A hat trick by Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks a 2-1 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Unless the Avalanche can get a win tonight, they’ll be back on the road and in San Jose facing elimination.

Sharks vs. Avalanche Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis

Logan Couture scored three times in Game 3 to help his club beat the Avalanche 4-2 and take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. 65 percent of Sports Interaction bettors are backing the Sharks to win Game 4 as of this writing. The Over is 6-1 in San Jose’s last seven against Colorado.

Couture got the go-ahead goal just over a minute after Matt Nieto had tied the game up for the Avs. He made it a hat trick with an empty-netter in the last 30 seconds of the third period. The Shark’s other goal came from Timo Meier.

Along with Nieto, Nathan MacKinnon got a goal to even up the score after the Avalanche trailed 2-0 after the first. Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 shot, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Sharks, who ended an eight-game home win streak for the Colorado side.

San Jose Sharks

Logan Couture’s hat trick puts his playoff goal tally at 43. Since 2010, only Alexander Ovechkin, with 50 postseason goals, has more than Couture.

The Sharks are finding ways to win in this series without their captain, Joe Pavelski. The goal-scoring leader for San Jose has been sidelined since Game 7 of the first round, but he reportedly skated this week, which is positive news for his teammates.

“He’s our leader. We miss him right now,” Logan Couture said. “We definitely miss him at times in the game. You’re looking around and hoping he’s here. We’re hoping to play as long as we can so he can come back and play with us.”

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche hadn’t lost a game at home since March 15th, and no one was less pleased with that streak being broken than Colorado coach Jared Bednar.

“To me we didn’t consistently work for the puck. We didn’t talk to the puck. In turn our execution was poor,” he said. “We made some bone-head decisions with the puck, too, at times.”

Nathan MacKinnon has been anything but boneheaded in these playoffs, netting at least a point in seven straight games. He’ll need to keep that momentum going, and somehow pass it on to his teammates, if the Avalanche want to move to the next round against a determined San Jose team.

SHARKS

Away

3

AVALANCHE

Home

4

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