Couture savors biggest goal of his young career

DETROIT -- Tuesday night's game was quite an emotional roller-coaster ride for San Jose Sharks rookie Logan Couture.

The 21-year-old rookie was responsible for the first-period penalty shot that was awarded to the Detroit Red Wings when it was ruled that Couture covered a loose puck in the crease following a wraparound attempt by Todd Bertuzzi.

Henrik Zetterberg took the shot at 16:28 -- Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov made a spectacular glove save.

But Couture tied the game 3-3 with 6:43 remaining when he beat Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard with a shot from beneath the right circle. The Sharks went on to win 4-3 in overtime to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference Semifinal series.

Needless to say, Couture was thrilled after scoring the biggest goal of his young NHL career.

Q: How'd you score that tying goal?

Couture: Torrey Mitchell made a good play to cycle it down to me and I took a look. I think in Game 2 I had the same chance and I threw it across the crease. I saw (Howard) was cheating a little bit. He had his pad down and I threw it five-hole.

Q: Did the puck hit him?

Couture: I don't know if it did. It might have hit his pad, but I saw there was a hole there, so I just threw it.

Q: What was your reaction when the puck went into the net?

Couture: It was pretty exciting. I hadn't scored a goal in the playoffs in this round. It's probably the biggest goal I've scored in my life. It was a big goal, late in the third. I'm just trying to do what I can to help the team win.

Q: What happened on the play when the Red Wings were awarded a penalty shot?

Couture: I was real surprised. I didn't put my hand on the puck. I asked a cameraman, "Did I look like I put my hand on it?" He said 'no, you pushed it.' Nabby said I pushed it, so I guess the ref decided different.

Q: What was your reaction when Nabokov stopped Zetterberg on the penalty shot?

Couture: A huge save by Nabby. I thought Zetterberg had him, but he's so athletic in goal there. He's never out of the play.

Q: Any sense of relief being up 3-0 in the series?

Couture: Not at all. We don't want the series to go back to San Jose. We've got one game to go. We don't want to give these guys any life. They've got a great team over there and they played really well tonight.