SAN JOSE — Before we dive into the meaty stuff, here’s the daily remarkable Joe Thornton milestone update.
With career assist No. 1,034 at 19:50 of the first, Thornton moved into 11th place on the NHL’s all-time assists list, passing his childhood idol, Mario Lemieux. Later in the game, Thornton set up Erik Karlsson’s second goal of the year, giving him 750 assists with the Sharks. In doing so, Thornton became just the 18th player in NHL history to collect 750 apples with one club.
Thornton’s two-point night helped the Sharks (12-7-4) finish their season-long six game homestand with a 4-1-1 record, including wins over the first place Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames.