Couture scores 38 seconds into OT, Sharks defeat Devils to end skid

SAN JOSE --Logan Couture scored 38 seconds into overtime, and the San Jose Sharks ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at SAP Center on Thursday.

"Scoring is nice, but I don't think my game was that great tonight," Couture said. "I'm hard on myself, but I know it's going to take time to get back playing the hockey I want to play."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Sharks highlights]
Playing in his second game after missing seven weeks with a broken ankle, Couture scored his 15th goal off a pass from Evander Kane. It was his first goal since Jan. 5.
"It's great to have him back; we missed him when he was gone," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "Those are the guys who will step up in situations. You saw Logan play a lot of minutes for a guy just coming back. … he leads by example."

Kane had two assists, and Martin Jones made 21 saves for San Jose (27-33-4).
"We're here to win games no matter where we are in the standings," Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. "And it was nice to win."
Cory Schneider, making consecutive starts for the first time since Oct. 12-14, made 27 saves for New Jersey (25-27-11), which had its three-game winning streak end.
"That's a team we knew that they play north-south, and for us, the minute we started going east-west and trying to get a little cute and trying to make plays in traffic, they went the other way and they made us defend for 40 minutes," Devils coach Alain Nasreddine said.
The Sharks scored three unanswered goals after the Devils scored twice in the first period.
Rookie defenseman Mario Ferraro scored his second of the season with a screen shot from the right point at 2:20 of the second period to cut the New Jersey lead to 2-1.

Marcus Sorensen finished a 2-on-1 shorthanded break by converting Joel Kellman's pass for his seventh goal at 15:58 for a 2-2 tie.
"I heard a scream, 'Go, go, go,' except I had a lot of time," Kellman said. "The defense jumped on me so I tried to get it over."
Travis Zajac gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 11:09 of the first period with his seventh goal of the season.
Nikita Gusev stole the puck in the slot before scoring his 12th goal to the far corner to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists).
"We had a really good first period," Devils forward Nico Hischier said. "For some reason we just didn't come out the same way and they made us pay. In this league you can't afford to play just 40 or 30 minutes. You have to play a full 60 minutes."

They said it

"We sat back. If it wasn't for Schneider it could have been 4-2 or 5-2 after two periods. He made some big saves and we didn't really do anything to help bail him out." -- Devils forward Kyle Palmieri
"The season is winding down. We have less than 20 games left, but those are opportunities to get better as a group. And this is the time to battle through adversity and show who you are as a person and a player."-- Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro

Need to know

The Devils are 6-4-2 (2-2-1 road) against Pacific Division opponents. … Devils forward Jesper Bratt had a four-game point streak and three-game goal streak end. … Schneider started his 300th game with the Devils. … The Sharks ended a four-game losing streak at home with their first win at SAP Center since Jan. 27.

What's next

Devils: At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-W, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Sharks:Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)