a real gutsy performance.”
DeBoer said just seeing Couture tough it out all week and then make it to the gate for Game 1 was a major inspiration in the room.
“This guy is a world-class player. At 75 per cent, he’s still better than most guys in the lineup.
“And the fact that he wanted to be out there and play, he’s a playofftype player. I don’t think it was an accident he led the league in playoff scoring last year. He wasn’t going to be kept out of the game.”
NO JOE
Joe Thornton took part in San Jose’s optional skate Thursday, but offered no insight on his status for Game 2. Once again, it will be a game-day decision.
“I hope to come out Friday and join the guys, but I’ll have to wait and see,” said Thornton, who missed Game 1 with a knee injury.
“I wanted to play, it just didn’t work out. It’s tough. You want to be out there competing with the guys, but we’re hoping to be in this for a long, long time.
“If I can get a couple of days here and there that can help me out long term, it’s going to be good for us.”
He’s no fan of having to watch the Sharks wade into battle without him, but all’s well that ends well.
“It was great,” he said of their Game 1 comeback. “You don’t realize how nervous you can be when you’re not out there. It was such a good game by both teams and what an ending for us, it was great.”
BOXED IN
The Oilers were hoping their power play would play a major factor in this series, but so far their penalty killers are getting all the ice time.
That’s a big reason why they’re trailing 1-0 in the series. Even though they only gave up one power-play goal, having to kill off six minors thoroughly disrupted their game.
“We had a 41-minute segment of the game halfway through the first to halfway through the third where we took 12 minutes in penalties and had back-to-back power plays,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “That really threw the rhythm of the game out of whack … it was a game that didn’t favour us at all.”
But it gave life to the Sharks. “Brent Burns had 10 minutes of power-play time, Joe Pavelski had 81/2,” said McLellan. “When you put those types of players on the ice with an extra body for that amount of time, they’re going to get some momentum.
“On the other end, Nuge (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) killed over 61/2 minutes. When you have to play (a man short) for that amount of time, you lose a little jump and a little spunk, you’re in a defensive mindset.”