San Jose coach Peter 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 Youth Mike Remmers Jersey ,” 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 Cheap Customized Chicago Bears Jerseys , 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, 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.

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Mark Gastineau made an emotional plea to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to help him and former players who are dealing with what he claims are football-related health issues.

The former New York Jets star said during a radio interview on 710 WOR Radio in New York that aired Thursday night that he wants ailing players to be taken care of by the NFL. The 61-year-old Gastineau announced last year that he was diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and believes the conditions are the result of brain trauma from playing in the NFL for 10 seasons.

”I want the NFL to treat people right,” Gastineau said during the interview. ”They’ve got to. They have to.”

Gastineau said Goodell told him when they talked at a Jets game over a year ago that he should let him know if he needs anything.

”The Commissioner told me Ryan McLeod Oilers Jersey , he said, `Listen, Mark, you know what? You need anything, let me know,”’ Gastineau told host Pete McCarthy. ”He was my ball boy. I treated him great. He told me. … Hey, Roger Goodell, treat people right.”

An NFL spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment on Gastineau’s statements.

Gastineau is the Jets’ career sacks leader and was one of the NFL’s most recognizable stars because of his entertaining dances after taking down quarterbacks for New York from 1979-88. He and Goodell have known each other since the early 1980s, when Goodell interned in the Jets’ public relations department.

”I want to hold you to your promise, Roger Goodell,” Gastineau said. ”You said Lions Frank Ragnow Jersey , `Anything I need! I want the players to be treated right.”

Gastineau, who was joined by his wife JoAnn and lawyer Jason Luckasevic, began to cry during the interview when he spoke of his daily struggles to get out of bed and remember people’s names.

”My brain isn’t the same,” he said. ”My wife, she and I used to go around and do yard work,” Gastineau said while crying. ”But you know what? She does everything now for me. … It’s not good, it’s not good.

”When I’m laying in bed until 3, 4 or 5 (p.m.), it’s not good. There will be days I get up and I’m good. … My wife will tell you, she helps me get out of bed … and she’ll help me remember names. I used to think I was all that, I did. But you know what? I was nothing. You know why? Because of what happened to me.”

Gastineau Denard Span Seattle Mariners Jersey , who said he routinely ****ed his and other players’ helmets during big hits in practices and games, dabbled in boxing after retiring from football and had 17 professional fights. He is a plaintiff in the concussion lawsuit against the NFL, but has not received any money as a result. JoAnn Gastineau said NFL doctors questioned her husband’s dementia diagnosis, but approved it in October after eight months. She said the NFL sent a notice to Luckasevic 30 days later saying it was appealing the settlement again for Gastineau’s Parkinson’s diagnosis.

”The NFL is wrong,” Gastineau said. ”The NFL is wrong, they’re wrong. I’m not telling them to give me zillions of dollars. I don’t want zillions of dollars. I just want to be treated with respect.”

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