Set up for failure, Thornton got the last laugh
By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009

Joe Thornton in teal looked very much like the Joe Thornton who spent so
many years here in black and gold. Jumbo Joe executed his game, looked
for passes, made passes, threaded them through crowds, and even scored a
goal. Although the one he knocked home last night in San Jose's 5-2
victory over the Bruins came directly off his left skate, a redirect of
a Devin Setoguchi backhand feed that, frankly, looked as if the
sensational young winger plagiarized it from Thornton's book of sweet
'n' juicy setups.

Good things happen around the net, which has rarely, if ever, been
Thornton's domain. He much prefers the side wall, his towering frame
backed up to the boards, allowing him full view of the offensive slot,
complete range to work. That's his wheelhouse, and last night the Bruins
did a very good job of keeping him out of his comfort zone, explaining
perhaps why he was cruising through the slot and looking for a feed
midway through the third period when he booted home the backbreaking
two-goal lead.

"They're a good team, a darned good team," said the former Bruins
captain, playing Causeway Street for only the second time since being
dealt to the Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005. "That's probably one of the best
teams we've played all year."

Thornton was by no means invisible through the night. It would be hard
for the 6-foot-4-inch pivot, the face of the Boston franchise for
seven-plus seasons, to blend in with the crowd, get lost among all the
advertising along the side boards. But he did not jump out like, say,
his winger Patrick Marleau, who snapped home his 27th goal of the season
and added a pair of assists (including one on Thornton's goal). Nor did
he dazzle like Ryane Clowe, who picked up helpers on San Jose's
first, second, and third goals.

After all these years, Thornton is Thornton, a difference-maker when
he's allowed to work his setup wand, but capable of being denied when
the opposition has the resources to hack away at his game all night. The
Bruins were able to do that and then some for the first half last night,
but a combination of their own mounting injuries and San Jose's
impressive depth eventually sent the Eastern Conference leaders to their
room as if ordered by demanding, daunting parents.

"We didn't have too many answers early on," said Thornton, held to only
two shots for the night, registering one of them with his left boot.

"Then in the second half, the ice kind of tilted."

Thornton was a non-factor in the first period, which the Bruins
controlled on the scoreboard (2-1) and in terms of overall play (13-6
shot advantage). Noticeably tired over the weekend, especially during
their 4-3 loss to the Flyers Saturday, the Bruins were much sharper
against Team Teal. Had they been able to sustain that pace, as they have
much of the season until recently, they could have wrapped up the Sharks
for a league-high 40th win of the season.

The Garden crowd, always on Thornton's side during his years here, booed
the big guy each time he touched the puck during a Sharks power play
early in the period. They booed him again - almost cordially, or at
least duty-bound - when he knocked in the 4-2 lead.

"They've got great fans here," said Thornton, treated as the crown
prince of Causeway from the day he arrived as the No. 1 pick in the 1997
draft, his acolytes to this day still e-mailing local columnists with
hate mail over his departure. "There's been a buzz around here [about
the game] since Saturday night."

But it was Milan Lucic, potting a pair in the first period, who captured
the sellout crowd's greatest attention. He knocked home his first for
the 1-0 lead at 3:58, then broke a 1-1 deadlock with No. 2 at 14:54. Had
he had his stick flush to the ice earlier in the period, he might have
left the period with a hat trick. A third Lucic goal that early almost
assuredly would have made for a different outcome.

Thornton was held off the board again in the second period, the Bruins
maintaining their 2-1 lead through the 20 minutes. At least Thornton was
able to remain in the game, something Boston forwards couldn't master.

Late in the first period, Petteri Nokelainen was finished for the night
when he took a Dan Boyle stick around the right eye, sending the Finnish
winger off the ice with blood dripping down his cheek. With 9:15 to go
in the second period, Chuck Kobasew appeared to wrench a knee in a
center-ice collision with Doug Murray, and though he made it back by the
end of the period, the former Boston College winger wasn't very
effective.

With 6:20 gone in the second, after a shift in which the Sharks nearly
moved to a 3-2 lead, Boston's Shawn Thornton and Jumbo Joe met up at the
Boston bench. The two locked up briefly, and it appeared for a moment
they might trade a punch or two, but they ultimately released and went
to their respective benches. No family feud (perhaps because they aren't
family?).

Otherwise, the 60 minutes passed without anyone in black and gold
throwing Thornton as much as a dirty look.

Did a win over Boston make the night any more special?

"I don't think so," Thornton said. "We take it as a challenge. We've
been doing that all year long, just focusing on every game."

Same ol' Joe. Eyes straight ahead, a smile perpetually on his face.
Mellow, polite, and loving life as if he were that giant cartoon
character forever hovering over the Thanksgiving Day parade.

He patiently answered a slew of questions, in two separate waves of
reporters, then departed for his shower. Spotting a familiar face in the
crowd, that of a local columnist who once wrote that he should surrender
the Bruins captaincy, for his own good and that of the team, he walked
over and extended his hand.

"Good to see you," he said, exchanging a handshake. And he flashed that
Jumbo Joe smile.

After all, it's a good life.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@...
<mailto:dupont@...> . [6]



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