The Philadelphia Flyers make their Christmas break return tonight with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks. Tonight’s game is the first of the annual three-game post-Christmas road trip on the west coast. In the Sharks’ past 15 home games against the Flyers, they are 12-2-1.
The most recent game between both teams was on October 23rd. The Sharks blanked the Flyers, 3-0. Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny were also both benched for the entire third period during the loss.
In their previous game on December 23rd, the Flyers erased a three-goal deficit against the Carolina Hurricanes but lost 6-5. Carter Hart was injured during the second period after Rasmus Ristolainen pushed Seth Jarvis who then collided with the 24-year-old goaltender. Yesterday, Hart was placed on the IR but will join the team for the road trip.
San Jose Sharks (11-19-6)
The Sharks are ranked 29th in the NHL and are just one point behind the Flyers with 28. On Tuesday, the Sharks were dominated by the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-2 loss.
A lowly season from the team as a whole, defenseman Erik Karlsson has been the Sharks’ main bright spot. Karlsson, 32, has 48 points (13G, 35A) in 36 games played this year and is the league’s seventh-highest scorer. The Swede tallied a goal on October 23rd against the Flyers and is currently on pace for an astonishing 110 points.
Timo Meier scored both of his team’s goals on Tuesday. The Swiss forward has 36 points (20G, 16A) in 36 games this year. Throughout December, Meier has 11 points in seven games.
Tentative lineup for San Jose:
Meier-Couture-Barabanov
Nieto-Hertl-Labanc
Bonino-Sturm-Svechnikov
Gregor-Lorentz-Lindblom
Megna-Karlsson
Vlasic-Benning
Ferraro-Harrington
Kahkonen
(Reimer)
Philadelphia Flyers (11-17-7)
Samuel Ersson will get the start for the Flyers. He made his NHL regular season debut against the Hurricanes but was pulled after allowing five goals. He reappeared after Hart exited due to injury and saved all eight of the shots he faced.
Tony DeAngelo scored two points (1G, 1A) and had five shots on goal in Raleigh. Since returning to the lineup on December 17th, DeAngelo has four points in four games. He’s lit the lamp twice in his last two games.
Travis Konecny also potted two points in the loss to the Hurricanes. Registering a goal and an assist, Konecny is scoring at a point-per-game pace and leads the Flyers with 32 points (15G, 17A). He’s scored two points each in his last three games and hopes to redeem himself against the Sharks following his October 23rd benching.
Tentative lineup for Philadelphia:
van Riemsdyk-Frost-Tippett
Farabee-Cates-Konecny
Hayes-Laughton-Allison
Deslauriers-Brown-MacEwen
Provorov-York
Sanheim-DeAngelo
Braun-Ristolainen
Ersson
(Sandstrom)
Place Your Bets
San Jose Sharks moneyline (-135)
Erik Karlsson over 1.5 points (+160)
Tony DeAngelo over 0.5 power play points (+215)
Game Information
You can watch the Flyers take on the Sharks on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The radio broadcast will be found on 97.5 The Fanatic. The puck drops at the SAP Center at 10:30pm EST.
Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP
