TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Couture scores 39 seconds into OT for Sharks’ sixth straight win
The Sharks could have used Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights as a chance to set a tone for any potential playoff series between the two teams.
What the Sharks are saying right now, though, is that it’s more important for themto play the type of hockey that’s going to work in the playoffs, regardless of the opponent.
The Sharks dominated most of the second and third periods but their sixth straight victory didn’t come until overtime, when Logan Couture scored at the 4:21mark to give San Jose a 2-1 victory at SAP Center.
Brent Burns also scored and goalie Martin Jones made 24 saves as the Sharks, now with 93 points, sit seven points back of the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights and four ahead of the third place Los Angeles Kings with eight games left to play.
The Sharks are 1-1-1 against the Golden Knights this season, with the two teams meet- ing again on March 31.
“We’re just trying to get our game to where it needs to be,” Couture said. “When you have this many games left in the season, you’re trying to play your best hockey going into the play- offs. When everything’s said and done, you find out where you sit and go from there.”
For three periods, the biggest thing that stood in the Sharks’ way of a sixth consecutive victory was the play of Golden Knights goalie Malcolm Subban, who had 42 saves at the end of regulation time.
The Sharks’ power play looked dangerous at times, but was unable to take advantage despite six opportunities, which almost proved costly in a game decided by a whisker-thin-margin.
“We had some really good looks, we obviously didn’t capitalize, which was disappointing,” Sharks winger Evander Kane said. “But I think it cre--
ated momentum for our team, which is important.”
The Sharks mostly dominated the second period as they outshot the Golden Knights 18- 4, allowing only one shot against in the first 10-plus minutes.
They likely felt that they deserved more than one goal.
After some nice work on the forecheck by the Sharks’ fourth line, Burns took a pass from Paul Martin along the blue line and fired a wrist shot that got through traffic and past Subban. Burns’ goal, his first since Feb. 15, came at the 3:27 mark of the second period.
“(Burns’) goal, (the fourth line) did a great job on that shift,” Couture said. “The last 10 or 15 games since (Fehr’s) been here, they’ve really found some chemistry
Tomas Tatar opened the scoring for Vegas at the 3:47 mark of the first period.
“That first 10 or 15 minutes, we were very flatfooted and weren’t ready to go, and they jumped all over us,” Kane said. “When we got physical in our zone and started playing more in their zone and getting pucks to the net, you saw what happened.”
The Sharks’ last six-game win streak came Jan. 16-24 last year. They scored 22 goals in that stretch, but the key was defense, as they just allowed just 12, holding five of their opponents to two goals or less.
The Sharks had been a bit more free-wheeling in this most recent win streak, allowing 15 goals in that time.
Most recently, though, Jones made 26 saves in San Jose’s 6-2 win over New Jersey on Tuesday.
“We concentrate on the (defensive) side most of the time, play a structured game,” Burns said. “When we do that, I think we create a lot of offense and a lot of turnovers. Tonight was just a tough game. Goalies made a lot of big saves.
“That is our game. I don’t think high scoring is really what we’re aiming to do. It just happens off of good structure.”
Regardless of what happened Thursday, it was going to be tough, but not impossible, for the Sharks to catch the Golden Knights for first place in the division.
Of the Sharks’ now eight remaining games, five are against teams presently in a playoff position. That includes three straight games on a four- game road trip that concludes March 31 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where the Golden Knights are 26-9-2 this season.
Vegas also has eight games remaining, starting with a home- andhome series against the red- hot Colorado Avalanche. After that, only two of their last six games were against playoff- contending teams.
The Sharks have made up some ground on the Golden Knights during their five-game win streak, going from 12 points back on themorning of March 12 to eight points back prior to Thursday.
More importantly to the Sharks, who scored 27 goals in their five straight wins. Their play had given them some breathing room from other teams chasing a playoff spot.
“Every time you play a team, you take some things out of it,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “What worked, what didn’t work. We did a lot of good stuff tonight.”
• Burns on .Thursday became the 15th player in Sharks history to appear in 500 games with the team.