Couture Scores 5 Points, Sharks Win 6-4

The San Jose Sharks visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mikey Eyssimont got the Sharks off to a quick 1-0 lead, Erik Karlsson, Noah Gregor, Alexander Barabanov, and Logan Couture added a pair and the Sharks won 6-4.

Period 1

Eyssimont goal: Nice pass by Couture, not sure why DeSmith doesn’t knock it away. Maybe Malkin loses Eyssimont? The winger punches it home.

San Jose Sharks playing like that nice MacDonald shot went in, not crossbar, their defense is loose. Sharks are going to get killed if they keep this up, even if MacDonald shot counts. Getting away with sloppy hockey.

Malkin goal: Nice hustle by Rakell to keep puck alive while he’s down. But penalty comes from Sharks getting pressured.

Nice anecdote from Drew Remenda.

Says he talked to Sidney Crosby this morning, Crosby said he likes Alexander Barabanov's game. Remenda relayed Crosby's compliment to Barabanov: "I've never seen him smile so wide."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 29, 2023

6 left: Eyssimont does a good job keeping puck, Petry on him but Eyssimont sneaks through, returning puck to the point, instead of forcing a pass into slot that likely leads to a turnover. Couture does nice job in NZ to get puck up to Eyssimont.

4 left: Eyssimont forces a turnover up high, jumps on Pettersson who looks like he’s fumbling puck. Love it, he’s been great.

Karlsson goal: Pens lose EK65. Karlsson enters zone, tries cross-slot feed to Lorentz, intercepted by Letang, but Lorentz separates him from puck. Karlsson sneaks behind Pens, no one gets him. Looks like Heinen, who had Karlsson entering zone, turned up for the breakout. That’ll get you sat. Barabanov with a perfect pass behind a Lorentz pick of Pettersson that Karlsson snaps on one-timer on top of blue paint. DeSmith has no chance.

Sharks tied, but Pens 7-4 Slot Shots, 5-4 even strength. Good offense from San Jose so far, not so good defense. Will say NST gave it 9-4 HDCF 5v5 to Sharks. I don’t see quite that.

Period 2

Gregor goal: Good for Gregor! That’s inept hockey from the Pens. Couture skates through Rakell and Petry, splits them and still has puck. Pettersson rotates over to Couture because he’s got a step on Rakell, and Petry stands there and watches as Gregor is wide-open to pounce on the rebound.

8 in: As broadcast noted, just one shot for Pens so far this period. San Jose Sharks doing a great job being on top of Pens, showing more hunger in this period after a sloppy middle frame.

9 left: I liked watching that. Dumoulin and Eyssimont race, DeSmith leaves it for his defenseman, Dumoulin gets to puck first but Eyssimont takes it from him, centers it. No one home, but that’s great hockey from Eyssimont.

Poehling goal: Awful for San Jose Sharks to give up clear-cut 2-on-1 on their own power play, Couture as your defenseman, but you would like a stop from Kahkonen there. Good shot, but assume Couture has pass, it’s a one-on-one.

Barabanov goal: Great cycle by Sharks, Eyssimont and Benning, among others. Iceman with a great screen.

3 left: Gregor shanks a Karlsson set-up. Don’t love, have said it before, the body language after a missed chance from him. I know it’s easy too, and hey, we in the media are talking about, fans are, but you gotta carry on if you miss your chance. Don’t let frustration slow you down. You don’t see an Eyssimont react like that to a missed opportunity. Push on and you’ll have a better chance of staying in the line-up. On the shank itself, I wonder if Gregor knew how much time and space that he had, maybe opt for the catch and shoot?

Period 3

Wow Eyssimont with eight shots so far. Kahkonen has started the third with some big stops.

4 in: Kahkonen robs Pettersson! San Jose Sharks need to get going.

5 in: Remenda shouts out a good little Gregor play. DZ half wall, Gregor gets it, a Pen on him. Gregor pivots, protects, and hands it off to Meier and Hertl in stride. That is, like Drew said, winning hockey.

7 in: Lindblom does nice job to intercept exit pass high. Just on the puck, it looks like. MacDonald takes it and shows some mobility and moves, getting it behind DeSmith, then feeds Bonino for a decent chance.

Malkin goal: MacDonald does a nice job beating and holding off Rust for the retrieval, gets it to Sturm. Sturm looks like he has some time and space, but can’t get it out. Hello heartbreak once again for the Sharks.

Svechnikov penalty: Not a good one. Hold on Rust. That skating again.

Couple huge saves by Kahkonen! Blueger can’t believe it. Bit of a shooting gallery tonight, hopefully, this is a springboard for Kaapo.

Couture goal: Nice job by Vlasic to step up in NZ, it was Eyssimont hustle on backcheck that also hurried Pens.

Eyssimont hustle on that ENG attempt by him.