Couture, Jones power Sharks
Logan Couture had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones stopped 33 shots and the San Jose Sharks beat the struggling Rangers, 4-1, last night in New York.
Tim Heed, Joonas Donskoi and Melker Karlsson also scored to help the Sharks win for the third time in four games. Jones got his fourth straight win after losing his first two starts.
Mika Zibanejad scored and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 20 saves for the Rangers, who fell to 2-6-2 on the season. New York finished 0-for-6 on the power play and is 3-for-25 in its past six games.
The Sharks visit the Bruins at the Garden Thursday.
With the Sharks leading 3-0 after two periods, Couture took the puck away from Lundqvist behind the goal and sent it to Karlsson, who put it in for his second of the season at 2:51 of the third. Couture got his 200th career assist on the play.
San Jose turned the puck over in its defensive zone, and Zibanejad snapped a shot into the top-right corner to spoil Jones’ shutout bid at 4:23 of the final period.
Donskoi increased the Sharks’ lead to 3-0 with 38 seconds left in the second as he skated into the right circle and beat Lundqvist gloveside inside the right post.
The Rangers controlled the play for most of the first period while out-shooting the Sharks 16-8.
Couture, who had his second career hat trick in a loss at the New York Islanders on Saturday night, got San Jose on the scoreboard 1:56 into the game. With Jones pulled for an extra skater on a delayed penalty, Brent Burns sent pass from the right circle up top to Couture, who fired a slap shot from straightaway past Lundqvist.
Jones had two nice saves on back-to-back attempts in close by Pavel Buchnevich with a little more than nine minutes left in the first.
Maple Leafs 3, Kings 2 — Frederik Andersen made 36 saves, and host Toronto handed Los Angeles its first regulation loss of the season.
Matt Martin, Tyler Bozak and Patrick Marleau scored for the Leafs (7-2-0). Mitch Marner added two assists.
Toronto has won at least seven of its first nine games for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
Adrian Kempe and Trevor Lewis scored for Los Angeles (6-1-1), which had won four in a row. Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots.
Toronto defenseman Roman Polak made his season debut after signing a oneyear, $1.1 million deal on Sunday. He had one assist and played 12-plus minutes.
Marner helped the Maple Leafs jump in front 5:46 into the first. He entered the zone and curled behind the net before teeing up Polak for a one-timer from the blue line that Martin deflected past Quick from the top of the crease.
Elsewhere in the NHL — The Calgary Flames placed Jaromir Jagr on injured reserve, making him ineligible to play for seven days. The 45-year-old right winger broke his stick attempting a shot Saturday night, skated to the bench and walked to the dressing room. The team said he has a lower-body injury . . . .
Anaheim Ducks forward and former Boston College standout Patrick Eaves has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, and his hockey career is on hold. Guillain-Barre is a rare disorder in which a patient’s immune system attacks the nervous system, sometimes resulting in death. Eaves’ condition stabilized after a stint in the hospital.