SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Logan Couture scored in overtime moments after a fan threw a fake octopus on the ice and the San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 Tuesday night.
The octopus — a longstanding fan tradition in Detroit — hit the ice less than a minute into overtime with play in San Jose's end. Couture directed the linesman to grab it, and play continued, with the Sharks pushing the puck to the other end.
Brent Burns sent the puck toward the net and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped it but couldn't control it. As the puck sat near the goal line, Couture knocked it in for the winner in his first game back after missing three contests for a positive test for COVID-19.
Timo Meier and Jeffrey Viel also scored to give San Jose its first three-game winning streak in more than five weeks. Adin Hill made 17 saves.
Burns assisted on all three goals for San Jose for the second straight game. He also did it in a 3-2 overtime win in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Leddy scored for the Red Wings. Detroit has lost five of six since returning from a 12-day break, with the only win coming last week at home against the Sharks. Nedeljkovic made 37 saves.
The teams traded goals early in the third period with the Red Wings going up 2-1 when Leddy's shot on the rush beat Hill. The Sharks answered 1:30 later when Viel drove to the net and was pushed by Moritz Seider into Nedeljkovic, allowing the puck to sneak across the goal line.
The Sharks had the better of the play early and got the first goal late in the first period on their second power-play of the game. Jonathan Dahlen slid a pass through the crease to Meier, who tapped it into the open net.
The Sharks missed chances to add onto the lead and the Red Wings tied it in the final minute of the second period after Tomas Hertl was called for a disputed goaltender interference penalty that gave Detroit a two-man advantage for 1:40.
The Red Wings needed nearly every second of that 5 on 3 to score but finally did when Filip Hronek threaded a pass to Bertuzzi, who re-directed it in for his 17th goal of the season.
WELCOME BACK
The Red Wings brought back one of the franchise's greatest former players, hiring Nicklas Lidstrom as vice president of hockey operations.
General manager Steve Yzerman said his former teammate will be based in his native Sweden and involved in every aspect of helping him run the organization. Lidstrom’s job duties will include evaluating players with the Red Wings, on other NHL teams, in the AHL and Europe as well as on amateur levels.
Lidstrom won seven Norris trophies as the league's top defenseman and helped Detroit win four Stanley Cups.
INJURY UPDATE
The Red Wings were without forward Dylan Larkin, who leads the team with 32 points, because of an upper-body injury. Riley Barber replaced him in the lineup and left early with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Sharks: Host the Rangers on Thursday night.
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