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Thornton, Sharks battle Bruins in Boston

Feb 5, 2011 - 4:16 PM (Sports Network) - The surging San Jose Sharks will continue their lengthy road trip this afternoon when they visit the first-place Boston Bruins for a battle at TD Garden.

Today's game also marks San Jose captain Joe Thornton's third trip back to Boston since he was traded to the Sharks during the 2005-06 season.

The Bruins selected Thornton with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft and he compiled 454 points in 532 career games during his time in Boston. He has gone on to record 523 points in 463 games with the Sharks.

In four lifetime games against the Bruins, Thornton has two goals and one assist.

The Sharks are 6-0-1 over their last seven games and began a seven-game road trip with Wednesday's close victory in Anaheim. San Jose has a 14-9-3 record as the guest this year and will try to improve upon that mark during its longest road trip of the season.

Ryane Clowe's power-play goal late in the second period proved to be the game- winner, as San Jose held on to beat the Ducks, 4-3, at Honda Center.

Dany Heatley, Ben Eager and Jason Demers each scored in the first period for the Sharks. Dan Boyle and Devin Setoguchi both collected two assists, while Antti Niemi stopped 27-of-30 shots.

"This is the way you want to start a road trip, with a win," Clowe said. "We found a way tonight. It was intense. It was physical right from the start. We got on the board with three quick ones. The pace kept up. We knew they were going to keep coming."

San Jose has 60 points on the year, tying the Sharks with Anaheim for second place in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference.

The Sharks are expecting to have forward Logan Couture back in the lineup today after he missed the last two games with flu-like symptoms. Couture is leading all NHL rookies this season with 22 goals.

Boston also enters today's matinee on a hot streak, as the Northeast Division leaders have won three straight contests, including two in a row since the league returned from the All-Star break. The B's are currently four points ahead of Montreal for the division lead.

The Bruins' latest victory came in Thursday's fight-filled, 6-3 decision over visiting Dallas. Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist and was one of 12 Boston players with at least one point.

Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead in a first period that featured four fights, including three bouts in the first four seconds of the game.

Milan Lucic and Bergeron tallied on Boston's first two shots, chasing Stars goaltender Andrew Raycroft from the game. Bergeron scored again midway through the period and Shawn Thornton tallied later for the big lead.

Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand added goals in the third period, icing the game for the Bruins after Dallas had pulled within 4-3. Marchand had two assists and Mark Recchi added three helpers to join Bergeron with three points in the game.

Tuukka Rask earned the win with 30 saves on 33 shots, but the Bruins are expected to go with No. 1 netminder Tim Thomas today. Thomas is 25-5-6 on the season and has won seven of his last eight games in net.

Thursday's physical battle has resulted in a suspension for Boston, however, as Bruins forward Daniel Paille was given a four-game ban by the league on Friday for an illegal check to the head of Dallas' Raymond Sawada.

The incident occurred during the second period when Paille blind-sided Sawada. Paille, who was given a five-minute major as well as a game misconduct, is eligible to return February 15 against Toronto.

Boston is playing the second test on a four-game homestand this afternoon. The Bruins have won two straight and five out of seven at the Garden and are 14-9-3 as the host this season.

The Bruins won the only meeting with the Sharks last season, recording a 2-1 shootout victory in San Jose. The clubs have split the last four encounters overall and San Jose is 2-0 with a tie in its last three trips to Boston.