Sharks' Joe Thornton knocks down Hurricanes' Petr Mrazek with one punch

San Jose Sharks star Joe Thornton is one of the top playmakers in NHL history and he picked up the 1,075th assist of his career Thursday night.

He also gets into the occasional fight, including one in which he lost part of his beard.

But his game against the Carolina Hurricanes might have been a first because he took down a goaltender with one punch.

That was Petr Mrazek, who was upset that Thornton had poked at a puck that he had covered in the crease.

Mrazek swung his stick at the center and missed, then went out of his crease to challenge Thornton.

Thornton swung his fist, and he didn't miss, catching Mrazek square in the mask.

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Mrazek went down like a shot and stayed down while a scrum broke out behind the Hurricanes net.

But he did get up and stayed in the game. Thornton got four penalty minutes to Mrazek's two, though Carolina couldn't take advantage of the power play.

Mrazek eventually got the upper hand as he stopped all three shootout attempts in a 3-2 victory.

"To be honest, it's even better," he told reporters about the punch. "You feel like you're in the game and you want to make saves for the guys and get the win."