Thornton adds bite to Sharks
Even as the San Jose Sharks built a four-goal lead, coach Ron Wilson never felt comfortable.
"It was almost too easy," Wilson said after the Sharks held of for a 6-5 victory in St. Louis last night. "I kept saying to the team, 'You got to put these guys away. They won't go away.' "
The Blues didn't, scoring twice in the third period to cut the Sharks' lead to one. But the Sharks, powered by a goal and three assists from both Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, held on.
Mike Grier and Patrick Marleau also had a goal and an assist each for San Jose.
Bill Guerin had a hat trick for St. Louis, giving him 25 goals for the season.
San Jose did most of its damage against starting goalie Manny Legace. Ryane Clowe beat him with a wrist shot from the left circle 39 seconds into the game on San Jose's first shot. The Sharks scored on three of their next 12 shots, and Legace was pulled for Curtis Sanford after allowing Thornton's power-play goal at 4:40 of the second period that made it 4-1.
"I was awful," Legace said. "That's what happens when you bring your 'Z' game against one of the top teams in the league."
Panthers 1, Canadiens 0 -- Ed Belfour made 29 saves for his first shutout in nearly three years and Jay Bouwmeester scored in the second period to lift Florida in Montreal.
Belfour made a sprawling pad save on Steve Begin midway through the third and survived a late flurry to earn his first shutout in 37 games with Florida this season.
Lightning 5, Coyotes 3 -- Vincent Lecavalier had two goals -- giving him a career-high 37 -- and an assist, and Brad Richards scored a tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third period as Tampa Bay beat visiting Phoenix.
Flames 4, Thrashers 1 -- Daymond Langkow scored twice and Jarome Iginla added a goal and two assists as Calgary beat visiting Atlanta and moved into first place in the Northwest Division.
Islanders 3, Maple Leafs 2 -- Rick DiPietro made 39 saves and Viktor Kozlov and Frans Nielsen scored on backhanders in the shootout to lead New York in Toronto.
Hurricanes 2, Kings 1 -- Scott Walker scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to lead Carolina past visiting Los Angeles.
Avalanche 2, Ducks 0 -- Peter Budaj stopped 39 shots and Milan Hejduk had a goal and an assist as Colorado won in Denver.
