SAN JOSE Nick Holden Jersey Womens , Calif. (AP) DeBoer talks about Logan Couture as playing at another level at this time of the year. Couture proved his coach right once again.Couture scored his NHL-leading 16th go-ahead goal six minutes into the third period and the Sharks improved their chances for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.”It was a big power play,” Couture said. ”I think we moved the puck around OK on the first one we had. The second one, just a great play by (Kevin) Labanc to find me. (Goalie Jonathan) Bernier was out of the net. Actually, the puck hopped on my stick. I wasn’t trying to shoot it along the ice. I got a little lucky.”Justin Braun, Tomas Hertl and Joonas Donskoi also scored for the Sharks, who snapped a four-game losing streak and kept their one-point lead over the Anaheim Ducks for second-place in the Pacific Division.”That’s not an easy game for us under the circumstances and some of the guys out,” DeBoer said. ”I thought we dug deep and found a way to win an important game at an important time of year.”Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for the Avalanche, who missed an opportunity to increase their lead over the St. Louis Blues for a playoff spot.Martin Jones stopped 23 shots for the Sharks. Bernier saved 32 for the Avalanche.Less than three minutes into the first period, Braun scored on a slap shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off the arm or stick of a Colorado defender, giving Bernier no chance to adjust.”That was huge. We needed that just to kind of put those other teams in the rear view a little bit,” Braun said. ”If we hold onto second here on Saturday and go from there, get home ice in the first round. It would be huge.”The Avalanche tied the score with a power-play goal at 15:17. Jones blocked the first two shots but could not control them. The second bounced free toward the side, and Rantanen was able to get it by a diving Jones.Tyson Barrie earned an assist on the play, giving him a career-best 43. His 56 points match Rob Blake for most by an Avalanche defenseman in the past 16 years.Colorado has scored on the power play in each of its last four games and is 6 of 11 during that span. It also has allowed a power-play goal in each of the past five games.Couture scored on a power play 77 seconds after the Avalanche tied the game. Labanc recorded the first assist with a nice crossing pass.The Blues will enter Saturday’s game in Denver either up a point or down a point Paul Stastny Jersey Womens , meaning the final game of the regular season will determine which team goes to the playoffs and which team goes home.”We’ll have to take advantage of home ice. This is Game 7 for us,” said Mark Barberio, who returned to action after a long absence. ”These are the moments we play for: a chance to make the playoffs.”Donskoi scored midway through the final period to make it 3-1. Dylan DeMelo took a shot that Bernier stopped, but Donsoi took it away and put it in the net before Bernier could cover.Two minutes later, Comeau redirected a shot by David Warsofsky to make it 3-2.Hertl scored an empty-net goal in the final two seconds.”It comes down to one game. It’s going to be a fun one,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”We’ll have to earn every inch of the ice.”NOTES: Colorado C Carl Soderberg played in his 399th NHL game. … Couture has points in three of his last four games. … Sharks F Evander Kane missed his second straight game as a result of an upper-body injury sustained last Saturday in Las Vegas.UP NEXT:Avalanche: Host St. Louis on Saturday in the regular-season finale.Sharks: Host Minnesota on Saturday in the regular-season finale.— PITTSBURGH (AP) — After a baffling loss to a last-place team and with a visit from the NHL’s best club looming, the Pittsburgh Penguins called a players-only meeting on Tuesday in an effort to clear the air.“We needed an answer,” defenseman Kris Letang said.For a night, they found one.Playing with an edge they lacked two nights earlier against struggling New Jersey, the Penguins turned away the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Wednesday to send a message that when they are fully engaged, they remain as dangerous as ever.“We all know that Tampa Bay right now is at the top of the league,” Letang said. “They’re a really good measuring stick for any team. Tonight was important, especially (after) the two points that slipped the night before. It was a good effort, and I think it brought the best out of us.”Matt Murray finished with 33 saves to keep the NHL’s highest scoring team in check Max Pacioretty Jersey Womens , and Letang tied Hall of Famer Paul Coffey’s franchise record for career goals by a defenseman. Letang’s shot from the right circle 6:02 into the second period beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to give him 12 goals on the season and 108 since his NHL debut in 2007.Letang, a five-time All-Star, called the milestone “surreal.” He’s still a long way off from Coffey’s 396 career goals over 21 NHL seasons.“Growing up watching him, I never thought I would have my name next to his,” Letang said.Riley Sheahan, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby scored during a first-period outburst by Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to become the fifth Russian-born player in league history to reach 600 career assists then drew a 5-minute fighting major in the third period after tussling with Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos.“That’s (his) best game in a while,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Malkin. “He was on the puck. You notice him. He was a presence every shift.”Murray withstood an early barrage by Tampa Bay to hand the Lighting just their fourth regulation loss in their last 25 games.Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on five shots before settling down to finish with 18 saves, but Tampa Bay couldn’t recover in its return from a 10-day break. J.T. Miller and Stamkos scored late in the third period to keep the Lighting from being shut out for the first time this season, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent Tampa Bay from falling to 2-12-2 in its last 14 regular-season visits to Pittsburgh.“We just kind of got behind the eight-ball and they capitalized on it their couple chances they got,” Stamkos said. “It was just an uphill battle from there. So I thought we stuck with it, but just too sloppy to start the game.”Sullivan expressed frustration at his team’s scattershot play against the Devils, when turnovers and disinterested play in front of Murray dropped Pittsburgh to 1-7-1 against last-place teams. Two days later against an opponent with the inside track to claim the Presidents’ Trophy, the effort and the results were far different.Sheahan gave the Penguins the lead 3:25 into the game when he pounced on a rebound of Garrett Wilson’s wraparound attempt and flipped it past Vasilevskiy. Kessel’s 21st goal of the season less than five minutes later came in much the same fashion. Kessel and Bryan Rust broke in 2-on-1 and Rust attempted to skate across the crease and beat Vasilevskiy with a backhand only to lose control of the puck. No matter. Kessel, standing at the left post Nic Dowd Jersey Womens , tapped it in to make it 2-0.Pittsburgh needed just 16 seconds to push the advantage to 3-0. Jake Guentzel forced a turnover behind the Tampa Bay net. Dominik Simon jumped on the loose puck and fed Crosby all alone in front.The Lightning opted to stick with Vasilevskiy and turned up the pressure on the other end of the ice. Pittsburgh went more than 17 minutes without a shot on net at one point, but Tampa Bay couldn’t figure out a way to beat Murray. By the time the Lightning finally broke through on Miller’s goal with 4:05 remaining in the third, the outcome was already decided.“I just thought we lost our legs a little bit in the second, gained it back in the third, clawed back a little bit,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “But still you’re down four, it’s tough.”NOTES: Kendall Coyne Schofield, a forward on the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team who finished seventh in the fastest skate competition at the All-Star Game last weekend, worked the game as an analyst for NBC Sports Network. … Pittsburgh F Derick Brassard missed the game with an upper-body injury. … Tampa Bay’s top-ranked power play went 1 for 2 with the man advantage. Pittsburgh’s went 0 for 3. … Malkin is the fourth Penguin to reach 600 assists, joining Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Crosby. … Pittsburgh forward Teddy Blueger played 6:22 in his NHL debut.UP NEXTLightning: Visit the New York Islanders on Friday.Penguins: Finish three-game homestand on Friday against Ottawa.