The San Jose Sharks had one of the best offenses in the NHL this season, so it’s no secret that they can put up goals in bunches. After four games that have been about as close as they can be in this series, the Sharks’ offense showed up in a big way on Thursday night, although it wasn’t from the most well known of their stars.
Rookie Logan Couture scored the first two playoff goals of his career and Dwight Helminen scored the first playoff goal of his career to help the Sharks take a 3-2 series lead at home. Craig Anderson, who had been stellar through the first four games of the series, was chased midway through the 3rd period, after allowing 4 goals on 33 shots. Couture’s first goal was a nice little tip off a centering attempt from Dany Heatley, and was the result of some heavy offensive pressure from the Sharks, who outshot the Avs 29-11 over the first two periods. Joe Pavelski scored a powerplay goal two minutes after Couture, and Dwight Helminen put San Jose up by three with his goal at 15:30 of the 2nd. After Scott Nichol’s shot went wide, Helminen beat two Colorado defensemen to the loose puck and chipped the puck in off the crossbar.
Couture scored his 2nd goal of the night midway through the 3rd, burying a rebound in the wide open net left by Anderson, who had overcommitted on the first shot from Ryane Clowe. Peter Budaj was hauled off the bench to replace Anderson, but he didn’t fare much better, giving up a powerplay goal, and finishing the game with just 3 saves.
Things got a bit chippy at the end, as the Avs attempted to regain some momentum for the rest of the series with some physical play. There were plenty of dustups after the whistle, and Colorado agitator Cody Mcleod didn’t make any friends on the Shark bench with his antics in the closing minutes. The Avs will have to hope they can bounce back from this one as they’ll be playing for their lives at home on Saturday.