The Senators’ Colin Greening knocks the puck off Joe Thornton’s stick during Thursday night’s game. Thornton managed just one shot all night while Greening scored twice.
The sight of Joe Thornton speeding out of the HP Pavillion minutes after San Jose’s 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night was all you needed to know.
Thornton must have set the record for postgame shower in the wake of the loss.
It looked as if he was out of the building even before the media was allowed into the Sharks’ dressing room.
Deeply embarrassed, he was, and deservedly.
The odds were against the Ottawa Senators going into the game. They had just made a five-hour cross-country flight on Wednesday and were about the play their third game in four nights against a team that’s not exactly a pushover.
The Sharks came out quickly and got the first goal just 3: 10 into the game, but after that it was all Ottawa in a thorough 4-1 victory.
Thornton, Don Cherry’s favourite NHL player, had one shot and was invisible. No wonder he fled.
The victory was Ottawa’s first in San Jose since Oct. 18, 2003. They are now 13-2-2 since mid-December and 8-1-1 in their past 10.
The Senators also did it with only 10 forwards.
They lost Kaspars Daugavins in the first period with an injury to his left leg after he blocked a shot while killing a penalty.
“Kaspars is hurting, but he’s from Latvia, he’ll probably be all right,” coach Paul MacLean said. “Tough guy.”
Then Zack Smith left in the second after he took a unpenalized shot to the head from San Jose’s Brad Winchester. Both Smith and Daugavins practised with the team on Friday.
Colin Greening had two goals, his 10th and 11th, Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist, and Erik Karlsson had his seventh goal. Jason Spezza had two assists.
Turris has been particularly hot. In the 16 games he has played for Ottawa since arriving from Phoenix, he has had four goals and nine assists.
Winchester got San Jose’s only goal.
Craig Anderson, making a case for another player of the week award, faced 37 shots, while Antti Niemi was tested 21 times.
“They came out hard, but we knew they would,” Anderson said. “We knew we would have to weather the storm a little. But we stuck with the game plan. For us, if we could get past that first 10 minutes without being down two goals, we’re OK.
“We know we can score, we know we can play. Right now, we’re just starting real slow. But we found a way to win, and that’s all that matters.
“I think, for us, we’re one of those teams, if we can just hang around long enough and play well enough to be within a goal, we always have a chance.”
The Sharks might have lost the game in the first period. Despite outshooting the Senators, they came out of the period tied 1-1.
“They came out real hard and dominated us for the first six minutes, and (Anderson) does a great job and does what he has been doing for us,” Spezza said.
“Then we find a way to score some goals, then we lock it down and play a real good third period.”
Karlsson and Greening made it 3-1 in the second, and Greening got his second in the third to make it 4-1.
“This shows that we’re a very good road team,” Greening said. “You’ve got to be able to get points on the road, especially when we’re coming to the West Coast. We have a three-hour time change. This is really a tough place to play.”
Greening’s first goal, at 14: 50 of the second, was fitting fitting retribution for a cheap shot by former 67 Jamie McGinn, who was off for kneeing Spezza.
“He said he was just trying to slow me down, but I thought it was dirty,” Spezza said.
It was the second time in the past five games an opposing player had gone after one of Spezza’s knees. Ruslan Fedotenko caught Spezza’s left knee with his right knee. He similarly tried to explain it away as an accident. He said it was Spezza’s fault because he moved at the last second.
But Spezza wasn’t buying that explanation, either.
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