Couture, Sharks defeat Ducks for first home win

Logan Couture had a goal and an assist for the San Jose Sharks in a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center in San Jose on Monday.

John Leonard scored his first NHL goal, and Martin Jones made 26 saves in his fourth consecutive start for the Sharks (6-7-1), who won at home for the first time this season.
"I think I played all right the last few games," Jones said. "There's always room for improvement. We've had a tough schedule up to this point."
John Gibson made 26 saves in his 300th NHL game for the Ducks (6-7-3), who were held to two goals or fewer for the 12th time.
"The chances were there, we just couldn't finish," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said.

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the game.
Danton Heinen made a pass up the wall, and Sam Steel outraced Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro to the puck just across the San Jose blue line. Steel tried to pass the puck back to Jakob Silfverberg coming through the slot, but it hit Ferraro's skate and slid between Jones' pads for his first goal of the season.
"I think we've been grinding for offense, and we haven't really been getting those types of bounces," Steel said. "Hopefully, that's a sign we're going to get more like that."
The Ducks entered the game third in the NHL on the penalty kill at 87.2 percent, but Leonard scored on the Sharks' first power play with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to tie it 1-1 at 9:43. It was his ninth NHL game.
"We had a much different look on the power play with (defenseman) [Brent] Burns up top," San Jose coach Bob Boughner said. "One of the better ones of the year."
Kevin Labanc intentionally banked a shot off Gibson's left arm from below the goal line to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 4:48 of the second period.

"This first couple of shifts, we were kind of sloppy, but then we got the lines rolling and started to feel at home," Labanc said. "We have to play good in our own building. It feels good to be home."
The Sharks lost 3-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday in their home opener. They played their first 12 games on the road because of COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County, California.
Couture made it 3-1 at 11:15 after Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf turned over the puck in the Anaheim zone. It was Couture's San Jose-leading seventh goal.
"It was a sloppy start on our part, but we were able to turn it around," Jones said.
Max Comtois made it 3-2 at 2:00 of the third period when his shot went in off Ferraro's stick.
"Obviously, this was an important game against a team we're trying to catch," Boughner said. "I didn't like the start with that fluky goal, but I like how we responded and we had a good second period."
NOTES: It was the second regulation win for the Sharks. … San Jose played without injured defensemen Erik Karlsson (lower body) and Radim Simek (upper body). With them out, defenseman Fredrik Claesson made his San Jose debut, and defenseman Nicolas Meloche played his second NHL game and first since the season opener. Claesson had one shot on goal, one hit and one blocked shot in 9:01. Meloche had two shots and one hit in 10:39. ... Devan Dubnyk backed up Jones after he was unavailable the previous three games because of a lower-body injury.