Sharks’ Thornton upbeat despite lack of scoring
Thornton is trying to generate more offense, give Sharks a boost
TORONTO — Joe Thornton deadpans his way through the Sharks’ latest holiday video, a takeoff of the “Behind the Music” series that features a selfdeprecating look back at previous videos the team has released just before Christmas.
“It’s always nice to relive the past a little bit,” Thornton said Wednesday at Air Canada Centre, a day before the Sharks’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. “We just had some fun with it.”
Thornton knows, though, it’s not always so easy to turn back the clock.
Thornton, 36, readily admitted recently that he is not the “offensive juggernaut” he once was. His numbers through 30 games — four goals and 13 assists — are well off the torrid pace he has set in previous seasons.
He has one goal and two assists in the past 12 games, a dry spell that hasn’t happened since his second season in the NHL 17 years ago. He’s fifth on the Sharks in scoring and tied for fourth with 20 penalty minutes.
But he also feels, after 1,276 points in 1,315 career games, that if he can continue to create scoring chances, the points, and more Sharks victories, will start to come.
“We’re getting tons of chances. They’re just not going in the net,” Thornton said. “That’s the only difference. I think I’ve always been defensively conscious. But for whatever reason, the goals haven’t been going in.”
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer echoed the sentiment and, in his first year in San Jose, has seen firsthand how dangerous Thornton can be at any given moment.
In the Sharks’ 3-1 win over Montreal on Tuesday, Thornton chased down Andrei Markov behind the Canadiens’ net, created a turnover and took control of the puck. He then fed Joe Pavelski, who found Dainius Zubrus in front of the net.
Zubrus scored after a deft move on Montreal goalie Dustin Tokarski as the Sharks took a 3-0 lead on their way to snapping a six-game winless streak.
But the goal doesn’t happen without Thornton’s hustle.
“He made that goal,” DeBoer said. “He was first in on the forecheck on the puck, stripped (Markov) and caused a turnover. He created that goal basically with his work, and he’s been doing that all year.
“The results haven’t been there on the scoresheet, maybe just like our team. The results haven’t been there for the work and commitment, but it’ll eventually come.”
After DeBoer was named the Sharks’ coach in late May, one of the first things he noticed was how hard his veterans were working in the offseason. Whenever DeBoer was at the Sharks’ practice facility, he typically saw Thornton and Patrick Marleau working out at the same time.
Melker Karlsson saw the same work ethic when he first got to San Jose midway through last season.
“He’s not just a player who lives in the past. He works hard for it, too,” Karlsson said of Thornton.
Thornton’s three-year contract runs out after the 2016-17 season, and he wouldn’t speculate when asked if he wants to continue to play in the NHL beyond his current contract.
Right now, Thornton said he simply loves coming to the rink and still has the same enthusiasm for the game as he always did.
That part might never get old.
“I love it. I enjoy coming every day,” Thornton said. “I have a smile on my face. I’ve got the best job in the world.”
Forward Tomas Hertl n will likely be a game-time decision Thursday. Hertl participated in an optional team practice Wednesday and said he felt much better than he did 24 hours earlier when he was scratched from a game for the first time this season with a lower body injury. He went through the morning skate Tuesday and participated in the pregame warm-up but decided he wasn’t ready to play.
“I felt maybe just take a break because I don’t want to play at just 60 percent,” Hertl said. “Hopefully tomorrow it’ll be OK.”
Hertl said he suffered the injury Dec. 9 when he was hit during a game in Edmonton against the Oilers. The long flight home after that game, and the one to Montreal on Monday, didn’t help. Hertl said he was fine when the Sharks played Minnesota on Saturday but woke up sore on Tuesday in Montreal.
Sharks center Ben n Smith (concussion) practiced Wednesday, but DeBoer said he’s not ready to bring him off injured reserve. “Taking it day by day with him,” Deboer said of Smith, who played two games with the Barracuda before his recall Tuesday. “He’s improving, but not there yet.”