Couture scores 2 as Sharks top Caps
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Logan Couture scored a pair of power-play goals while Brent Burns added three assists on his 32nd birthday as the San Jose Sharks beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Thursday night.
Burns moved into a five-way tie for second among the league's top scorers with 70 points. It marked the defenseman's first three-assist game of the season as San Jose won for the fifth time in six games.
Couture enjoyed his second two-goal game of the season by redirecting a Burns wrister past Washington goalie Braden Holtby at 8:05 of the third period. It marked the first time the Sharks have collected three power-play goals in a game this season.
Goalie Martin Jones made 25 saves as San Jose was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill to win for the 40th time.
Washington jumped on top 5:26 after the opening faceoff, scoring eight seconds after San Jose killed the game's first power play while still trying to sort things out in the defensive zone.
Daniel Winnik backhanded his ninth goal of the season past Jones from in close after Beagle fended off a defender to supply his teammate with a pass from behind the goal line.
Holtby denied Pavelski on a quality chance from the slot, but San Jose continued to cycle and when newcomer Jannik Hansen tossed a puck out front Joe Thornton stepped into his ninth goal of the season at 8:43 to tie it 1-1.
The Sharks capitalized on two power plays in the second period to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
With his back to the net, Joe Pavelski scored for the 24th time this season by tipping a Brent Burns wrister between the legs of Holtby at 2:32 in the final second of a double minor high-sticking penalty that occurred late in the first period by Brooks Orpik on San Jose's Melker Karlsson.
Washington tied it at 14:40 when Brett Connolly worked a give-and-go with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk after forcing a San Jose turnover at center ice. Connolly scored his 14th goal of the season by redirecting Shattenkirk's feed as a pinching Burns left only Brenden Dillon back to defend near the goal.
Couture scored his 22nd goal of the season at 18:04 by pouncing on a rebound left of a Burns shot after Pavelski won an offensive-zone draw to Patrick Marleau.
NOTES: Sharks C Joe Thornton was honored in pregame for recently collecting his 1,000th career assist. ... Capitals LW Alexander Ovechkin was without an even-strength goal in his previous 15 games before Thursday -- just one off the longest drought of his career. ... San Jose continues its six-game homestand against Nashville on Saturday. ... Washington visits Los Angeles on Saturday. ... LW Jannik Hansen made his debut with the Sharks after acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline. He missed three games while getting his immigration papers in order. ... Washington LW Andre Burakovsky is not traveling with the team. He has missed 11 games with a broken hand. ... San Jose D David Schlemko missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... LW Marcus Sorensen and D Tim Heed, both rookies, were San Jose's healthy scratches while D Taylor Chorney, C Paul Carey and D Nate Schmidt did not dress for Washington.