Everything went foul on Saturday. The Tampa Bay Lightning blew up the Philadelphia Flyers (33-24-8), 7-0. In the process, John Tortorella was ejected, then fined $50,000 and suspended for two games after he refused to leave the bench without explanation from the officiating crew. By this point, the Flyers were down by four goals in the opening ten minutes of the first period, Garnet Hathaway received a ten-minute misconduct for nudging Anthony Cirelli, and according to Brad Shaw in the postgame media availability, Tortorella didn’t feel his team got a fair shake. Tortorella stood up for his team against Wes McCauley, and Dan Hilferty already announced he would be paying any fine heading his way.
“I think he was just trying to make a point that we felt like we might not been getting our fair shake. It’s an emotional game at times and we all get elevated blood pressure. It’s just part of the game.”
Brad Shaw; 3/9/2024
Coaching duties tonight will be split between Shaw and Rocky Thompson. The San Jose Sharks (16-40-7) visit Philadelphia and own a victory versus the Flyers already this season. A vital two points are on the line tonight with the New York Islanders contesting for the third place in the NHL Metropolitan Division.
Can Philadelphia tread water in the wildcard race?
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are 1-2-2 in their last five games. Recently, they toppled the Ottawa Senators.
Jacob MacDonald recorded one shot on goal in the low-scoring win. His shot on goal from outside the faceoff circle generated a rebound chance. He was on the proper side of an individual clean sheet; on the ice when San Jose scored, but off the ice when the Senators broke the shutout. MacDonald did not compete against the Flyers earlier this season due to an undisclosed injury.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the San Jose Sharks:
Barabanov-Granlund-Zetterlund
Zadina-Eklund-Kunin
Bordeleau-Sturm-Hoffman
Kostin-Carpenter-Bailey
Ferraro-Burroughs
Thrun-Vlasic
MacDonald-Addison
Chrona
(Cooley)
Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia is 2-2-1 in their last five games. Egor Zamula (illness) missed Saturday, which Tortorella deployed a 13F/5D lineup with Adam Ginning reporting back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Ginning was recalled yesterday to ensure the Flyers will have a full defensive deck.
“It is what it is with our injuries. We’re just going to keep on playing; we’re not going to change or put an extra emphasis on two guys [York and Sanheim]. They know. As I said, the locker room is so in tune to these type of things all year long as far as what’s going on with our team; they know what they have to do, but if they feel they have to be wild as far as getting up the ice, it doesn’t work. They got to play their game; probably end up having more minutes, but just play their game, and the other guys have got to kick in. There’s nothing special we’re going to do. We just got to try to be the best we can be as an individual player and as a team. When we’re banged up as much in the back end as we are, the team defense comes into play. Everybody needs to kick in there to solidify us a little bit with some inexperience back there.”
John Tortorella; 3/12/2024
Noah Cates is usually relentless on the forecheck. His line, featuring Ryan Poehling and Hathaway is one of the more stable bunches. No effort translated on the scoreboard for the Flyers on Saturday, but Cates earned credit for a blocked shot, a takeaway, and generating a rebound with a quality shot on goal; he just was on the receiving end of a few hits. Cates did not record a point earlier this season against the Sharks, but forced two takeaways and blocked a few shots.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Foerster-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Tippett
Gurianov-Frost-Brink
Cates-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Sanheim
Staal-Johnson
Zamula-Attard
Ersson
(Sandstrom)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
San Jose Sharks moneyline (+270)
Philadelphia Flyers moneyline (-340)
Noah Cates anytime goal (+550)
Jacob MacDonald anytime goal (+1200)
Game Information
Watch the Philadelphia Flyers host the San Jose Sharks at the Wells Fargo Center on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Listen to the radio broadcast on 93.3 WMMR. The puck drops at 7pm.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
