SAN JOSE – Joe Thornton celebrated his 500th game as a San Jose Shark by scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at sold-out HP Pavilion Thursday night.
Columbus, lodged at the bottom of the overall NHL standings with 25 points in 40 games, garnered the game’s first goal before the Sharks rebounded to claim their third consecutive win.
San Jose, atop the Pacific Division with 48 points, hosts Washington Saturday before starting a four-game Midwest roadtrip Tuesday in Minnesota.
Thornton solidified his hold as the leading scorer on the club when he swatted home his eighth goal of the season (32nd point) at 4:44 of the second period for a 2-1 Shark advantage.
As Patrick Marleau prepared to fire a shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Jason Demers, Thornton gained position at the right edge of the crease. When Marleau’s shot was stopped by goaltender Curtis Sanford, Thornton, shadowed closely by 21-year-old defenseman David Savard, was able to keep his stick free and slap the puck inside the right post. Thornton has at least one point in eight of the last 10 games.
San Jose coach Todd McLellan has 100 more victories than regulation losses (174-74-35) in his young career.
After watching Antti Niemi in goal for the past 13 games, Thomas Greiss earned the start between the pipes against Columbus. After surrendering a goal on the fourth Blue Jacket shot on net, Greiss went on to improve his record for the year to 5-4 with a 23-save effort.
Vinny Prospal, the 36-year-old topping the Columbus scoring list this season, notched his eighth goal of the year 2:13 into play.
Antoine Vermette chased down a rebound of his own shot before sending the puck to the endboards to Mark Letestu. A behind-the-back pass to Prospal led to a quick shot inside the left post from point-blank range.
Columbus came into the game with the league’s worst road penalty-kill record (68.5%). When Ryan Johansen was given a four-minute high-sticking penalty at 9:48 of the first period, the Sharks gained the 1-1 tie at the 13:03 mark.
Demers, on the way to his first multiple-point game of the season, fed Michal Handzus the puck at the left post. When Sanford rebuffed both of Handzus’ jabs at the net, Ryane Clowe lifted the puck over Sanford’s left pad for his eighth goal of the season.
San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle, the victim of six minutes worth of high-sticking by Johansen, gained a measure of revenge in the closing 10 seconds when his sliding block of a one-timer by Jeff Carter stopped the visitors from a tying goal.
Thursday’s game was the first of four between the two Western Conference clubs within a 28-game span.
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