Flyers host Sharks as they try to break four-game losing streak
The Flyers will welcome the San Jose Sharks to the Wells Fargo Center for their second and final meeting of the season. They’ll look to avenge a New Year’s Eve loss while also trying to get back into the win column.
It won’t be easy as the Flyers have numerous regulars out of the lineup. Claude Giroux, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim all remain in COVID protocol. Sean Couturier and Derick Brassard are sidelined with injury. And the call-up options remain limited as the Phantoms are reportedly going through their own breakout as well.
The Flyers will also be looking to put out a much better effort than the 6-2 blowout they faced against the Penguins on Thursday. Despite a strong second period, everything fell apart in the third as Pittsburgh pulled away with three goals in the final frame to take the convincing victory.
The Sharks come in off a 3-2 victory against the Sabres in which they had to hold off a late third period comeback. Buffalo climbed to within one goal in the final two minutes for San Jose closed the door. That broke a short two-game losing streak.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 13-15-6 (32 points, 6th in Metro)
There was some slight good news for Philadelphia as Jackson Cates and Nick Seeler cleared protocol and will return to the lineup. Seeler will take the place of Egor Zamula, Mike Yeo using Seeler’s penalty killing ability as a big reason for bringing him back on the lineup right away.
Adversity, compete, energy, accountability. Those are just a few of the words that have been used around the Flyers these last few days and even weeks. There are no excuses, though, as every other team in the league has had to go through some of the same things. But it’s been a big problem for this Philadelphia team.
Their biggest issues stems from giving up the first goal in a game and not being able to recover afterwards. Whether it’s about not believing they can come back and simply accepting defeat, it cannot continue if the Flyers want to get back into a playoff spot. Fighting through that adversity and having more accountability in themselves is the most important thing.
Martin Jones will have the opportunity to go up against the team that bought him out this past summer. There will not doubt be some extra motivation for him to put on a good showing. He was on the losing end in his last outing, giving up five goals to the Kings. It was a game full of defensive miscues and turnovers that did the team in that night.
Projected Lineup
Farabee – Laughton – Atkinson
Willman – Hayes – van Riemsdyk
Lindblom – Frost – Mayhew
Cates – Brown – MacEwen
York – Braun
Seeler – Ristolainen
Yandle – Connauton
Jones
San Jose Sharks
Record: 18-16-1 (37 points, 6th in Pacific)
San Jose will try to salvage the final game of their road trip and head back home with a .500 record on the road. They’be faced some tough defeats, 8-5 against Pittsburgh and 6-2 against Detroit.
There will be a few names missing from the Sharks lineup that played against the Flyers before. They’ll be without Logan Couture, who is in protocol, along with Erik Karlsson and James Reimer, who are each nursing injuries. They all played a role in the overtime victory. Couture had a goal, Karlsson had an assist, and Reimer stopped 23 of 25 shots.
Instead, Mario Ferraro and Jasper Weatherby have returned to the lineup. Jaycob Megna has also checked in after being a healthy scratch back on NYE. While there are a lot more unfamiliar names in the lineup, the Sharks do still have a few of their best players going tonight.
Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks in goals (17) and has scored three in his last five. He has six points overall during that stretch. Timo Meier has also been one of the team’s best players, leading the team with 36 points, seven more points than his next closest teammate. He also has seven points in his last five games.
Adin Hill will be between the pipes for his second straight start. He came on in relief against Detroit on the 4th, giving up two goals on seven shots. He made 37 saves on 39 shots in the victory over the Sabres on Thursday. Overall, Hill has put up decent numbers in his 18 games. He has a 7-9-0 record to go along with a 2.91 GAA and a .901 SV%.
Projected Lineup
Meier – Hertl – Barabanov
Gregor — Weatherby – Dahlen
Merkley – Cogliano – Nieto
Gadjovich – Reedy – Viel
Ferraro – Burns
Megna – Merkley
Vlasic – Simek
Hill
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Wells Fargo Center
TV Broadcast: NBCSP
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 The Fanatic
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