The Philadelphia Flyers may be two games removed from a five-night Christmas break but the penalty kill is still in the holiday spirit of giving; giving up opposing power play goals by the bushel, that is.
The penalty kill has yielded four power play goals -- plus an even strength goal scored moments after the expiration of a Flyers penalty -- in 4-2 regulation losses against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday and the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. The Flyers are just 5-for-9 on the PK in the two-game span, dropping their season percentage to 77.6 percent (tied for 26th in the NHL).
In the meantime, the Flyers have gone 1-for-8 on the power play in the last two games while yielding a two-man breakaway goal in the Anaheim game. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play against the Sharks.
Entering Sunday's game, the Ducks had the worst record in the Western Conference and had scored the fewest goals in the NHL. The Flyers yielded four goals and lost in regulation. Entering Wednesday's game, the Sharks had the fewest home-ice wins in the NHL this season. The Flyers lost, as San Jose earned its first win on home ice in a month.
On Sunday, the Flyers mustered an anemic 39 shot attempts (26 on goal); their fewest in a game since the club mustered 39 attempts against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 3, 2015. On Wednesday, the Flyers produced 50 shot attempts but only put a meager 19 on goal, as they got outshot by the Sharks by a 33-19 margin. The Sharks blocked 10 attempts and the Flyers missed the net on 12 others. Philly managed just three shots on goal in the first period.
Steve Mason played a strong game for two periods on Sunday but couldn't come up with needed mometum saves in the third period. He played a strong game for two periods on Wednesday but once again failed to come up with special teams saves and once again yielded multiple third period goals. He finished with 29 saves on 33 shots against the Sharks.
For the season, Mason has a strong even strength save percentage (.934). The problem has been on special teams. He has been beaten for 20 opposing power play goals on 91 saves; a .780 save percentage. While it's true that penalty killing is about the entire unit, it's also true that a goalie often has to be his team's best penalty killer and that simply has not been the case with Mason this year -- or last year (32 power play goals on 207 shots, for an .845 save percentage during the 2014-15 season).
On Wednesday, the Sharks got power play and even strength goals from Joe Pavelski and power play goals by Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Martin Jones stopped 17 of 19 shots.
Thorton, a prolific playmaker who rarely shoots the puck, roofed a shot over Mason's blocker-side shoulder from the bottom of the right circle to break a scoreless deadlock at 9:53 of the second period. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture (making his return to the lineup after a seven-game absence after arterial surgery on his right thigh) earned the assists. The goal came about after extensive puck movement and failed clearing opportunities for Philadelphia. Mason made himself a little small in his net on this goal, but it was a nicely placed and quickly released shot by Thornton.
Burns' goal, which tied the game at 2-2 at 5:54 of the third period was unstoppable scorcher from the left circle on a Couture pass through a gaping seam in the penalty killing box. Thornton earned the secondary assist.
San Jose went ahead to stay with 6:15 left in the third period. Moments after the expiration of a Shayne Gostisbehere hooking penalty, Pavelski scored off a well-orchestrated line rush as he was able to measure a shot from the bottom of the left circle as a cross-ice pass from Justin Braun went directly into the sniper's wheelhouse. Tomas Hertl got the secondary assist.
With Gostisbehere back in the box again for slashing Marleau, the Sharks put the game away with just 39 seconds left in regulation. Pavelski beat Mason with a backhand shot from close range. Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the assists.
Philly actually had a very brief 2-1 lead in the third period. On the play, Wayne Simmonds stripped Burns of the puck. Couturier received the puck and went off on a breakaway. The center pulled off a forehand-to-backhand move and skating to the right beat Jones at 4:19 for his sixth goal of the season. The Flyers lead lasted less than two minutes, as R.J. Umberger went off for slashing San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillion and Burns scored on the ensuing power play.
Earlier in the game, Claude Giroux forged a 1-1 tie at 15:49 of the second period. Giroux ended a five-game pointless drought by shooting the puck immediately off a right circle faceoff against Thornton. The puck struck off Jones' chest protector, dribbled through his legs and went over the goal line into the net.
The Flyers will attempt to salvage a win from the California road trip on Sunday, when they take on the LA Kings at the Staples Center. Game time is 4:00 p.m. ET.
NOTES
* Michal Neuvirth was originally slated to get the start in goal for the Flyers but fell ill during the day. As a result, Mason started for the sixth consecutive game.
* With 7:08 remaining in the third period and the score tied at 2-2, Sharks defenseman Burns blasted Flyers' left winger Chris VandeVelde with a high hit near the boards in the Philadelphia zone. There appeared to be contact to the head, and VandeVelde had to be helped off the ice. There was no penalty called on the play by referees Dan O'Rourke and Trevor Hanson.
* Mark Streit made his return to the Flyers' lineup after a 19-game absence to recuperate from mid-November surgery to repair a diplaced pubic plate. Streit was paired with fellow veteran Nick Schultz.
* Sam Gagner cleared waivers on Wednesday. He has been assigned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Prior to clearing waivers, Gagner was excused from the Flyers' morning skate.
* The Flyers finished the 2015 calendar year with a 34-29-18 record in 81 games split between the latter portion of the 2014-15 season and the pre-New Year portion of the 2015-16 campaign.
* WJC: Flyers 2014 fifth-round pick Oskar Lindblom scored a deflection goal and added an assist in Sweden's 5-0 win over Denmark on Wednesday. Flyers 2015 third-round pick Felix Sandström got the start in goal, earning the shutout while facing just nine shots for the entire game.
* QMJHL: Flyers 2014 second-round pick Nicolas-Aube Kubel scored a second period goal in the Val-d'Or Foreurs' 5-2 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Wednesday. The goal extended Aube-Kubel's point streak to 15 consecutive games. He has 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in that span. Twelve of the games have seen multi-point output from Aube-Kubel. The Foreurs' conclude their pre-New Years schedule on Thursday afternoon.