Joe Thornton leaves game with possible leg injury (Video)

One of the worst things that could happen to the San Jose Sharks happened on Sunday night: Joe Thornton suffered a leg injury.

In the final minutes of the first period against the Vancouver Canucks, Thornton skates into the back of Michael Chaput while chasing down the puck.

Thornton’s knee appears to make contact with the side of Chaput’s leg.

It was really subtle.

Check out another angle by Brodie Brazil:

Chaput fell down to the ice, but was fine.

Jumbo Joe, not so much. He was able to skate off the ice under his own power, but he put no weight on his left leg.

When trying to get to the locker room, he appears to collapse before being helped back up.

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Thornton was not on the bench to start the second period. The Sharks tweeted out Thornton was being evaluated and his return was questionable.

Dan Murphy of Sportsnet followed up later stating that Thornton would not return. The team has yet to make it official, though.

San Jose has already punched their ticket to the post season. Needless to say, losing Thornton for any length of time beyond the close of the regular season would be devastating blow to their hopes to returning to the Stanley Cup final.

Thornton is currently fourth on the team in scoring with 50 points (7-43=50). He also has an awesome beard that makes him look like a Civil War general.

We’ll update the post as soon as we learn anything new.

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.