The Philadelphia Flyers took on the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night in their fourth game of a six-game homestand. Dan Vladar got the start in net. Ty Murchison made his NHL debut on defense as Egor Zamula became a healthy scratch. Carl Grundstrom started over Nicolas Deslauriers as well. They’d give up the first goal but would come back and never trail again. Vladar kept them in the game all night with huge saves, and the offense powered its way to victory. The orange and black improved to 16-9-3 on the season.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at the 11:33 mark of the first period courtesy of Collin Graf. John Klingberg fed him with a pass to the left circle, and Graf put a snap shot into a wide-open net as Vladar was out of position. Klingberg and Will Smith tallied assists.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 16:10 mark of the first as Timothy Liljegren was called for holding. They didn’t capitalize on their first opportunity, but Owen Tippett missed a shot just wide, and Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made a few saves on Noah Cates and Trevor Zegras.
Christian Dvorak tied the game up at one for the Flyers at the 18:39 mark of the first period. Travis Konecny’s pop fly pass to center went off the back of Zegras. Dvorak was able to corral the puck and went forehand-backhand on Nedeljkovic. Zegras and Konecny picked up assists.
Adam Gaudette got called for hooking just as the horn went off to end the first period. This gave the Flyers their second power play. They had quite a few chances from in tight, but shots were either blocked or Nedeljkovic made the save.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead at the 3:20 mark of the second period thanks to Carl Grundstrom. He deflected Nick Seeler’s shot from the blue line past the glove of Nedeljkovich. Seeler and Travis Sanheim were given assists.
The Sharks got their first power play at the 8:56 mark of the second as Konecny got called for hooking. Vladar made a big glove save on Macklin Celebrini, and the Flyers did a nice job of blocking shots and clearing the puck.
Noah Cates gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead at the 19:48 mark of the second period. Bobby Brink made a nice saucer pass to the left circle, and Cates put a wrist shot under the blocker of Nedeljkovich. Assists were given to Brink and Jamie Drysdale.
Matvei Michkov was called for high-sticking at the 11:57 mark of the third period, which gave the Sharks their second power play. The Flyers did a nice job of tying up sticks and clearing the puck down the ice. Tyler Toffoli did miss a tip-in chance, however.
The Sharks pulled Nedeljkovich with 3:07 left in the third in favor of the extra attacker, with them being down by two. It backfired, however, as Konecny scored an empty-netter at the 18:17 mark. He tried to pass the puck to Zegras, but it was blocked by Dmitry Orlov. He then took the rebound and put a wrist shot into the empty net. This gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead. Dvorak received the only assist.
Flyers went zero for two on the power play but killed off both of the Sharks’ man advantages.
Vladar saved 17 of 18 shots, giving him a .944 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Graf (6) Assists: Klingberg (6), Smith (17)
Dvorak (7) Assists: Zegras (17), Konecny (17)
2nd Period:
Grundstrom (1) Assists: Seeler (4), Sanheim (10)
Cates (7) Assists: Brink (6), Drysdale (10)
3rd Period:
Konecny (8) (Empty Net) Assists: Dvorak (12)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Thursday, Dec. 11, in Philadelphia against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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