Gameday 39 (Tue, 26 Feb) - Results

Winnipeg v NY Rangers 4-3 - The Winnipeg Jets fell eight points short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2012 in no small part due to their dismal road record. They went 14-22-5 away from MTS Centre, the worst mark of any team in the Eastern Conference. Through the first 19 games of the 2012-13 regular season, the Jets are showing they have learned their lessons from a year ago. Evander Kane and Olli Jokinen scored twice, as the Jets survived a furious late push from the New York Rangers to win 4-3 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, capping a five-game road trip with a 4-1-0 mark. It was the Jets' third straight road victory, a feat they had not accomplished since moving to Winnipeg prior to the start of the 2011-12 season. Before the Jets embarked on their week-long trek along the Eastern seaboard that left them 6-4-1 on the road, they stumbled to three straight losses at home. They righted the ship quickly and after beating the Rangers and now sit in a three-way tie for first in the Southeast Division with 19 points, although the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning hold the tiebreaker edge. After a scoreless first period against the Rangers, who were missing forwards Rick Nash (undisclosed) and Arron Asham (back) and defensemen Ryan McDonagh (head) and Michael Del Zotto (lower-body), the Jets struck for a pair of goals 1:07 apart to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Jokinen's goal to make it 1-0 was the result of some tenacious pressure after a fantastic individual effort by defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to bring the puck to the net. The Rangers never recovered, and Jokinen was able to stash home his fourth of the season with Rangers goaltender Lundqvist out of position after a pass from behind the net by Kane. Kane made it 2-0 with a shot that was about as close toperfect as it gets. He snapped a shot from the right circle that beat Lundqvist high to the blocker side with the puck hitting the spot where the post and crossbar meet, rattling around the bar in the back of the net, and out the other side. Rangers captain Ryan Callahan answered with a goal 2:26 later, his fifth of the season, but New York never completely recovered from those rapid-fire goals by the Jets. Jokinen, who had four goals in 26 games as a Ranger in 2010 after he was acquired at the trade deadline, scored his second of the game to send the Jets into the second intermission ahead 3-1. Despite giving up three goals and allowing 17 shots in the second period, the Rangers somehow didn't think they played all that terribly. The Rangers made things interesting in the third period when Taylor Pyatt redirected a point shot by Anton Stralman that eluded Pavelec to make it 3-2 with 10:43 remaining in regulation. But before Pyatt's fourth of the season and first goal in 14 games could be announced to the sell-out crowd, Kane pushed the lead back to two by wristing a shot off the rush that squeezed through Lundqvist. It became even tougher when Stralman pulled the Rangers to within a goal 53 seconds later, making Kane's second goal the winner. The Rangers put on intense pressure over the final nine minutes, but Pavelec stood tall, stopping the final nine shots he faced after Stralman's goal. The loss was the Rangers' fourth in a row, all with Nash out of the lineup, and fifth in six games. They sit in 11th place in the East, one point behind three teams tied for eighth with at least a game in hand on all of them.

Carolina v Washington 0-3 - Five years ago, the Washington Capitals got off to a terrible start and a coach without the benefit of a full training camp rallied them to an improbable playoff berth. The 2012-13 season is obviously a truncated one and the comparison isn't perfect, but these Capitals just might be on the verge of a season-saving surge. Washington attacked the injury-depleted Carolina Hurricanes early and earned a 3-0 victory Tuesday night at Verizon Center. It was the Capitals' fifth win in seven games. After a 2-10-1 start, the Capitals are within four points of the three-way tie at the top of the Southeast Division. Washington started 2007-08 by going 6-14-1 before Bruce Boudreau arrived and helped the Capitals to a furious finish, overtaking the Hurricanes on the final day of the season for the first of four straight division titles. New coach Adam Oates had the benefit of starting the season in charge, but a brief training camp didn't provide much time for the Capitals to figure out everything from a coach whose attention to detail defenseman Karl Alzner called "insane" earlier in the day. The Capitals are by no means "back." They are still in last place in the Southeast, but the gap has been narrowed. The past two wins have come against a backup goaltender and a banged-up defense corps, but Washington is generating offense while not yielding a lot of quality scoring chances at the other end. The grand vision behind hiring Oates, that he could find a happy medium between Boudreau's offense and Dale Hunter's defense, is starting to come into focus. Much of the pregame discussions centered around a Hurricanes player returning to Verizon as a former member of the Capitals, but the bigger story proved to be connected to the guys who didn't suit up for the visitors. The Capitals battered Cam Ward early and often in the first 30 minutes, and by the time the Hurricanes steadied and pushed back it was too late. Ward made 36 stops, including a save-of-the-year candidate on Joel Ward when the lead was still only two. But the Hurricanes couldn't solve Braden Holtby, who finished with 33 saves for his second shutout of the season. Nicklas Backstrom missed practice Monday because he was sick, but he was Washington's best player in this contest among several worthy candidates. He was on the end of a pretty passing sequence with the Capitals on the power play to give Washington a first-period lead, and he set up John Erskine's goal 31 seconds in the second period to make it 2-0. John Carlson made it 3-0 when he hammered a home the rebound of a Mathieu Perreault shot at 11:28 of the third period to end any doubt. This game did mark the return of Alexander Semin to Washington for the first time since leaving after seven seasons here. A hearty dose of boos greeted Semin each time he held the puck, but he missed a chance in the opening minutes to quiet the crowd. Semin had a shorthanded breakaway at 2:55 of the first period, but Holtby turned away his shot. Semin finished the night with four shots on net, and nearly had a great assist to linemate Eric Staal, but Mike Ribeiro prevented a likely goal with a nice defensive play. The Capitals took the train to Philadelphia after the game, and the rested Flyers, who also are in desperate need of wins, are waiting for a Wednesday Night Rivalry game. It's the start of a stretch of 17 games in 33 days, and 11 of those contests are away from Verizon Center. When it ends, the calendar will turn to April. If the Capitals still have hopes of reaching the playoffs at that point, it will likely be remembered that the seeds of their revival were sown in the past few days.

Dallas v Columbus 5-4 - Loui Eriksson scored 3:03 into overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a battle of alternating goals at Nationwide Arena. Dallas' Derek Roy took a shot that was kicked in front of the net by Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Eriksson fought through defenseman Adrian Aucoin and, while falling to the ice, got the puck on his stick and swept it past Bobrovsky's right pad. Bobrovsky made 34 saves but could not prevent Columbus' ninth loss in its past 11 games. Dallas won for the second time in five games with 16 stops by Richard Bachman. Columbus' R.J. Umberger scored with 1:34 to go in regulation to tie the game 4-4. His wrist shot from just inside the right circle came off a pass from Nick Foligno after a Dallas turnover. Dallas, which lost to the Nashville Predators, 5-4 in overtime on Monday, is 2-15-2 in the second game of its past 19 back-to-backs. Dallas was playing its first game without its leading scorer, forward Michael Ryder, who earlier Tuesday was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Erik Cole. Each player has to pass a physical Wednesday before joining his new team. Nine of Columbus' 12 losses, including four in a row and five of six, are by one goal. The see-saw scoring started with Brenden Morrow's goal for the Stars 15 minutes into the game. Dallas forward Cody Eakin came up the left wing around Columbus forward Matt Calvert. Morrow was heading toward the net, defended by John Moore, when Eakin's pass hit Morrow's skate and went in. The goal was upheld by video review. After being outshot 14-5 in the first period, the Blue Jackets quickly tied the game in the second. Mark Letestu won a faceoff back to Fedor Tyutin at the left point, and Tyutin sent the puck across to Nikita Nikitin, whose one-timer beat Bachman cleanly at 1:21. Dallas took a 2-1 lead at 5:28 when a shot from the point ricocheted off Columbus defenseman Tim Erixon right to Roy, whose first attempt was stopped by Bobrovsky. Roy was able to sneak the rebound past the goalie. The Blue Jackets needed less than a minute to tie it again. Dorsett's first attempt was denied by Bachman's left pad, but Dorsett lifted the rebound over the pad at 6:19 to even it 2-2. Dallas retook the lead on a goal by Roussel at 8:51 of the second when he was able to deflect a wrist shot from the point by teammate Brenden Dillon past Bobrovsky. Columbus needed 6:16 of the third period to tie it at 3-3. A shot from the right-wing boards by Aucoin deflected off a Dallas player right to wide-open Cam Atkinson near the left post, and he lifted a shot over Bachman. Eakin gave the Stars a 4-3 lead when he came across the blue line up the right wing and took a wrist shot from above the circle that squeezed through Bobrovsky's pads and trickled across the goal line at 13:36. Columbus played without its top two defensemen. James Wisniewski was revealed to have a broken foot that will sideline him long term, joining Jack Johnson (upper body), as well as forwards Brandon Dubinsky (knee) and Artem Anisimov (concussion) as a scratch. The Blue Jackets also lost forward Derick Brassard to an upper-body injury in the second period.

