Joe Thornton notched a goal and an assist in San Jose's 3-2 win over Edmonton. The Sharks captain had been relatively ineffective during the club's five-game losing skid, with three assists in one contest over that span. Thornton produced both of his points on power plays and his 49th helper of the year set up Logan Couture's game-winning marker early into the third period.

The Sharks continue to struggle and Joe Thornton seems incapable of lifting them out of their funk. The Sharks have a 3-9-3 record over their past 15 games and have not won a game in March. Thornton, long considered San Jose's best player, has scored only twice over that 15-game span. The situation in San Jose is bordering on disaster which could cost coach Todd McLellan his job.

Joe Thornton assisted on all three San Jose Sharks goals in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. The 32-year-old is as gifted a passer as they come in the NHL, and these amounted to his 48th of the season. Thornton is producing at a near-point-per-game clip (62 points), though he's often put up them up in bunches. Goal scorers included Torrey Mitchell (seventh), Patrick Marleau (27th) and Joe Pavelski (24th). Marleau finished a team-high plus-two, while Pavelski also had seven penalty minutes.

Joe Thornton has four goals and 12 points in his last seven games. With three assists on Monday, Thornton has reached the 50-point mark and is well on his way to recording at least 70 points for the ninth consecutive season. When it comes time to evaluate him going into next seasons draft, you shouldn't regard him as one of the league's elite players, but you should see him as one of the safest bets among the players just below the highest tier.

Joe Thornton registered his 34th and 35th assists of 2011-12 in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to Calgary. Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, and Michal Handzus each scored a goal in the losing effort. Ryane Clowe, Patrick Marleau, and Brent Burns each registered an assist for the Sharks.

Joe Thornton scored a goal and two assists as the San Jose Sharks crushed the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-0. Thornton seemed to be motivated by a questionable hit by Jared Boll. It seems like Thornton's ceiling has lowered a bit since the Sharks offense became more diverse in 2010-11. He "only" had 70 points last season and has a relatively modest 41 in 48 games so far in 2011-12.

Joe Thornton had the game-winning goal for the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night as they prevailed over the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1. Thornton's eighth goal came via rebound off of Patrick Marleau's shot near the point. While the center has been very productive this season -- 32 points -- it's looking like the over-point-per-game production he strung together for five years prior to last season is in his past. That being said, the 32-year-old is still an exceptional playmaker and is a shoo-in for at least 70 points this year; he has nine in his last 10 games. Ryane Clowe also potted his eighth goal of the season -- on the power play. Michal Handzus had two assists while Jason Demers had one.

Joe Thornton registered three assists in Sunday's 4-1 win over Colorado. Thornton is off to a great start with five goals and 20 points in 18 games this season. He's coming off a somewhat disappointing season by his standards, where he recorded 70 points in 80 games, but we're looking for him to bounce back in 2011-12. He should be able to maintain a roughly point-per-game pace this season.

Joe Thornton formally apologized for the verbal dust-up he created after the 5-2 loss to New York on Monday when he called the Rangers "probably the softest team" the Sharks played on their road trip. "Every couple of years you have to say some sort of bone-headed thing," Thornton said. "I just used the wrong word."

After Joe Thornton and the Sharks lost 5-2 to the New York Rangers on Monday night, the San Jose captain said: "To be honest with you, they were probably the softest team we played against on this road trip and we should have had the two points. We played some good teams and I think we should have beaten these guys." Which prompted this comment from Sharks beat writer David Pollack in a blog: "Joe Thornton calling someone or something else "soft" is like Tony Romo questioning another quarterback's late-game mental fortitude. It's like Jay Leno calling another comedian 'stale.'"