Thornton still a question for Game 1
Sharks’ Jumbo Joe day-to-day with knee injury
It looks like the San Jose Sharks will be without their No. 1 centre for Wednesday’s playoff opener against the Edmonton Oilers.
Jumbo Joe Thornton skated with probable scratches Micheal Haley and Kevin Labanc at San Jose’s practice Tuesday morning before they flew to Edmonton, meaning he will likely sit out rather than see spot duty after injuring his knee late in the season.
“I’m confident but it’s still dayto-day,” Thornton told reporters in San Jose. That’s different from what he said last week, when he indicated he was in, for sure.
Thornton runs the Sharks power play from the half-wall, so if he’s not there it’ll hurt. San Jose’s power play struggled this season and their success rate of 16.7 per cent was 25th overall — the worst of any of the 16 playoff teams.
He didn’t do any power-play work Tuesday but said it was because he wanted to rest his leg, which he hurt 10 days ago against the Vancouver Canucks.
Thornton could still take Chris Tierney’s spot on the fourth line with some power-play work thrown in if he ends up skating here Wednesday morning and says he’s even 75 per cent with Tierney moving to the wing for even-strength situations. Then again, the Sharks are playing against one of the fastest teams in the league and a player with a bad knee would be a liability.
The Sharks’ four centres during Tuesday’s practice were Logan Couture — wearing a full cage to protect his mouth and a possible break around his upper teeth after taking a puck in the chops two weeks ago — Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau and Tierney on the fourth line. Couture skated hard with Joe Pavelski on one wing and Melker Karlsson on the other.
Oilers centre Mark Letestu didn’t play in the season finale against Canucks because he spent two hours in the dentist’s chair Sunday getting emergency repairs after taking a stick in the mouth Saturday in Vancouver. “I lost two teeth and they had to put a bridge in there for two weeks,” said Letestu, who got whacked by Reid Boucher. “I never saw what happened. A stick just came up and bit me.”
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot knows he has to put up with players in his face on power plays, trying to screen him or tip pucks. And nobody does deflecting better than Pavelski. He’s an absolute master at tipping shots, no matter where they’re coming from, how high they are off the ice, and often from outside the crease. “You always have to be aware when No. 8 is on the ice. He does it from everywhere, from the slot, from right in front of you, from the side of the net,” said Talbot. “He gets his stick on pucks and always funnels them to the net. One hundred per cent they’re shooting (for tips). They’re not shooting at the net, they are shooting it wide because he’s the one guy who can tip those.
The Oilers had Eric Gryba with Darnell Nurse on the third defence pairing at practice Tuesday, a strong indicator they want Gryba there for the opener Wednesday rather than rookie Matt Benning, because he’s a bigger body and one of their better penalty killers. It appears they’ll stick with the fourth line of centre David Desharnais, who has struggled to put up points, with Benoit Pouliot and Iiro Pakarinen on the wings. Then again, Matt Hendricks is 56.9 per cent on draws and could provide some emotional juice. Or Drake Caggiula could centre the third line and Letestu could move back to his usual spot on the fourth line if Desharnais continues his pointless streak, which dates back 12 games.