Boston v NY Islanders 4-1 - The Boston Bruins can't seem to lose on the road. The New York Islanders still can't find a way to win at home. The Bruins finished a 4-1-0 trip with a near-perfect road game Tuesday night when they defeated the Islanders 4-1, dropping New York to a League-worst 2-8-0 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Tuukka Rask made 36 saves as Boston won its fourth in a row after opening the trip with a loss at the Buffalo Sabres. At 12-2-2, including 8-1-1 away from home, the Bruins are off to their best start since 1976-77. The Islanders didn't make it easy, they generated a lot of chances, especially on the rush, but in the end the Bruins improved to 17-4-1 in their past 22 games against the Islanders, including victories in both games this season. Rask improved to 6-0-1 in his past seven starts, a stretch in which he hasn't allowed more than two goals in any game. The Bruins are back in Boston on Thursday to play the Ottawa Senators. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first 20 minutes, but goals by Brad Marchand and David Krejci put the Bruins ahead. Rask kept the Islanders off the board, and Gregory Campbell hit the empty net with 1:05 remaining. The Islanders got 30 saves by Evgeni Nabokov, but Rask was flawless except for a first-period goal by Casey Cizikas. New York is 8-11-1, and 0-2-0 on a seven-game homestand that continues against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:43 into the game on a goal from an unlikely source. Defenseman Adam McQuaid took a pass from Tyler Seguin, got near the top of the right circle and teed up a slap shot that went between the right arm and body of Nabokov for his first goal of the season and the seventh of his four-year NHL career. Rask made the best save of the first period just after the eight-minute mark when Islanders speedster Michael Grabner broke up a play in his own zone and raced in on a breakaway. He tried a deke, but Rask didn't bite and got his left pad on the shot. The Islanders had no success on their first power play after Campbell was sent off for tripping at 13:18, but they tied the game at 15:49. New York's Josh Bailey picked up a pass from Andrew MacDonald near the red line, raced into the Boston zone and reached the lower right circle before reaching around Dennis Seidenberg and putting a backhand pass onto the stick of an oncoming Cizikas. The rookie center lifted a 10-footer over Rask's glove for his second of the season. Rask used his head to preserve the tie in the final seconds of the period, taking John Tavares' wrister from the high slot off the mask. The Bruins needed 38 seconds after the opening faceoff of the second period to regain the lead. Andrew Ference's shot from the left point hit a defender in the slot and came right to Marchand, who had circled out from behind the net. Marchand flipped a backhander past Nabokov for his 10th of the season. Boston added to the lead at 5:16 on an excellent 200-foot play. Zdeno Chara lugged the puck out from behind his net and fed Nathan Horton at center ice. Horton carried into the Islanders' zone and fed Milan Lucic in the slot; Lucic faked a shot and dished to Krejci in the lower left circle for a wide-open one-timer past Nabokov. Rask preserved the two-goal lead during a late Islanders power play when he stopped Mark Streit's deflected point shot through a screen, then got his right pad on Matt Moulson's rebound try. The third period was a goaltending duel between Rask and Nabokov, each of whom excelled until the Islanders pulled Nabokov for an extra attacker and Campbell slid a shot into the empty net at 18:55. It was another frustrating night at home for the Islanders, who are trying to avoid a sixth consecutive non-playoff season.

