SAN JOSE, 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, 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 NEXT
Wild: At the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Sharks: At the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
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