{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
San Jose 6, Colorado 1
When: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer
Linesmen: Jay Sharrers, Devin Berg
Attendance: 17424

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joe Thornton had a night for the history books during the San Jose Sharks' victory Tuesday.

The center became the 33rd player in NHL history to achieve 1,300 career points as his two assists helped San Jose dispatch the Colorado Avalanche 6-1 in front of 17,424 at SAP Center.

"I've played with a lot of good goal-scorers over my career, and a lot of good players, really," Thornton said. "Yeah, it's a lot."

The Sharks closed the pre-All-Star break portion of their schedule by extending their streak to 10 consecutive games with at least one point (8-0-2). The Avalanche, meanwhile, saw their four-game winning streak snapped.

"We didn't have a good start," Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. "Offensively, we didn't generate much. I don't want to use the word 'distraction.' but we had three guys sick this morning. It's hard enough to play when you're 100 percent."

Center Nathan MacKinnon converted Colorado's fifth power-play chance of the game with his 17th goal at 11:35 of the third period to deny Sharks goalie Martin Jones of his fifth shutout of the season.

Jones finished with 21 saves.

Otherwise, this was the Jumbo Joe show.

Thornton's amazing numbers break down like this: He has 367 goals and 933 assists in 1,333 games. Included are 198 goals and 648 assists for 846 points in his 11 seasons with the Sharks, who acquired the No. 1 draft pick in 1997 from the Boston Bruins on Nov. 30, 2005.

Thornton ranks 16th on the all-time assist list, one short of Al MacInnis. The only other active player on the list is Florida's 43-year-old Jaromir Jagr at sixth with 1,098. Thornton is 26 points behind Gilbert Perreault, who is 32nd on the all-time list. Again, only Jagr remains active above Thornton at No. 4 with 1,835 points.

"It's amazing," Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner said. "I played against Joe for a lot of years, and he doesn't seem to get any older, any slower or any worse. He just gets better with age.

"The guys feed off of that. When Joe plays as hard as he does away from the puck, that's what impresses me most. He enjoys the game every day. I think it's just infectious for the whole team."

San Jose broke the game open with a pair of power-play strikes within 50 seconds late in the second period.

A tripping penalty by Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin compounded a boarding minor by Avalanche left winger Andreas Martinsen 52 seconds earlier to give the hosts a two-man advantage.

It took San Jose 52 seconds to convert a five-on-three when Thornton threaded a goalmouth feed to center Joe Pavelski, who potted his 25th goal of the season with a one-timer at 15:28.

Thornton's second assist of the game gave him 14 points over 10 games. He has at least one point in 18 of his last 19 outings -- five goals and 20 assists during that span.

"Sometimes you don't realize where he is as far as how long he's been in the league and the points he has," San Jose defenseman Paul Martin said. "He comes to the rink, he works hard and enjoys it. He's a great leader, and the locker room appreciates it."

Sharks right winger Joel Ward was credited with his 15th goal at 16:18 of the second period when he crashed the net and nudged the puck past Colorado goalie Calvin Pickard for a 4-0 lead. Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson partially fanned on a clearing attempt that struck teammate Nick Holden's skate and bounced back toward the net.

Thornton extended his point streak to 10 games with the second assist on San Jose's second goal of the first period -- an even-strength strike by center Tomas Hertl at 10:13. It was his stick at the blue line that forced Johnson into the turnover to start the sequence. Thornton has his first 10-game point streak since Nov. 14-Dec. 3, 2009.

"He's one of our big guys, one of our leaders, and we still go as he goes," Boughner said of Thornton.

Martin scored his second goal of the season at 8:21 of the third period after Roy pulled backup goalie Roman Will at 7:13. Will was making his NHL debut in relief of starter Calvin Pickard, who played the first two periods.

San Jose rookie defenseman Dylan DeMelo capped the scoring with his first career goal -- a power-play strike at 19:03 of the third period.

"They got a couple of good bounces there in the first and then a couple of goals at the end of the second and it's suddenly 4-0," said Pickard, who stopped 16 of the 20 shots he faced. "They got the bounces, and we didn't get the bounces."

Will made two saves and allowed one goal.

NOTES: RW Dainius Zubrus returned to the San Jose lineup after missing nine consecutive games due to an upper-body injury. Zubrus took Mike Brown's spot on the fourth line. ... While the Sharks played their final game before the All-Star break, the Avalanche play Wednesday in Los Angeles before starting their break. ... With G Semyon Varlamov in Denver to attend to legal matters stemming from a domestic dispute charge in 2013 that was dropped, G Roman Will was promoted from San Antonio of the AHL to back up G Calvin Pickard. ... Colorado continues to play without injured D Brad Stuart (back), C Ben Street (chest) and G Reto Berra (ankle). ... Colorado C Mikhail Grigorenko was ill, while D Nate Guerin and D Andrew Bodnarchuk were healthy scratches. RW Chris Wagner took Grigorenko's spot in the lineup. RW Mike Brown and D Matt Tennyson were healthy scratches for San Jose.
Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   San Jose
Nathan MacKinnon 1 Points Tomas Hertl 2
Nathan MacKinnon 1 Goals Tomas Hertl 1
Erik Johnson 1 Assists Brent Burns 2
Nathan MacKinnon 1 Power Play Goals Dylan Demelo 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Calvin Pickard .800 Save Percentage Martin Jones .955
Calvin Pickard 16 Saves Martin Jones 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Colorado 22 1 1-5 2-5 32 38
San Jose 24 6 3-5 4-5 12 25
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Anaheim. The Sharks have a W/L % of .560 after a win and .522 after a loss.
  • Colorado will play their next game on the road against Los Angeles. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .560 after a loss.