Buffalo v Tampa Bay 2-1 - It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty, but the Buffalo Sabres were able to snap a four-game losing streak and earn the first National Hockey League win for interim coach Ron Rolston as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Tuesday night at the sold-out Tampa Bay Times Forum. Tyler Myers broke a 1-1 tie and put Buffalo in the lead for good on the first shot for the Sabres in the final period, just 52 seconds after the faceoff. Myers took a pass from behind the Lightning net and one-timed it behind Mathieu Garon from the right faceoff circle. Thomas Vanek picked up his second assist in the game on the goal, Myers' third of the season. Jason Pominville also was credited with an assist. The Lightning entered the game with a League-leading 33 third-period goals, but came up empty in the final period despite firing 12 shots at Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller. The second period was scoreless, although Buffalo gave the Lightning plenty of opportunities to open the game up, giving Tampa Bay three power plays, including 45 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage, but the Lightning, beginning the game with the second-best power play on home ice, was unable to capitalize. Tampa Bay finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage and has now scored only four times in its past 41 opportunities. Steven Stamkos opened the scoring in the opening period, and it didn't take him long as he recorded his NHL-leading 14th goal just 1:24 into the game as he buried a rebound of Teddy Purcell's shot from the slot. Stamkos has now scored at least a goal in his last six games, the longest goal-streak in the League this season. But that goal was all the Lightning could manage, despite outshooting Buffalo 31-21. Buffalo (7-12-1) evened the score midway through the period as a giveaway in the Lightning defensive zone by Victor Hedman led to a wrap-around score by Cody Hodgson, with assists by Andrej Sekera and Vanek. The score was Hodgson's eighth of the season. The Lightning (9-9-1) had several additional good scoring opportunities in the first but squandered them with poor passing and missed shots, including Benoit Poliot's wrister that hit the crossbar. Lightning defenseman Sami Salo only skated 1: 25 in the second period before leaving with a lower-body injury. He did not return in the final period.

Pittsburgh v Florida 4-6 - Tomas Kopecky says he enjoys doing the dirty work. He likes it even more when his effort pays off the way it did Tuesday night. By getting in front of the net, Kopecky sparked a Florida Panthers power play that finally came to life and led the way for a 6-4 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kopecky had two of the Panthers' four goals with the man advantage before completing his first career hat trick with an empty-netter. For good measure, he added an assist to tie his career high of four points. Kopecky clearly had the Penguins frustrated after he scored his second goal in the second period. Pittsburgh forward Craig Adams cross-checked him in the back right after the goal, knocking Kopecky into goalie Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun reacted by punching Kopecky, who quickly got up and confronted Vokoun. Before long, all players on the ice except Panthers goalie Jose Theodore were scuffling. In the end, five penalties were called, including two on Kopecky and one on Vokoun for roughing. Kopecky, who had scored two goals five previous times in his career, recorded Florida's first hat trick since Kris Versteeg did it in a 5-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 10, 2011. Kopecky has six goals in his last six games and eight on the season, almost matching his total of 10 in 80 games last season. Thanks in large part to Kopecky's work, the Panthers were 4-for-7 on the power play after going 0-for-17 in their last five home games and 1-for-23 in their last eight overall. Kopecky was one of several offensive stars for the Panthers, who snapped a five-game home losing streak and won for only the second in nine games overall. Another was forward Tomas Fleischmann, who had two assists and broke a 4-4 tie at 3:29 of the third period. The goal, the 100th of Fleischmann's career, came on a 2-on-1 after he came out of the penalty box, took a long pass and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot to the stick side. Defenseman Brian Campbell also had a goal and two assists. The goal was Campbell's fifth of the season, all on the power play. Marcel Goc also scored on the power play for Florida, his first goal in 13 games this season. The victory evened the season series after the Penguins won 3-1 in Pittsburgh on Friday night. Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin sustained a concussion in that game and missed Tuesday's rematch. Scott Clemmensen got the victory after replacing a shaky Theodore at the start of the third period and stopping all 15 shots he faced. Theodore, making his first start in eight days, gave up four goals on 19 shots. The Panthers, already dealing with a rash of injuries, were without center Stephen Weiss, who missed the game to attend his grandmother's funeral. James Neal, Dustin Jeffrey, Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz scored for the Penguins, who lost for only the second time in seven games. Sidney Crosby had two assists as he tied Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL scoring lead with 30 points. Vokoun got the start in net against his former team but was gone after Goc's goal at 8:54 of the second period gave Florida a 4-1 lead. He ended up stopping 18 of the 22 shots he faced. Fleury replaced Vokoun and stopped 12 of 13 shots. Vokoun, who started for the Panthers from 2008-11, was 3-0 against Florida last season while with Washington, allowing only one goal on 85 shots. After Kopecky's second goal at 3:22 of the second gave Florida a 2-1 lead, the Panthers were on a power play when Pittsburgh was called for a delayed penalty. Before the Penguins could touch the puck, Campbell beat Vokoun with a slap shot from just inside the left circle to make 3-1. After Goc made it 4-1 on the ensuing power play, the Penguins began their comeback 57 seconds later when Jeffrey beat Theodore with a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the top of the left circle. The puck slipped between Theodore's body and his left arm. Martin made it 4-3 at 14:08 with a one-timer from the top of the right circle before Kunitz tied the game with 40.1 seconds left in the period with a lucky power-play goal. After Crosby stopped a clearing attempt near the boards deep in the Florida zone, he fed Kunitz, whose centering pass went off the skate of defenseman Mike Weaver and past Theodore. The goal marked the 12th consecutive game with at least one power-play goal for the Penguins, their longest streak since February 2008 when they had a 13-game run. Kopecky's goal 13:57 into the game gave Florida a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission, only the fourth time in 20 games this season Pittsburgh trailed after one period.

