Logan Couture’s youthful enthusiasm is just what the Sharks need. Well, that and his knack for scoring.
“It’s exciting, my first Game 7 in the NHL,” Couture said, referring to Thursday night’s game against Detroit. “Obviously we wanted to win before this. But it will be fun.”
Exciting. Fun. Who knew those adjectives still existed after the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead and lost three straight to the Red Wings?
Couture is a beacon of light amid the dark clouds hovering over the Sharks this past week. Unlike underperforming veterans who’ve endured the franchise’s perennial playoff meltdowns, Couture represents the hope for a happier ending.
He has scored in three straight games, a streak he’d like to extend.
“Goals for me have come in bunches my whole life,” Couture said. “Even this year they’ve come in bunches. Confidence builds when you score goals.
“I hope that continues. You can’t score every night. If I put a couple in and maybe get the game-winner, I’d be happy.”
He knows every player who laces up their skates will have the same ambition. He knows a hero will emerge. He also knows a goat will, too.
Last game, Couture got a taste of both ends of that spectrum. He may have scored the Sharks’ lone goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss, but he made a play that resulted in a turnover and the deciding goal for Detroit.
“I obviously was disappointed,” Couture said. “I made a bad turnover.”
Then he got a pep talk. But not from coach Todd McLellan or a veteran teammate.
“My parents were there to pull me back up, get my confidence up and they made me smile, so that’s always good,” Couture said.
He held himself accountable in the postgame media gaggle. He explained how mistakes are not acceptable in the playoffs. He spoke admirably.
That said, mistakes are more digestible if you’re working your tail off. No one has questioned Couture’s work ethic or guts. His intensity is at the level demanded of any playoff competitor.
Couture stays in the thick of the action, just as he did in a regular season that included 32 goals, the most in franchise history by a rookie. His role has increased exponentially since participating in last year’s playoff run to the conference finals.
The Sharks not only trust this 22-year-old center to produce, they are relying on him while others struggle. Their dependence on Couture will amp up another notch if Ryane Clowe misses a second straight game with an upper-body injury.
But how will Couture react in the bright lights of a Game 7?
His only reference point came two years ago in junior hockey, at the Ontario Hockey League’s opening-round playoffs. Couture captained the Ottawa 67’s when they fell 4-3 in overtime on home ice against the Niagara IceDogs.
“I remember the day, I remember the loss, and I was on the ice for the overtime goal,” Couture recalled. “I know what it felt like to lose, and I don’t want to feel like that again.
“It was pretty devastating at the time, my last junior game. It was fun, intense and playing for the season.”
The Sharks season looked in pretty good shape Sunday when a Couture goal provided a 3-1 lead with 19 minutes remaining. Couture knew that lead wasn’t safe: Ottawa blew a 3-1 lead in that Game 7 defeat on March 31, 2009, a defeat that ended the storied junior hockey career of coach Brian Kilrea.
The Red Wings stormed back for a 4-3 win in Game 5, and they rolled to a 3-1 win in Detroit on Tuesday, even though Couture put the Sharks ahead 1-0 early in the third period.
While the Sharks look to finally get production out of their power play, Couture says they also must solve Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard on breakaways and 2-on-1 situations.
“Each of those individuals in there should be confident in their skill level,” McLellan said.
Couture’s take on that: “You’ve got to be confident to play the game. You’ve got to be borderline arrogant to play this game.”
The Red Wings have played with that arrogance. They’re the more decorated franchise. They’re the hot team.
But everyone Thursday night is in a must-win position, and Couture can’t wait.
“You always dream of winning a Stanley Cup in Game 7,” he said. “Obviously this is not the Stanley Cup Finals, but to play in a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs is something I’ve dreamed about a long time.”
Good for him. He is thinking about dreams at a time when most Sharks fans — and undoubtedly some of his teammates — have agonized over the nightmare that accompanied the past three games.
Contact Cam Inman at cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/CamInman.
