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Paul Sakuma | Associated Press

Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi blocks a shot during the Blue Jackets' latest loss, their fifth in a row.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Only 20 seconds into last night’s game, Blue Jackets winger Jared Boll caught San Jose’s Joe Thornton with his head down in the corner after handling the puck. Boll — as is his tendency — launched his body into Thornton’s, but Boll’s right shoulder crept too high and popped Thornton aside the head.

The good news for the Sharks is that Thornton was OK. The bad news for the Blue Jackets is that Thornton, whose pulse is sometimes undetectable, was awakened, angered and engaged.

The Sharks, with Jumbo Joe at the controls and a cast of many in support, cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Blue Jackets to the delight of 17,562 in HP Pavilion.

Thornton had two goals and an assist, his second three-point game of the season. Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Michal Handzus and Jamie McGinn added goals for the Sharks.

The Blue Jackets fell to 2-17-2 in this building, one of their many haunts around the league.

After going 45 games deep into the season without being shut out, the Blue Jackets were blanked for the second time in five games.

It also marked a fifth straight loss (0-4-1) for the Blue Jackets, their third losing streak of five or more games this season.

The Blue Jackets did not go down without a fight, however.

Boll had two fights with San Jose’s Jim Vandemeer, one in the first period and another early in the second.

But after 55 minutes of chippiness, it was in the final five minutes — with the Sharks up 6-0 — when it nearly spiraled out of control.

With 4:06 remaining, San Jose’s Dan Boyle rammed Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard into the wall, then confronted him when he got back on his skates.

The two dropped gloves, the first NHL fight for Brassard since he suffered a separated shoulder in a fight with Dallas’ James Neal during the 2008-09 season.

Boyle clearly won this fight, too, but Brassard appeared OK afterward.

More fighting:

With 2:52 to play, two fights broke out simultaneously. Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin and San Jose’s Justin Braun squared up, while Jackets winger Derek Dorsett and Colin White matched up.

Call it an ugly end to an ugly night for the Blue Jackets.

Goaltender Steve Mason fell to 1-10-0 on the road this season, making 37 saves.

Early in the game, Mason struggled with his rebound control, but his teammates did him no favors, turning pucks over in their own zone, carrying the puck sloppily in front of their own net, and losing almost every “50-50” puck battle in the own zone.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 7:53 of the first when Marleau scored off a rebound down low. It was 2-0 at 9:43 of the first when Thornton followed his own rebound for an easy look from low in the right circle.

The cappers were the two goals in the third.

Jackets center Antoine Vermette made a bizarre decision to carry the puck across his own goal crease, leading to a turnover that led to Michal Handzus’s goal to make it 5-0 only 1:54 into the third.

At 11:54 of the third, the Sharks finished the mother of all breakouts with a Thornton one-timer, making it 6-0.

The Blue Jackets’ night — their season, maybe — was summed in one unfortunate mishap at 5:30 of the second period.

Jackets winger Derek Dorsett had San Jose’s John McCarthy lined up at center ice, but McCarthy shifted at the last second and Dorsett plowed straight into teammate Ryan Russell, flattening him as his stick went sailing.

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