Calgary v Minnesota 1-2 - For 55 minutes at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Wild played sloppy, sluggish hockey. The final five minutes made up for it. Jason Zucker tied the game with 4:19 to play and Zach Parise scored a power-play goal just 27 seconds into overtime, propelling the Wild to a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames. Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano was called for smothering the puck with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Minnesota's eighth power play of the game carried into overtime, and Parise won it when he took a feed from Mikko Koivu and whacked a backhander past Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald. Parise's goal was his eighth career OT winner and gave the Wild a win they probably didn't deserve. For much of the evening, Minnesota couldn't get out of its own way. It took almost five minutes for the team to get its first shot on goal and a power play six minutes in yielded more boos from the stands than shots on goal. When Calgary got its first man-advantage chance two minutes later, the Flames scored just seven seconds in when a rebound of a Mike Cammalleri shot from the right circle was batted out of the air by Alex Tanguay for his sixth of the season. The goal was Tanguay's 16th career marker against Minnesota and gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 10:18. Following that goal, the Wild penalty kill, and goaltender Niklas Backstrom, were the only reason Zucker and Parise had a chance to be late heroes. Minnesota killed off Calgary's next six power play chances, including a five-minute major on Charlie Coyle in the second period and a four-minute double minor on Jonas Brodin in the third. Calgary was undisciplined too, committing eight penalties on the night. Their kill was stellar too, although the Wild certainly helped in that regard. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo shuffled the team's power-play units this week in practice, trying to jumpstart a man advantage that hadn't scored in five games. Many of their chances early in the game generated few opportunities and the pairings looked out of sync. But the eighth time was the charm. When Giordano was sent to the box with less than a minute left in regulation, the Wild had their first 4-on-3 chance of the night, and Parise took advantage quickly into extra session. The goal was a bit of redemption for Parise, who was robbed by Giordano in the first period. Down one, Parise corralled a rebound on the doorstep and flipped a backhander past MacDonald towards the goal line. With the puck straddling it, Giordano swooped in and saved a goal, although it took a review from Toronto to overturn the goal called on the ice. Koivu rang a pair of posts in the second period, but other than that, little materialized offensively for the Wild until Zucker streaked through the Calgary zone and redirected a great pass by Setoguchi past MacDonald for his second of the season in the dying minutes. The goal ruined a potential shutout for MacDonald, who had stymied the Wild for the second time in 72 hours. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 3-1 Flames win in Calgary on Saturday night and looked on his way to his third career shutout and first since joining the Flames earlier this month.

Phoenix v Vancouver 4-2 - Instead of trying to hang on to a lead, the Phoenix Coyotes built on one against the Vancouver Canucks. After uncharacteristically blowing leads in weekend losses to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Antoine Vermette gave the Coyotes a two-goal cushion with 7:28 left, and Kyle Chipchura added his second goal into an empty net as Phoenix wrapped up a three-game trip through Western Canada by beating the Canucks 4-2 on Tuesday night. There was still plenty of focus on the return of the Coyotes' signature stinginess after it disappeared during consecutive losses, including giving up two goals in the final 1:23 in Calgary on Sunday. But Phoenix was outshooting the Canucks 6-3 in the third period when Vermette scored on a breakaway to extend the Coyotes lead to 3-1. Phoenix did give up a goal to Henrik Sedin just 64 seconds after Vermette scored. But Chipchura hit the empty net with 22.3 seconds left, helping erase the memory of the 5-4 loss in Calgary, a game the Coyotes led 4-3 before allowing two late goals. That came one day after Phoenix saw a 2-0 lead in Edmonton turn into a 3-2 shootout loss. The Canucks spent a good portion of the third period, and the game, trying to get through the neutral zone. When they did, Coyotes' goalie Mike Smith, who made 29 saves, was often the first one to the puck, helping Phoenix break out with smart passes. At the other end, Phoenix is getting contributions throughout a lineup missing two of its top four scoring forwards in Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata. Mikkel Boedker also had a goal and an assist, and Chipchura's fourth line scored for a third straight game. Even Phoenix enforcer Paul Bissonnette, who is known as much for his Twitter account as his on-ice play, is getting in on the act, helping set up Chipchura's opening goal, his 50th NHL point, with 5:38 left in the first period to extend his first NHL point streak to three games. Defenseman Jason Garrison also scored for the Canucks and Cory Schneider, back in goal after Roberto Luongo was blitzed in Sunday's 8-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, finished with 18 saves. The first two goals came after blown coverage left Chipchura and Boedker alone in front, and Vermette was in alone from the hash marks before his shot trickled over the line off Schneider.

