PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. SHARKS
In the final game of a five-game homestand, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (26-22-7) play host to Peter DeBoer's defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks (33-18-4) on Saturday afternoon. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting this season between the inter-conference teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The Sharks shut out the Flyers, 2-0, on Dec. 30 in San Jose. Overall, the Flyers have lost six meetings in a row with the Sharks and nine consecutive home games against them.
Philly's last home win over the Sharks was Dec. 21, 2000, when a pair of power play goals by Rick Tocchet spurred a 4-3 regulation win at what then called the First Union Center.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers entered the homestand with a strong record on home ice and in need of some wins to strengthen their grip on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It hasn't happened.
The team, which has gone 1-3-1 since the All-Star break, has dropped three of four (1-2-1) on the homestand to date, and tumbled out of playoff position. The club brings a 16-9-4 home record into Saturday's tilt with the Sharks.
Offensive output has been very scarce for the Flyers, who have played significantly better defensive hockey of late. The Flyers have scored a total of five goals in the five games since the All-Star break and just 13 over the last nine games.
The Flyers played an often dominant first period against the surging New York Islanders on Thursday, and an early power play goal by Wayne Simmonds provided a lead. However, the Isles tied the game on a John Tavares power play marker later in the first period and then took over the game in the middle stanza. A Jason Chimera goal on a bad Philadelphia line change and a poor read by defenseman Radko Gudas deflated the Flyers for much of the middle stanza. In the third period, Steve Mason (27 saves on 30 shots) allowed a weak goal by Casey Cizikas. The Flyers drew no closer.
In a search for offense, the team recalled AHL All-Star forward Jordan Weal from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Weal led the Phantoms in scoring with 47 points (15 goals, 32 assists) in 43 games. He was selected as the AHL's Player of the Month in January as he produced 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 11 games.
Weal will step into the lineup spot vacated by the lower-body injury talented rookie forward Travis Konecny sustained in Monday's 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Konecny, who is expected to miss four to six weeks, was placed on the injured reserve list. Weal wore uniform number 19 during his stint with the Flyers last season after coming over in a trade with the LA Kings. Per Tim Panaccio, Weal will now wear number 40 for the Flyers; his Phantoms number.
At Friday's practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, Hakstol made changes to three of the team's four forward line combinations. Only the fourth-line trio of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare centering Chris VandeVelde and Roman Lyubimov remained untouched. Forward Matt Read was injured during practice but finished the session and is expected to be fine to play on Saturday.
A healthy scratch for three games, second-year defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the Flyers' lineup on Thursday. He recorded a power play assist on the Simmonds' goal and showed some improvement in his play without the puck. Although he didn't play a flawless game (and also wound up with a minus-two at even strength to drop to minus-21 on the season), it was a reasonably encouraging start on the road to regaining his game. "Ghost" was one of the best Flyers players on the ice in the first period in particular.
Michal Neuvirth missed practice on Wednesday due to illness but backed up Mason against the Islanders. He will get the start in goal on Saturday.
Sharks Outlook
San Jose is in first place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and also holding a game in hand. The Sharks have posted points in eight of their last 10 games (6-2-2) and bring a 15-11-2 road record into Saturday's tilt.
However, the team is coming off a dismal performance in its last game. The Sharks ran into a hungrier beast as they encountered a host Boston Bruins squad that had just fired its head coach and needed a win to vault past the Flyers into a playoff spot.
The Bruins laid a three-goal blitz on the Sharks in a 3-1 first period and went on to down San Jose, 6-3. Ex-Bruin Joe Thornton (fourth goal of the season), Justin Braun (third) and Timo Meier (third) scored for the Sharks. Staring goaltender Martin Jones (nine saves on 12 shots) was pulled after the first period. Aaron Dell (18 saves on 20 shots) took over for the second and third periods. The final Boston goal was an empty netter.
