Sharks’ Logan Couture Producing Under Pressure

Photo: Sarah Connors [CC BY 2.0] on Wikimedia Commons

Some professional athletes don’t do as well under pressure as others, but Logan Couture tends to thrive under the bright lights of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Couture manages to produce points no matter the situation he finds himself in during the playoffs. He has had some big moments in his career during the postseason, but he is one of the more underrated players in the league come playoff time. In this year’s postseason, he stepped up his game after Captain Joe Pavelski went down with an injury and missed a majority of the second round.

2019 Stanley Cup Playoff Accomplishments

In 16 games played this postseason, Couture has 13 goals, six assists and 19 points. His 13 goals and 19 points are the best in the NHL this postseason. He has contributed nine even strength goals, three power play goals and one shorthanded goal so far during these playoffs. He only has one game-winning goal, but helped to start the comeback in Game 7 during Round 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks were down 3-0 when Pavelski was injured and that’s when Couture got the first goal and helped to fuel a major comeback. The Sharks eventually won the game in overtime to advance to the second round of the playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche.

Couture has one hat trick to go along with four multiple goal games. He has five multi-point games and his 13 playoff goals are just one shy of the Sharks’ single postseason record set by Pavelski, who had 14 goals during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the second game of the Western Conference Finals, Couture became just the second player, along with Bruins’ David Pastrnak, this postseason to score two goals in two minutes or fewer. Couture had just the sixth playoff hat trick in Sharks franchise history and the last one came in 2011 by Devin Setoguchi.

Career Stanley Cup Playoffs Accomplishments

In 112 postseason games, Couture has 47 goals, 53 assists, 100 points and one hat trick. He has one shorthanded goal, eight game-winning goals and has only missed the postseason once since 2010. Couture became just the 11th active NHL players to have at least 100 postseason points when he scored two goals in Game 2 against the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals. His 47 postseason goals, are just second behind Alexander Ovechkin for most in the League since Couture’s first postseason in 2010. Couture has two overtime game-winning goals in the postseason. 

Since his playoff debut in 2010, only three players have more points than Couture and they are Sidney Crosby (123), Patrick Kane (109) and Evgeni Malkin (106). Those three players do have Stanley Cups to their names, so could this be the year that Couture joins them? He became just the sixth active NHL player to reach the 10 goal mark in multiple postseasons. 

Clutch Stanley Cup Playoffs Moments

Couture managed to produce in the postseason, but not every point or goal comes at big moments during a game or series. He does have a few of those clutch goals in his postseason career though. During the semifinals in 2013 against the Los Angeles Kings, Couture scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Sharks a 2-1 win. It was an important win because the Sharks managed to cut the Kings’ series lead from 2-0 to 2-1. If the Kings had won then the series would have been 3-0 Kings. He added a double overtime goal during the second round in the 2018 postseason against the Golden Knights to even the series at one game a piece. The Sharks eventually lost both series, but not for lack of production from Couture. 

Yes, some of Couture’s points have been meaningless in his team’s defeats, but overall he has scored some timely goals in his career. In the first round against the Golden Knights, the Sharks were down 3-0 and headed to a major power play. Couture managed to score the first goal and the game-tying goal and his team eventually won the game 5-4 in overtime. In Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the Sharks were down 2-0 and Couture scored two goals, one shorthanded, in less than two minutes to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Sharks eventually lost 4-2.

The fans and critics of the game are going to say that Couture doesn’t have a Stanley Cup to his name so the production is meaningless. The Sharks have been to the Stanley Cup Final once in his career and that was in 2016. There are guys who rack up the points in the regular season and then can’t produce in the postseason. Couture produces in the regular season and in the postseason and that speaks to how important he is to the Sharks.