Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Philadelphia Flyers 34-24-8 hosted the San Jose Sharks 16-41-7 at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. The Sharks have won only 16 games so far this season but one of those wins was against the Flyers. That was all the way back in November. It was the Sharks first win of the year after dropping 11 straight.
That loss perked the Flyers up and seemed to set them on the right path. A win in Philly tonight would be a nice way to bounce back from a tragic match this past Saturday night where the Flyers lost 7-0 to Tampa Bay. The schedule gets brutal after this visit from the Sharks but that is no reason to underestimate any team. Actually it is a great reason not to. The Sharks bit them once before this season and low expectations may have had something to do with it.
Philly vs San Jose
The Flyers started up with a power play in the first minute of the game. They moved the puck well and Tyson Foerster had a nice chance but San Jose goaltender Magnus Chrona kept them at bay. Samuel Ersson looked a whole lot more like himself tonight making a huge save on Nico Sturm early on.
Joel Farabee opened up the scoring 3:29 into the game. Morgan Frost found Farabee with a perfect stretch feed up the middle springing him in on a breakaway. Farabee beat Chrona low blocker side for his 19th goal of the season.
Ersson
Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson suffered the loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday and was right back in the net tonight. It was a great bounce back game for him. Ersson’s smooth glove hand was back. He was tracking pucks well through heavy traffic in front of the net. He looked confident and his positioning was on point.
Filip Zadina was a threat for the Sharks all night long. Ersson stopped him point blank shortly before he scored his first goal of the night. San Jose was on the power play, Zadina was left all alone out front. Luke Kunin found him and fed him. Zadina went forehand backhand and in, tying the game at one 19:19 into the 1st period.
The Flyers power play looked good tonight. They got a man advantage early in the 2nd period and turned it into multiple chances. Granted the San Jose Sharks are not the best team in the league, in fact they are the worst.
But they are not a good team in a very unique way. They don’t look horrible, at times they look quite good. They just don’t look good often enough. If you watched tonight’s game you know what I am talking about. They could be a threat at times. Sometimes they were frustrating defensively. But their flashes of goodness were just that, flashes. They did not completely fall apart they just lacked consistency.
Konecny
Travis Konecny took a roughing penalty 6:24 into the 2nd period. Konecny laid out Givani Smith with a check about ten seconds after the whistle blew. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, the ref did not. Three minutes later T.K. was out of the box and back in the action on a Flyers power play. He took a shot through traffic from the left hand circle. Morgan Frost picked up the rebound and nailed it home to put the Flyers ahead 2-1.
San Jose tied the score at two on their sixth power play of the night. All game long the Sharks were loading up the shot attempt with a one timer from the right circle. They would move the puck around in the Flyers zone until they had the clear pass to that circle with a teammate waiting to take the slap shot. Ersson was ready for it every time.
13:34 into the 2nd period with the man advantage it looked like the Sharks were going for it again. They moved the puck around until they had Luke Kunin in the right circle waiting for the puck. Klim Kostin got the puck to Kunin, and instead of slapping it at Ersson who was totally in position for it, he passed it to Filip Zadina who was alone in front and needed only to tap it in. The teams were going into the second intermission tied at two.
The Sharks started the 3rd period swarming a bit in the Flyers end. Over and over again the Flyers could not seem to clear the puck. The Flyers outshot the Sharks in this game 41 to 29 but it is not like San Jose didn’t have their fair share of chances. At one point with the score tied at two Ersson made a spectacular pad save on Alexander Barbanov who was coming in on a clean breakaway. A goal at that point could have changed everything.
Tippett for the win
Just over five minutes into the 3rd period the Flyers had possession of the puck on a delayed penalty. Ersson made his way to the bench as Travis Konecny carried the puck in the San Jose zone. He crept in from the left circle. He patiently held onto the puck but kept it just out of reach of the Shark defender. Hold, hold, hold, cross ice pass to a sweeping Owen Tippett who clicked the puck into place behind Magnus Chrona.
That was all it took. The Sharks pulled their goaltender to give it one last push but the Flyers prevailed and won the game 3-2. This win put the Flyers four points ahead of the New York Islanders for sole possession of 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division. Things are starting to heat up.
Next up: Flyers host the Leafs, Thursday Night 7:30 PM
