SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The San Jose Sharks _ and Logan Couture _ simply had to grind things out Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Returning to the lineup after missing one game with an illness, Couture scored the winning goal just 22 seconds into the third period as the Sharks earned a 2-1 win over the Lightning for their third straight victory.
Ryan Carpenter also scored and goalie Aaron Dell made 24 saves as the Sharks got through their third game in four days, which included a emotional win over the Kings in Los Angeles just 24 hours earlier.
Couture fell ill earlier this week and missed the Sharks' game Wednesday. He felt better Thursday morning and skated at the Sharks' practice facility, and was inserted back into the lineup after pregame warmups.
Joonas Donskoi, who has missed the last three games with an upper body injury he suffered last week, also felt better Thursday morning as assisted on Couture's goal.
Thursday's game figured to be a grind as the Sharks go through one of their busier stretches of the season.
The Sharks beat Winnipeg 5-2 on Monday afternoon and returned to San Jose after Wednesday's victory Kings. Starting Saturday with a game against Colorado, the Sharks play another three games in four days. They play the Avalanche in Monday and the Jets in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
The Sharks opened the scoring 5:01 into the second period as Carpenter scored his second career NHL goal.
Paul Martin pinched in and passed back to Carpenter, whose shot from the outside edge of the faceoff circle redirected off defenseman Nikita Nesterov's leg and past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for a 1-0 Sharks lead.
Tampa Bay got the goal back on the power play just 1:50 later with one of the prettier individual efforts of the season by any player at SAP Center.
Jonathan Drouin picked up the puck in the neutral zone ahead of Mikkel Boedker, skated around Marc-Edouard Vlasic, cut in front of the Sharks' net and beat Dell for his 14th goal of the season.
Dell was starting his second game in eight days. Last Wednesday against Calgary, Dell made 25 saves but gave up a late go-ahead goal to Dougie Hamilton in what became a 3-2 loss to the Flames.
Dell entered Thursday with a 4-2 record and an impressive goals against average (1.96) and save percentage (.929) in seven games this season.
"I think his body of work's been real good," DeBoer said of Dell, adding that the goal by Hamilton, "can happen to anybody. I didn't think he had a poor game that night. That's going to happen.
"This isn't like we need to see a bounce back effort or anything like that. We're comfortable with what he brings and I know he's excited to play. He's played well for us."
The Sharks faced a Lightning team that's been up and down over the last several weeks. After a four-game losing streak from Jan. 3-12, Tampa Bay had gone 2-1-1 in their last four and entered Thursday three points out of a playoff spot.
The Sharks beat the Lightning 3-1 at Amalie Arena on Nov. 12 with Patrick Marleau, Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic all scoring goals. Tampa Bay, though, has been without Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Ryan Callahan, among others.
"I kind of watched the tape to kind of remind myself of it," DeBoer said of the November game, which came midway through a six-game road trip. "but both teams are in totally different places than we were back then."
_ Donskoi came off injured reserve, Micheal Haley was placed on IR with an upper body injury.
It is unclear how or when Haley was injured. He had 7:38 of ice time in Wednesday's game against Los Angeles as he dressed for the 12th time in the last 13 games.
Haley recorded his sixth assist of the season and his third in five games, setting up Wingels for a first period goal that gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead. The Sharks went on to win the game 3-1.
Per NHL rules, Haley must remain on injured reserve for at least seven days, so he will miss the next four games.
Haley is the Sharks' unquestioned tough guy with eight fights this season. The Sharks also had an impressive record with Haley in the lineup, going 19-12-2.
