Thornton passes Lemieux on all-time assists list

Joe Thornton continued his ascent up the all-time leaderboards Friday night, moving past Mario Lemieux for the 11th-most helpers in NHL history.

The San Jose Sharks forward set up Timo Meier's power-play goal with nine seconds left in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks.

It was Thornton's 1,034th career assist, and he accomplished the feat in his 1,507th career game. Lemieux required only 915 contests to collect his 1,033.

Next up for "Jumbo Joe" is Marcel Dionne, who notched 1,040 in 1,348 games.