BOSTON — Joe Thornton sightings in Boston remain rare more than five years after his trade to San Jose, but the former Bruins captain insists that facing his former team is no longer a big deal.
"It is just a win," Thornton said after the Sharks beta Boston 2-0 on Saturday. "Maybe the first time I was here, you wanted to win the first one. But now it is just like any other road game, I think."
Lately, just about every road game has been a win for the Sharks, who are 4-0-1 in their last five road games and 8-2-1 in their last 11.
Still, Saturday's clash was just the fifth time Thornton has played against the team that drafted him first overall in 1997, and only the third time he's returned to Boston since being traded for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau on Nov. 30, 2005.
Thornton and the Sharks have won each of those three games in Boston, though he didn't have a lot to do with the first one. He was tossed from that one 5:13 into the first for a major penalty and game misconduct for checking Hal Gill from behind, but the Sharks went on to win 6-2 on Jan. 10, 2006.
Thornton did have a goal when San Jose scored four in the third to beat the Bruins in Boston on Feb. 10, 2009, but he wasn't nearly as much of a factor in this one. Thornton did dish out a game-high six hits in 18:02 of ice time, but he had no points and no shots and came close to being the goat when he gave the Bruins a late power play after tripping Adam McQuaid on a rush in the San Jose zone.
But the Bruins couldn't convert, and Thornton and the Sharks were able to celebrate another win at the Garden. It was an important win for San Jose, which is battling to secure a playoff spot out West, though Thornton also credited the Bruins with making it tough to earn the two points in this one.
"It is important," Thornton said. "We have to win some games. We are in a tight race in the Western Conference with points meaning so much. [The Bruins] play really well at home and have been playing well all year. … They played well tonight. They kept us on the outside and I think we were in the penalty box a little bit more than we should have been, but good game and a good win."
Thornton is focused solely on helping the Sharks return to the playoffs after reaching the Western Conference finals last year and insists he doesn't wonder about what could have happened if he had stayed in Boston.
"Not really," he said. "You really don't like to look back and kind of say what could of happened if I stayed here or things like that. I really enjoyed my time out here. I still have a lot of family and friends out here. I always like coming back, but I am a Shark and I like being out there [in San Jose]."
