Couture, Jones both have look of All-Stars
Sharks’ two leading candidates for the game come up big in shutout win against Winnipeg
SAN JOSE >> Spots for the 2017 NHL All-Star game won’t be handed out until January. So there’s still plenty of time for players across the league to state their case.
Through the first quarter of the season, two candidates have plainly emerged for the Sharks, and their importance was on full display in a 4-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center on Saturday.
Center Logan Couture scored twice for his fourth multi-goal game of the season and goalie
Martin Jones made 38 saves for his second shutout as the Sharks earned an important victory before they start a four-game road trip early next week.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic assisted on both goals by Couture, who scored once at even strength and another short-handed and now has a team-leading 13 goals in 22 games.
“It’s been good. Scored some goals, the puck’s found its way in,” Couture said of his season. “Just have to keep shooting, stick with it and hopefully it continues. It’s a long season. There’s ups and there are downs. Right now, the puck’s going in.”
Jones stopped 16 shots in the second period, including four on the penalty kill, as he bounced back from a so-so showing Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights when he was pulled early in the second period.
Jones, now with a 10-5-1 record this season, was shaken up in the third period and had to be tended to for a few moments by a member of the Sharks’ training staff. He finished the third period but remained under evaluation after the game.
For the record, both Couture and Jones have been selected to one All-Star game each.
“He’s OK. He was just buying time for his teammates,” Vlasic deadpanned when asked about Jones’ injury. “He’s fine.”
Tim Heed scored on the power play and Tomas Hertl added an empty-netter as the Sharks improved their home record to 7-61. San Jose begins its road trip Tuesday in Philadelphia, followed by games against Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington.
“We were playing Winnipeg, one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League and we
knew the points were going to be tough,” Sharks assis- tant coach Steve Spott said. “It was a big two points for our hockey club. To get a power play, a short-handed and a 5 on 5 goal, that was great for our club.”
Couture’s short-handed goal gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead at the 13:13 mark of the second period.
Hertl knocked a loose puck into the neutral zone where Couture collected it and went in on a breakaway, beating Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand shot through the legs.
Couture’s second goal came as the Sharks were killing their third straight penalty of the second period. He and Hertl played 2:22 on the penalty kill, part of an impressive defensive effort by the Sharks’ top shutdown forwards.
“He does everything,” Sharks forward Jannik Hansen said of Couture. “He plays the power play, he plays 5 on 5, short-handed. Goes against the other team’s top guys every night and most of the time comes out on top.”
Jones has typically responded well in his next outing when he’s been pulled in his previous appearance.
Jones was 4-0 in such instances over the past two seasons, including 2-0 this year. He was also pulled in games against Los Angeles in October and Tampa Bay earlier this month before he came back to win the next time he took the net.
• Defenseman Joakim Ryan was scratched for the first time since he was recalled from the AHL on Oct. 12. Brenden Dillon was paired with Brent Burns for the start of Saturday’s game, and Heed, who was scratched for the past two games, was paired with Dylan DeMelo.
• Forward Melker Karlsson skated again in Saturday morning’s optional practice but was a scratch for a fourth-straight game with an upper body injury he suffered last Saturday against Boston.