Thornton scored his second goal of the year on a power play in Tuesday's win over Washington.

EDGE Analysis

Thornton's always been known for his prolific assist totals, so the fact that he has more goals than assists (just one so far) in the early going is a testament to the silliness of small sample sizes. It's well worth noting, though, that Thornton has been more willing to shoot through these first three games than we've come to expect from him, and that change in tendencies is probably a big reason behind this early goal-scoring success.

Thornton picked up a goal and an assist on two shots, while finishing with a plus-3 rating against the Kings on Wednesday.

EDGE Analysis

The Kings had no answer for the Sharks top line of Thornton, Joonas Donskoi and Joe Pavelski. Any owners worried that father time would finally catch up to the 36-year-old Thornton can rest easy for the moment.

Thornton had an assist and no shots in Friday's preseason win over Arizona.

EDGE Analysis

That's kind of what you can expect from Thornton. The aging center has become more and more of a distributor at this stage in his career. He won't bring home many shots or goals, but he's good for a solid number of assists, especially with a sniper like Joe Pavelski on the wing.

Thornton notched a power-play goal in Monday's 5-1 loss to the Sharks. The 35-year-old relationship with GM Doug Wilson may be frayed, but he's still managed to put together yet another productive season, even if it's not quite as fabulous as a year earlier. He's rebounded from a seven-game pointless skid with goals in back-to-back contests, giving him 16 on the season and 64 points overall.

Thornton turned in his second consecutive two-assist game Thursday in a win over the Leafs. He also took four shots on goal -- the first time he's put that many pucks on net since Dec. 22. As usual, Thorny just keeps piling the assists -- with 48 of 'em, he's just one short of Jakub Voracek and Sidney Crosby, who are tied for second in the NHL.

Thornton reached the 60-point mark Tuesday by dishing out assists on both San Jose goals in a 5-2 loss to the Jets. He also went plus-1, pushing his rating back to a nice, even zero on the year. Thorny will have to finish at nearly a point-per-game pace to hit 70 points for the 12th time in his career, but he's been on the sheet consistently of late -- eight points in his last seven games -- so that's hardly unrealistic.

Thornton scored his 13th goal of the season and had an assist in Saturday's loss to Vancouver. That's six points in five games for Thornton, who now has 44 assists and 57 points in 62 games on the season. He's already got more goals than he had last season and is on pace for another 70-point campaign. You know what to do.

Thornton assisted on two empty-net goals, finished plus-3 and gathered four PIM in Tuesday's win over Vancouver. Well, that's about as cheap as multi-point games come. But hey, it all counts the same on the back of your baseball -- er, hockey -- card. Thorny remains one of the NHL's finest playmakers.

Thornton collected an assist Monday, helping the Sharks to a 4-0 win over the Canadiens. Thornton currently ranks fifth in NHL in assists with 41, making it clear that he can still keep up offensively. The veteran has 16 years of NHL experience and is still averaging 20:05 TOI at 35 years old. He's a steady fantasy option.

Thornton set up all three of Joe Pavelski's goals in Friday's 4-2 win over the Coyotes.It's the second assist trick of the month for Thornton, who previously achieved the feat in a shootout loss to the Oilers on Feb. 2. Since returning from a shoulder injury Jan. 10, Thornton hasn't struggled to get back on track. He's accumulated three goals and 14 assists over his last 15 games.