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Thornton's home debut a
win 3rd straight 5 goal game for SJ 12/6/05 - by Mike Lee
Recently acquired centerman Joe Thornton made his debut at the
Tank a memorable one. Thornton scored his first goal as a Shark and added an
assist in a 5-3 romp over the visiting Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night. The
Sharks continue to fire on all cylinders since pulling off what is arguably the
biggest trade in franchise history. San Jose has scored five goals in all
three games since the trade. Captain Patrick Marleau also continued his tear
with three assists, giving him nine points in that span.
Unlike the dark days of November, the Sharks are pouncing on the opposition
early and that trend continued against the struggling Thrashers. Thornton
setup Jonathan Cheechoo's 10th goal of the season three minutes into the game
with a backhand pass that Cheechoo ripped past rookie goaltender Michael
Garnett.
Defenseman Rob Davison scored his 2nd career goal a minute later with a blast
from the left point. Marleau won a draw in the Thrashers zone and pulled the
puck back to Alyn McCauley who promptly tipped it to Davison. Garnett was
partially screened on the play, allowing the shot to find the back of the net
for a 2-0 Sharks lead.
Atlanta answered back at 5:37 of the opening period with a Brad Larsen goal.
The Thrashers left wing ripped a one timer from the left circle that Sharks
goaltender Vesa Toskala could only wave at.
The Thrashers would help San Jose extend its lead later in the period when
Serge Aubin and Eric Boulton were sent off simultaneously for separate
infractions. Thornton would bag his first goal in teal on the ensuing 5-on-3.
Cheechoo reciprocated some of his recent goal scoring fortune by starting
Thornton's scoring sequence with a shot on goal from point blank range.
Garnett appeared to smother Cheechoo's shot, but Thornton's cousin Scott
Thornton chipped the puck out from under Garnett's pads while the Thrasher's
goaltender was laid out on the ice.
Thornton gathered the loose puck while parked outside the right post and
stuffed home his 10th of the season into an empty net.
San Jose would commit its lone gaff at the start of the 2nd period while on the
power play. Marc Savard defelected a pass out of the Thrashers zone and Marian
Hossa beat Kyle McLaren to the puck at the Sharks blueline. McLaren fell after
getting his skates tangled with Hossa, allowing the Thrashers wing to spring
free. Hossa had Toskala dead to rights and promptly roofed a breakaway shot to
cut San Jose's lead to 3-2.
Nils Ekman would then break an 18-game goal drought with one of the prettiest
moves of the year. The Sharks winger took a pass from Josh Langfeld at the
left dot and deeked Jaroslav Modry with a move toward the slot. Ekman then
backhanded a shot over Garnett's shoulder for this 4th goal of the year.
Tom Preissing added an insurance goal at 12:04 of the 2nd period with a slapper
from the high slot and Hossa added his second of the evening with just under a
minute remaining in the period.
Atlanta had an opportunity to cut further in to the Sharks lead in the 3rd
period on two power play chances. The closest came while Scott Thornton was
serving a bench minor for too many men in the ice midway through the period.
Ilya Kovalchuk had Toskala beat in close, but the Sharks goaltender robbed the
young Russian with a wicked glove save.
Notes:
Rookie defenseman Doug Murray was a one man wrecking ball with several huge
hits in the game. On one play he caught Ronald Petrovicky with a check that
sent the Thrashers winger to the ice with an apparent arm injury. After
flailing on the ice for several minutes, Petrovicky skated to the Atlanta bench
and resumed playing several minutes later.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
ATL |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
SJ |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
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1st period - 1, San Jose, Cheechoo 10
(Thornton, Marleau), 2:56, (pp).
2, San Jose, Davison 1 (McCauley, Marleau), 4:06.
3, Atlanta, Larsen 2 (Vigier, de Vries), 5:37.
4, San Jose, Thornton 10 (Thornton, Preissing), 13:20, (pp). |
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2nd period - 5, Atlanta, Hossa 13 (Savard),
1:23, (sh).
6, San Jose, Ekman 4 (Langfeld, Hannan), 8:06.
7, San Jose, Preissing 5 (McCauley, Marleau), 12:04.
8, Atlanta, Hossa 14 (Kovalchuk), 19:04.
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1st period - Modry, ATL (tripping), 1:57;
Aubin, ATL (interference), 12:50; Boulton, ATL (tripping), 12:50; Holik, ATL
(slashing), 19:54. |
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2nd period - Smith, SJS (holding),
13:39. |
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3rd period - Langfeld, SJS (holding), 2:21;
Bench, SJS, served by Thornton (too many men), 9:26; Michalek, SJS (hooking),
16:10; Savard, ATL (hooking), 16:47. |
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Shots |
Saves |
ATL - Garnett |
26 |
21 |
SJ - Toskala |
25 |
22 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
ATL |
4 |
8 |
13 |
25 |
SJ |
11 |
7 |
8 |
26 |
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Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Kelly Sutherland.
Linesmen:
Ryan Galloway, Vaughan Rody. |
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