Thornton appeared in Games 3-6, contributing a combined two assists and four shots on goal, during the Sharks' series loss.
It was not only the first taste of National Hockey League post-season for key Oilers Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Oscar Klefbom, Jordan Eberle, and Nugent-Hopkins, it was also the first time the Oilers had been in the playoffs in a decade.
Connor McDavid iced the game with an empty-net goal with less than a second to play for his first even-strength point of the series.
The Oilers also hit three goal posts two by Darnell Nurse and one by Jordan Eberle before San Jose responded at the midway point of the period. It doesnt come easy.
The Oilers were 3-2 against the Ducks this season, with two of the wins coming on the road. "There were anxious moments, there were mistakes, too many men on the ice, you get a little overexcited", coach Todd McLellan said. The Leafs have been game in trying to come back, but actually getting and maintaining a lead would be far better for their chances, strangely enough.
Wilson indicated that signing defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and goalie Martin Jones to contract extensions is a "priority", but the Sharks can't have formal contract talks with either player until July 1, as both players have one-year remaining on their contracts. What's become painfully clear is the Sharks can win scores of regular-season games as the most successful team over the last decade, but don't have the right mix in the playoffs.
Patrick Marleau's third goal of the series - and 68th of his 177-game postseason career - at 12:12 of the third period pulled San Jose to within a goal and brought the SAP Center sellout crowd to life. I felt like I had been transported into a foreign land where the fans from both teams commingled and enjoyed the game. The win only provided a glimpse of how deadly San Jose could be in the playoffs.
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"I tried to control rebounds as best I could and not give them any second opportunities", Talbot said. "It's a series at the end of the night you lose and you don't know how you lost at times".
Hockey players are often pegged as the toughest athletes in all of sports, and Joe Thornton's play in the Stanley Cup playoffs legitimizes that notion.
"You've got to find a way to win 2-1, 1-0 in the playoffs", Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "It's just a reality".
It all started 17 seconds into the game when Sean Kuraly, the Bruins' Game 5 overtime hero, was guilty of it. Fifty-six seconds later, Anton Slepyshev, likewise, found himself in alone and made it 2-0. In four games, Thornton averaged almost 19 minutes of ice time and picked up two assists. "I'll go get it checked out today and go from there".
Late in the third period with the Sharks down 2-1, Pavelski took a pass from Thornton just a few feet away from the Oilers crease. The core group was ready for the challenge after losing in the Stanley Cup Final last season. "We have a good training staff and team doctors who helped me get on the ice and try to perform 100 per cent".
"That's not the team we are", Draisaitl said. "It's not realistic to get three or four every night. That's stressful. I think we're a little bit more mature than people give us credit for and I think we showed that tonight". Much was made of the gap in playoff experience between the veteran Sharks and the much younger Oilers.
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