Hipster roving defenseman Brent Burns leads the Sharks in scoring. An NHL All-Star and candidate for the Norris Trophy, Burns has racked up 22 goals (six on the power play), 35 assists, 57 points and a plus-16 rating.
Projected lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
40 Jordan Weal - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
12 Michael Raffl - 25 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 P-E Bellemare - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
32 Mark Streit - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
30 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Michael Del Zotto (lower body), Travis Konecny (IR, leg), Nick Schultz (healthy), Dale Weise (healthy).
SHARKS
48 Tomas Hertl - 19 Joe Thornton - 8 Joe Pavelski
12 Patrick Marleau - 39 Logan Couture - 89 Mikkel Boedker
28 Timo Meier - 50 Chris Tierney - 42 Joel Ward
40 Micheal Haley - 38 Ryan Carpenter - 68 Melker Karlsson
7 Paul Martin - 88 Brent Burns
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 61 Justin Braun
4 Brenden Dillon - 5 David Schlemko
30 Aaron Dell
[31 Martin Jones]
Scratches: Joonas Donskoi (upper body), Marcus Sörensen (healthy), Tim Heed (healthy), Dylan DeMelo (IR, broken wrist).
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QUICK HITS: FEBRUARY 11, 2017
1) AHL: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms skated to a 4-2 win over the St. John's Ice Caps on Friday night at the PPL Center in Reading. After a sluggish first period that saw the team manage just four shots on goal -- including Travis Sanheim's eighth goal of the season, scoring on a center point shot through a screen -- the Phantoms outshot the Ice Caps by a 33-15 margin in the final 40 minutes.
Tied at 1-1 at the first intermission, the clubs traded off another goal apiece in the middle stanza, with a Chris Conner (14th tally of the season) power play marker late in the frame answering a Charles Hudon goal scored in the opening half minute.
The Phantoms dominated the third period, enjoying a 15-5 shot edge. Conner was denied on a penalty shot opportunity in the middle stages of the period. Finally, with 3:57 left, the Phantoms got a goal from defensive defenseman Mark Alt to go ahead for the first time in the game. Alt's first goal of the season was supplemented by a Cole Bardreau (7th) goal into an empty net to seal the win. Alt and Robert Hägg earned the assists.
Winning goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 19 of 21 shots for Lehigh Valley. The teams will rematch on Saturday (7:05 p.m. ET).
Friday's victory came at a price for the Phantoms. Forward Scott Laughton, who had been on a red hot offensive run, collided with a teammate -- possibly knee-to-knee -- in the second period and had to leave the game.
2) The following participants are confirmed for the Flyers Alumni vs. Penguins Alumni rematch at Santander Arena in Reading on March 18. More names will be published as the event draws closer.
Flyers Alumni: Danny Briere, John LeClair, Brian Boucher, Brian Propp, Terry Carkner, Doug Crossman, Larry Goodenough, Todd Fedoruk, Brad Marsh, Paul Holmgren, Joe Watson and Bob Kelly.
Penguins Alumni: Dennis Owchar, Christian Hanson, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, Ryan Malone, Phil Bourque, Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Troy Loney, Greg Malone, and Mitch Lamoureux.
During the 50th Anniversary Alumni Game at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 14, the Penguins double-shifted recent NHL players Kennedy and Malone during the latter portion of the third period and rallied from two goals down to tie the game at 3-3.
With those two returning for the March 18 game and the addition of Cooke, it looks like the Pens Alumni have a similar plan in mind. While Alumni games are primarily meant for fun, nostalgia and to raise money for charity, both sides also want to win. Even so, double-shifting the young legs to gain a competitive edge goes against the spirit of the game's intention.
3) Flyers Hall of Fame left winger Brian Propp will be the featured speaker at the Athletes Care fundraising event on March 21, 2017 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Benjamin's Desk Rittenhouse Square (1701 Walnut Street, 8th Floor, Philadelphia PA). For more information,
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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