Colorado v San Jose 2-3 - TJ Galiardi picked a good time to score his first goal of the season for the struggling San Jose Sharks. Galiardi scored just 2:55 into the second period, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead Tuesday night over the Colorado Avalanche, his former team, and a rare goal from their fourth line. San Jose went on to win 3-2 in a shootout at HP Pavilion, but Galiardi's goal was crucial for a team that has had little production from its third and fourth lines. Nothing has come easily lately for the struggling Sharks, even when they win. They started the day out of the top eight in the Western Conference for the first time this season, but finished the night in seventh place with 21 points with just their second victory in their past 11 games. After blowing leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the Sharks fate came down to a shootout. Michal Handzus opened the shootout with a goal, and Patrick Marleau scored the clincher against Semyon Varlamov in the fourth round after PA Parenteau snuck the puck past Anti Niemi in Round 3. Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks in regulation, and Niemi made 25 saves. Chuck Kobasew and Mark Olver scored for the Avalanche, who received 39 saves from Varlamov but lost their third straight game. Olver tied it 2-2 with just 3:19 left in regulation, banging in a rebound from just left of the crease. After a review, the goal was ruled to be good. Cody McLeod and Jan Hejda earned the assists. San Jose captain Joe Thornton nearly ended it a minute into overtime, but Varlamov made a glove save of his shot from the right circle. Defenseman Justin Braun had a good scoring chance with under a minute left in OT, but Varlamov stopped his blast. The Sharks’ offensive struggles, particularly on the power play, continued Tuesday. They went 0-for-6 with the man advantage and have scored just three times in the past 59 chances. The Sharks needed just 25 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on Couture's one-timer from the slot. Thornton got the puck below the right circle near the boards and zipped a pass to a hard-charging, wide-open Couture, who beat Varlamov. The goal was Couture's seventh of the season and snapped his eight-game stretch without a goal. Colorado pulled even on Kobasew's second goal of the season at 12:13. Niemi stopped Milan Hejduk's long blast from above the left circle but couldn't corral the puck, and Kobasew poked the rebound into the net from just right of the crease. Patrick Bordeleau earned the other assist for his first NHL point. Galiardi gave San Jose a 2-1 early in the second, snapping a long goal scoring slump. The goal was just his second in 29 games, including three in the postseason, since coming to the Sharks from Colorado on Feb. 27 last year with forward Daniel Winnik in a trade for Jamie McGinn and two prospects. James Sheppard, just minutes after dropping from the third to the fourth line in a swap with Andrew Desjardins, made it all possible. He moved the puck behind the net to below the right circle and made a backhand, cross-crease pass to Galiardi, who scored from point-blank range. Adam Burish also earned an assist, notching his first point as a Shark. Sheppard nearly scored again later in the period during a delayed penalty after drawing a hold against Colorado defenseman Ryan O'Byrne. Sheppard's shot from close range went just wide. When the two teams met at HP on Jan. 26, San Jose beat Colorado 4-0 in a game remembered most for Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart's big hit on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog in the first period. Landeskog missed the next 11 games with a concussion. Stuart's hit ignited a scrap with O'Byrne, and the question entering Tuesday night's game was whether Colorado would seek further retribution. It soon became clear that Landeskog and his teammates were more interested in trying to get a victory than settling a score. Colorado played without top-line center Matt Duchene, who missed the game with a groin injury. He leads the team with 17 points. The Sharks played without three regulars Tuesday night, forwards Ryane Clowe and Tommy Wingels and defenseman Brent Burns. The Sharks placed Burns on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled defenseman Matt Irwin from Worcester of the American Hockey League. Clowe served the second game of his two-game suspension, stemming from an altercation Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks, and Wingels was out after slamming head-first into the boards late in San Jose's game Saturday against the Dallas Stars.