With three previous fights under his belt, this marks the captain’s first-ever career Gordie Howe hat trick.
The San Jose Sharks had a lot to prove tonight in Dallas and after this performance from Logan Couture, you can’t say the captain didn’t lay it all on the line to get his team out of the slump they road in on. The 33-year-old center notched a goal, a fight and an assist to score his first-ever career Gordie Howe hat trick against the Dallas Stars on Friday night.
It began with a secondary assist on this power play goal from Alexander Barabanov, quickly taking away the Stars’ 1-0 lead in the first period:
Alexander Barabanov gets his first of the year!! pic.twitter.com/MQaP84x0Qk
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 12, 2022
Two goals later, the period ended with things tied 2-2, but the Sharks came out swinging in the second period. Timo Meier struck first and 36 seconds later, Couture added another, shifting a tied game to a 4-2 Sharks lead a little over a minute into the middle frame.
The work by Barabanov:
The finish from @Logancouture: pic.twitter.com/e8MGyvQMQk
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 12, 2022
Dallas found their footing enough to fight back, and Tyler Seguin even had a goal overturned after it hit the goalpost and was found to have not crossed the goal line upon review. Things were testy — San Jose was desperate to snap a streak, and Dallas was a good team coming off a frustrating loss.
Tensions were rising, and with under three minutes left in the middle frame, Couture completed his first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick with his fourth-ever career fight. Jamie Benn took offense to a hit made by Couture, and he decided to “give it a try” against the Stars captain:
Logan has some explaining to do when he gets home pic.twitter.com/dCrZ0x5cyz
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 12, 2022
Logan Couture vs Jamie Benn
In the year of our lord 2022 pic.twitter.com/vgh2ewguQR
— Locked on Sharks (@LockedOnSharks) November 12, 2022
Dallas did not score in the second period, but was close to mounting a comeback in the third period. Ultimately, the Sharks held on for a 5-4 regulation win.