PREVIEW 7:30 AM EST
Now the NHL trade deadline is over and the team made no moves in the final few days, the Philadelphia Flyers (34-20-7) can turn their attention to finishing up their four-game westerly road trip with three wins. In order to accomplish the feat, Philly will need to overcome a San Jose Sharks (32-22-7) that struggled on its own recent road trip but which has beaten the Flyers in eight straight meetings.
The game starts at 10:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast locally on The Comcast Network (not CSN Philly) and nationally on NBC Sports Network.
This is the lone meeting of the season between the clubs. Last season in Philadelphia, the Flyers blew a 4-1 lead in the third period and went on to lose, 5-4 via shootout.
In that game, Claude Giroux, Ville Leino, Nikolay Zherdev and Scott Hartnell tallied goals for Philadelphia, while Ryane Clowe, Jason Demers, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski (PPG) scored in regulation for the Sharks. Couture and Clowe both converted their shootout attempts against losing goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (29 saves in regulation/OT, 0-for-2 in shootout). Former Flyers goalie Antero Niittymäki (31 saves in regulation/OT, 2-for-2 in shootout) earned the victory for the Sharks.
The Flyers have pulled off a pair of third-period comebacks on the current road trip and won in overtime in Winnipeg and via shootout in Calgary. Three areas that are in dire need of improvement against San Jose and during the remainder of the stretch drive:
1) The Flyers need to get off to better starts, despite their comeback ability. The club has given up the first goal of the game in seven straight matches and in 10 of the last 11 games. The team has the NHL's 7th best winning percentage (.419, 13-16-2) when trailing first in a game, has pulled off three successful third-period comebacks in which they've ultimate won the game (3-16-1) and managed three times to recover from three-goal deficits and win. Nevertheless, no team can afford to chase games too often.
2) Philly has to get its penalty kill fixed in a hurry and stop giving up shorthanded goals. Special teams breakdowns have cost -- or nearly cost -- the team dearly in quite a few games since the All-Star Break. The club has slipped to 22nd in the NHL with its 80.6 success rate on the PK, and both of its goalies rank near the bottom in penalty killing save percentage. Meanwhile, although the Flyers still rank 5th on the power play (19.8 percent), they've allowed 8 shorthanded goals. Only New Jersey (13) and Tampa (9) have yielded more.
3) The Flyers' goaltenders need to play well for three periods, not 20 or 40 minutes of solid hockey preceded or followed by horrific meltdowns.
San Jose hasn't exactly been firing with all guns blazing of late, either. The team slogged through a terrible road trip (2-6-1) and has lost six of its last seven games before returning home. On Sunday, the team gave up two goals in the final six minutes and lost, 4-3 to Minnesota. Coach Todd McLellan was forced to leave the game early after being inadvertently struck by a high stick. He is OK.
The Sharks made a move at yesterday's trade deadline, sending Jamie McGinn (whose younger brother, Tye, is a rookie with the Phantoms) and two prospects to Colorado in exchange for forwards Daniel Winnik and TJ Galiardi.
On the injury front, the Flyers should have a full lineup tonight minus their players on long-term injured reserve. For San Jose, Logan Couture is questionable with a lower-body injury, Douglas Murray (throat) remains doubtful, Martin Havlat (hamstring surgery) is on injured reserve and Dominic Moore (lower body injury) is doubtful.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Talbot - Briere - Simmonds
JVR - Schenn - Voracek
Read - Couturier - Rinaldo
Timonen - Coburn
Carle - Kubina
Grossman - Meszaros
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
SHARKS
Marleau - Thornton - Pavelski
Clowe - Couture - Wingels
Winnik - Handzus - Galiardi
Winchester - Desjardins - Mitchell
Demers - Burns
Vlasic - Boyle
Braun - White
Niemi
[Greiss]
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