Joe Thornton Hits a Milestone Against the Penguins

Tonight Joe Thornton will play his 1,000th game as a member of the San Jose Sharks.

Sharks fans witnessed a lot of milestones this year. They saw the franchise’s 1,000th win (Jan.10), Brent Burns 1,000th career game (Dec.27), Thornton’s 400th goal (Nov.8), and their newest acquisition Erik Karlsson excel in teal. Tonight’s matchup will be a huge test for the Sharks before they host the 2019 Honda All-Star game at the SAP Center. This match will determine if they can be legit Stanley Cup contenders if they beat a hot team like the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The matchup against the Penguins will be a 2016 Stanley Cup Finals rematch. Tonight’s match is no doubt the match of the night in the NHL. The two teams are the hottest teams in the NHL right now. The Sharks have won five straight home games and are 13-2-2 in the last 17 games. They look to extend the NHL’s current longest winning streak to seven. Their goaltender Martin Jones is on a seven-game winning streak with  2.29 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

Important analysis and comparisons between the two teams. Both teams have been pretty up impressive numbers. (Photo Credit: NHL.com/Stats)

The Penguins are 10-2-0 in the last 12 games. Last Saturday the Penguins six-game road winning streak snapped after losing 5-2 against the Los Angeles Kings. Their goaltender Matt Murray is on a nine-game win streak since returning from a lower-body injury. During his winning streak, he has a 1.55 GAA, .953 save percentage and two shutouts.

Before tonight’s game, San Jose’s head coach Peter DeBoer described Thornton’s career as,  “First ballot Hall of Famer. Still playing at a really high level. His greatness is in what he does for other players, how good he makes other people around him. That’s a rare thing.” 

The game begins tonight at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN+, SN1, NBCSCA, ATTSN-PT. 

You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!