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Sharks, minus Thornton, aim to find offense vs. Lightning

Nov 6, 2010 - 2:50 PM (Sports Network) - The Sharks failed to score a single goal over their last two games and will have to break that streak tonight without Joe Thornton, the club's captain and leading scorer.

Thornton will serve the first part of a two-game suspension tonight, when San Jose welcomes the Tampa Bay Lightning to HP Pavilion.

The Sharks have lost two straight, dropping a 1-0 decision in Minnesota on Tuesday before getting dealt a 2-0 setback Thursday in St. Louis. It was against the Blues that Thornton was deemed to have delivered an illegal check on St. Louis forward David Perron. The incident occurred 5:26 into the second period, when Thornton was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for the hit to Perron's head.

Thornton is currently leading the Sharks with 15 points and is tied with Dany Heatley for the team lead with five goals. He is eligible to return on Thursday when San Jose hosts the New York Islanders.

Perron scored one of his team's two goals and Jaroslav Halak turned away 25 shots to lead the Blues to the 2-0 win over the Sharks. Antti Niemi stopped 27 shots in defeat for the Sharks, who have now been blanked in three straight road contests.

"It feels like we're getting looks but they're not going in," said San Jose center Joe Pavelski. "So, we have to keep going, have to keep shooting. When they start going in we'll start winning a few more. We had three breakaways, some 3-on-2's, 2-on-1's and I don't think we hit the net once."

Tonight marks the first of five straight on home ice for the Sharks, who are 2-2-1 as the host this year.

The Lightning also enter tonight off of two straight losses and are 1-1-1 on a four-game road trip that ends this evening. The Bolts are 4-2-1 as the visiting team on the season.

Tampa Bay couldn't muster any offense in its most recent game, losing a 1-0 decision Thursday night in Los Angeles. Justin Williams scored the only goal of the game and Jonathan Quick stopped all 24 shots he faced in the Kings' win at Staples Center.

Mike Smith was the hard-luck loser, turning away 25 shots in defeat for the Lightning.

"They got an extra break at the end there in the third and got a goal but it was a hard fought game by both teams," Smith said. "Just because they beat us doesn't mean we're a bad hockey team. Tonight wasn't our night, but I think we'll be better because of this game."

The Lightning routed the Sharks, 5-2, in Tampa last year, ending a four-game losing streak in the series. Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals in that win for the Bolts.