SAN JOSE -- After a long wait -- 24 days to be exact -- Sharks fans will see Joe Thornton take the ice for a game.
No. 19 left the Sharks one game into their early season five-game road trip after experiencing swelling and an infection in his surgically repaired knee. He told the media at Tuesday’s morning skate he received the good news he could return in that night's game against the New York Rangers.
“I’m still going to be on some antibiotics,” Thornton said. “But it looks like (the infection is) on its way out.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Thornton had to have a PICC line inserted in the injured knee to help get rid of the infection. He told the media Tuesday the PICC line had just been taken out Monday.
The 39-year-old forward registered one assist in two games on the season before being sidelined.
To make room on the roster for Thornton, the Sharks reassigned Dylan Gambrell to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.