Logan Couture scored one minute into overtime as the Sharks earned a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday at SAP Center.
Brent Burns was near the side of the Red Wings net when he shot the puck on Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. The puck began to slide toward the goal line before Couture fought off a check to poke it into the net as the Sharks improved to 6-0 in overtime this season.
The play was reviewed by the NHL for offside, but the goal stood as the Sharks began their four-game homestand on a positive note.
Burns also assisted on goals by Timo Meier and Jeff Viel in the first and third periods, respectively, to give him six assists in two games.
Adin Hill let in a soft goal at the 1:48 mark of the third period, as a seemingly harmless wrist shot from Nick Leddy from inside the blue line snuck under Hill’s glove for a 2-1 Wings lead.
Just 90 seconds later, though, Viel took control of the puck near the Wings blue line, charged toward the net and put a shot on goal, then slid into Nedeljkovic as the puck crossed the goal line and found its way to the back of the net.
The Sharks (20-16-1) dominated the first two periods from a shots on goal standpoint but were still tied 1-1 with the Red Wings after 40 minutes.
Meier’s power-play goal came at the 14:24 mark of the first period, as he took a nifty seam pass from Jonathan Dahlen and tapped it past Nedeljkovic for his 15th of the season. Dahlen’s assist marked his first point since Dec. 9, as he snapped an eight-game point drought to help the Sharks score just their second power-play goal in the last 21 tries.
Thanks to some terrific goaltending by Nedeljkovic, the score remained 1-0 until late in the second period.
With the Red Wings on a 5-on-3 for 1:40 after minor penalties were called on Mario Ferraro and Tomas Hertl 20 seconds apart, Tyler Bertuzzi redirected a pass from Filip Hronek past Hill to tie the game 1-1.
Nedeljkovic made 25 saves through two periods, and Hill, who was looking to win his third straight start, had 11 saves. Hill stopped a combined 66 of 70 shots to help lead the Sharks to wins over the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers late last week.
Couture and defenseman Erik Karlsson returned to the Sharks’ lineup Tuesday.
Couture missed the last three Sharks games after he and Lane Pederson entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol prior to the team playing the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Jan. 4. Both Couture and Pederson had to isolate in Detroit for five days after their respective positive tests.
“I got to know my hotel room pretty well,” said Couture, who entered Tuesday third on the Sharks with 29 points in 32 games. “I didn’t feel sick at all. Wouldn’t have known that I had anything, which is a good thing. That’s basically the best outcome is to feel healthy, feel good and ready to go.”
Karlsson still wasn’t sure after Monday’s practice that he would be able to play against the Red Wings after he was hurt in the Jan. 4 game. Karlsson injured his upper body that night and missed the Sharks’ games against Buffalo and Philadelphia.
Pederson was a healthy scratch Tuesday as Adam Raska made his NHL debut. Raska started Tuesday’s game on a line with Nick Merkley and Viel.
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