Logan Couture

Couture's hat trick leads Sharks past Avalance 4-2 in Game 3

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:49 p.m. ET

DENVER (AP) — Logan Couture scored three times, including the go-ahead goal with 7:10 remaining, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Couture sent a shot over the shoulder of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer just 65 seconds after Matt Nieto tied the score. Couture sealed it on an empty-net goal with 29.5 seconds remaining. Timo Meier also scored for the Sharks, who improved to 24-16 all-time in Game 3 of a series.

Game 4 is Thursday in Denver.

It's been an exciting few days for Sharks center Gustav Nyquist, whose wife gave birth to a daughter Monday. He returned to the team before the game and recorded two assists.

Martin Jones stopped 25 shots.

Nathan MacKinnon had a short-handed goal and Nieto added another to help the Avalanche rebound from a 2-0 first-period deficit. Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for Colorado, which snapped an eight-game home win streak.

BLUE JACKETS 2, BRUINS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shos to help Columbus beat Boston to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Boone Jenner and Matt Duchene scored for the Blue Jackets, who won a second-round home game for first time in franchise history.

Game 4 is Thursday night.

Tuukka Rask had 32 saves for Boston. The Bruins' only goal was a flukey one by Jake DeBrusk in the last minute of the second period, the only chink in an otherwise brilliant game by Bobrovsky, who is having the best postseason of his career thus far.

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Logan Couture

National Hockey League

San Jose Sharks