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Sharks’ Thornton atop NHL scoring lead

Thornton

San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton knows what it’s like to be the NHL’s leading scorer.

He actually achieved the feat back in 2005-06, following the previous lockout, with 125 points in 81 games split between the Boston Bruins and Sharks.

Thornton must find the work stoppages as motivation, because he leads the NHL with nine points in three games. He jumped into the lead thanks to a four-point effort in a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes Thursday night.

His teammate, Patrick Marleau, is second in league scoring with eight points and tops in the NHL with six goals. Together, they have formed a dangerous duo for Western Conference opponents.

“I know what he likes to do, he knows what I like to do. It doesn’t matter if we were playing together during this lockout or not, we’re still going to have good chemistry,” Thornton told the San Jose Mercury News.

The Sharks have averaged five goals per game, which is only second to their Californian cousins, the Anaheim Ducks.

On Thursday, the Sharks fell behind by two goals in the third period, but scored four times in just 10:45 to claim the win.

“We held them to two shots in the second period and were controlling every aspect of the game,” Coyotes captain Shane Doan told NHL.com.