Joe Thornton Helps San Jose Sharks Beat Bruins for Second Straight Road Win

Joe Thornton played in career NHL game 1,001 Saturday night against the team he started his career with, the Boston Bruins.

The San Jose Sharks beat the defending champions, 4-2, and Thornton's assist on Joe Pavelski's goal just a minute into the game helped San Jose grab a great road win against an elite Eastern Conference team.

Thornton played in his 1,000th career game on Friday against the New Jersey Devils, and it was too bad his milestone did not happen in Boston.

During the game. the Bruins played a short video tribute of Thornton on the TD Garden jumbotron, then displayed to the crowd that Thornton had recently reached the 1,000th game milestone.

The video was met to almost all applause from the Bruins crowd.

"It’s great. Obviously, this is where it all started," Thornton said. "They gave me my chance, and I love coming back to this city. I’ve still got so many friends, they’re still part of my life."

Thornton was chosen by the Bruins with the first overall selection in the 1997 NHL draft, and was one of the team's best players before he was traded to San Jose during the 2005-06 season.

After beating the Devils in a shootout on Friday night, the Sharks were able to give a solid effort in Boston despite not getting a ton of sleep between games.

"Well we’re kind of finishing some pucks right now," Thornton said. "We’re getting some big saves from Nemo [Antti Niemi]. You put those two things together, you’re going to win some games. We like playing on the road, for whatever reason, and hopefully we can continue the success."

The Sharks have had very good recent success playing in Boston, and every time Thornton comes back to face his original team, his Sharks play well.

"...It just seems every time we play here, they’re a real talented team, defense first," Thornton said. "And I think when you’ve got good defensive teams going toe-to-toe, it seems to be a good game, and they’ve got some good offensive players as well. It just always seems to be one-goal games and pretty exciting games, too."

With the victory on Saturday, the Sharks improved to 3-3 on the season with six points, six behind the Dallas Stars, who lead the Pacific Division.

With two straight wins against two good teams, the Sharks appear headed in the right direction, and with several new players getting acclimated to the squad, it's going to take some time for everyone to jell.

For the Sharks, it's about building a team that can win in the playoffs, and the regular season will give them the time they need to find the best way to get to the Stanley Cup Finals.

All quotes obtained first hand.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.