NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Everyone in the West has tried to solve the problem that is defending Joe Thornton the last five months and no one has figured it out yet. Now, for the next two weeks, it becomes the challenge exclusively facing Nashville.

In other words, the nights of cruising to an easy two points over the likes of Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus are long over, but a banged-up Predators team wonders what they did to deserve this.

Thornton and the Sharks embark on a postseason that hardly seemed possible back on Nov. 30 when San Jose acquired Jumbo Joe from Boston for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau. The Sharks were four games under .500, eight points out of a playoff spot and mired in a 10-game losing streak.

Even with their new centerpiece player and clicking along impressively, San Jose still trailed the final playoff spot by eight points as late as March 6. But when the games in-hand were played out, Thornton's Sharks whizzed past Phoenix, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Edmonton, Colorado and Anaheim like they were standing still.

And just like the Predators may soon find out, if not the rest of the playoff teams in the West, Thornton could not be stopped.

Nashville coach Barry Trotz thinks he has he the answer for Thornton.

"Brendan Witt played against Joe Thornton a lot in Washington, and we've got a physical guy in (Shea) Weber," Trotz said. "I think our defense is definitely better suited then it was at the start of the year. Having Joe Thornton go against the defense we started the year with might have been a little mismatch."

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Here's what Trotz isn't saying, though. Witt, who at 31 is five years older than Thornton, is nursing a sore groin that kept him out of the third period of Sunday's game. Sure, he's big at 6-foot-2, 219 pounds — though still giving a little to the 6-4, 223-pound Thornton — but he isn't very fast or mobile so all those potential big hits are a waste if he can't catch when he's trying to punish.

And Weber? The 20-year-old rookie has played all of 28 games in the NHL, one against Thornton and the Sharks, and none in the postseason.

Thornton figures to see plenty of Witt, Kimmo Timonen and Dan Hamhuis as well, but the challenge remains the same — trying to stop or even slow down a runaway train that only seems to pick up momentum and steam with each and every big game.

"We've seen teams try to match their checking lines and certain defensemen against us, but we're used to playing against the best lines anyway," Thornton said.

Sharks coach Ron Wilson has watched teams try in vein to match up against Thornton's line, and have very little success, too.