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Couture ‘making progress,’ but slumping Sharks need answers now

Brandon Saad, Martin Jones

Brandon Saad, Martin Jones

AP

The San Jose Sharks went into last night’s home game versus Columbus saying all the right things.

For example: “We know they’re a desperate team, but so are we.”

That was courtesy Joe Thornton, whose coach, Pete DeBoer added, “I’ll be disappointed if our [desperation] doesn’t match theirs.”

The Sharks then proceeded to lose, 5-2, to the Blue Jackets.

San Jose is now 3-6-0 since Logan Couture broke his fibula in practice. His absence isn’t the only reason for all those losses, but it sure hasn’t helped.

The good news is Couture is “definitely making progress” in his recovery. He’s off the crutches. Now it’s just a walking boot.

The bad news is he won’t be back anytime soon.

“I don’t know the time when I’m going to be back playing, skating, or anything like that,” he told CSN Bay Area yesterday. “It’s just kind of one step at a time – getting the staples out, to walking. It just takes time.”

It was originally estimated that Couture would need 4-6 weeks to recover, so it’s going to be at least a couple of more weeks.

In the meantime, the Sharks will have to make do with what they’ve got, meaning youngster Tomas Hertl in Couture’s spot at second-line center, with Chris Tierney and Ben Smith centering the third and fourth lines, respectively.

“I’m not getting enough out of our bottom six, or whatever you want to call those next two lines,” DeBoer said. “We’ve shuffled guys around, we’ve moved guys in and out. We’re close to having to make some changes there, because it’s not working.”