SAN JOSE
www.officialdevils.com , Calif. (AP) — With the San Jose Sharks needing a bit more punch from their bottom lines, they turned to Jumbo Joe.Joe Thornton’s move to the third line paid instant dividends.New linemate Marcus Sorenson had a goal and two assists as the Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Tuesday night.The 39-year-old Thornton, a four-time All-Star, joined Sorensen, who is 26 and was playing in just his eighth career game, and 25-year-old Barclay Goodrow on the third line.The trio combined for three goals and three assists while playing their first full game together.“It’s an honor to play with him,” said Sorenson, who had his first career three-point game. “It was fun playing with him. He was good. He was great. He made some great plays and he scored a goal.”Goodrow’s second goal of the season broke a 3-all deadlock at 7:25 of the third period. Goodrow also had an assist and Martin Jones made 23 saves for the Sharks, who had dropped six straight to Minnesota.Thornton scored his 399th career goal. He was playing in his 1,499th game
New Jersey Devils T-Shirts Authentic , tying Mike Modano for 19th place on the NHL list.“Obviously, Jumbo’s Jumbo,” Goodrow said. “He’s a world-class player. He’s going to find you on the ice wherever you are. Marcus used his speed to get on the forecheck. We didn’t turn over a lot of pucks in the offensive zone, which led to offensive zone time and scoring chances. I think we played pretty well.”Antti Suomela scored the other San Jose goal.Sharks coach Peter DeBoer attributed the win to his team’s depth.“I thought all the guys got going tonight. Antti got us a goal, Goody got us a goal, Sorensen got us a goal. Those are all the guys I’m referring to. . I thought all those guys were real good. I thought Joe Thornton was real good tonight. The whole depth of our lineup I thought was very good.”Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba scored 2:05 apart for the Wild to tie it at 3 early in the third period. Zach Parise also had a goal for Minnesota, and Devan Dubnyk turned back 18 shots.Minnesota (8-4-2) had won seven of eight overall and was 12-6-2 over its previous 20 games against the Sharks.NOTES: Wild C Eric Staal (illness) sat out after playing in 335 straight games. … C Matt Hendricks was back in the lineup even though he wasn’t expected to return from a lower-body injury until Thursday. … Wild forward Mikael Granlund had his point streak snapped at 10 games. … Sharks C Logan Couture had his point streak stopped at nine games. … San Jose had just two shots on goal in the first period. … Sharks C Tomas Hertl is day to day with a head injury sustained Saturday in a collision with Flyers defenseman Christian Folin.UP NEXTWild: At the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.Sharks: At the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. LAS VEGAS (AP) — David Backes didn’t know what to think when Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy called his number in the sixth round of a shootout Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.So, he didn’t.Instead, Backes took instruction from teammate Brad Marchand, skated in stick side on veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and scored the game-winner low-glove side to lift Boston to a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights for the Bruins’ season-high seventh straight victory.“I was still in shock when he called my name with some of the guys that hadn’t gone yet
New Jersey Devils Hoodies Authentic ,” Backes said. “I thought there was at least a handful before me, but got the call and went out there, I’m a shooter by nature … I tried low glove and it worked out and good ending to the fourth game of our trip. He’s an all-world goalie altogether, but in shootouts he’s lights out.”Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand scored in regulation for Boston, which is 8-1-1 in its last 10 on the road — including wins in the first four games of a western trip. The Bruins’ win streak is their longest since a 12-game run in 2014.Jaroslav Halak stopped 31 shots and has now won his last three starts, allowing just three goals along the way.“It was a battle, I thought the first period they were better than us, but I think as the game went on, we started playing better,” Halak said. “I think we battled through it. I was happy going into overtime
New Jersey Devils Hats Authentic , at least we get a point. And that extra point for us, I think, is huge.”The Bruins, who are 9-0-3 in their last 12 overall, haven’t lost in regulation since a 3-2 setback to the New York Rangers on Jan. 19. Boston improved to 11-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents and 18-4-4 versus Western Conference foes.“I thought it was a good hockey game, it could have went either way, similar type teams I think,” Cassidy said. “The whole month we’ve been good, consistent. Part of that is to do with our lineup has become consistent because our injured guys are back. They’ve got some time under their belt. We had a lot of different guys in and out, so we’re gaining some chemistry again.”With the win
Custom New Jersey Devils Jerseys , second-place Boston increased its lead in the Atlantic Division over Toronto to four points.Meanwhile, Vegas fell to 3-6-1 in February and 3-8 since Jan. 21. The Golden Knights, who have been outscored 40-27 during their 11-game skid, are 1-5-1 in their last seven games at home.Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt scored for Vegas, while Fleury finished with 25 saves. Fleury has lost four in a row and seven of his last nine starts. He has allowed 19 goals in last five starts, and 28 in the nine-game span.“We got one point and played a great game,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’m tired of saying the (other team’s) goalie was the first star, but he played great and we hit a couple posts. I think if we played the game over, we’d probably win it. But it was a great hockey game. I thought it was a playoff atmosphere against a great team. Were we disappointed we didn’t get two points? Definitely. But I’m not going to fault our group for that effort. They played real well and worked hard. They did exactly what I wanted.”DeBrusk scored for Boston in the first round of the shootout and William Karlsson tied it for Vegas in the second.DeBrusk got things going for the Bruins 11 minutes into the game, when he put a nifty spin move on Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore as he collected a pass from David Krejci and fired a wrist shot past Fleury to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Smith tied it late in the first period when he punched home a rebound from Cody Eakin’s shot from the point.Marchand gave the Bruins a brief lead
www.officialislanders.com , as he took a pass from Danton Heinen and beat Fleury with a blast 69 seconds into the third. Schmidt raced past McAvoy, collected the puck and snapped a backhand over Halak to tie the game just 27 seconds later.“I think just in general our team knows, this time a year you gotta play together, play the right way and I think that’s a credit to the leadership and that’s why we’ve won games,” Cassidy said. “It’s not just one thing, it’s a combination of playing solid hockey.”NOTES: The Bruins announced they acquired C Charlie Coyle from Minnesota for C Ryan Donato and a fifth-round pick. Donato will join the Wild in New York for their game at the Rangers on Thursday. … The Golden Knights assigned D Jake Bischoff to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier Wednesday.UP NEXTBoston: Visits St. Louis on Saturday.Vegas: Hosts Winnipeg on Friday night.