5 THINGS: Flyers @ Sharks

Opening a three-game road trip in the Golden State, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (11-17-7) will play David Quinn's San Jose Sharks (11-19-6) on Thursday night. Game time at the SAP Center is 10:30 p.m. ET. After this game, the Flyers will visit the LA Kings on Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

GAME NOTES
The game in San Jose will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second final meeting of the season series between the teams, and the lone game in San Jose. Back on Oct. 23 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Sharks claimed a 3-0 victory behind a 30-save shutout by James Reimer.
The first period of the game was low-event and not well-played by either team. Philadelphia had a 9-7 shots on goal edge in the scoreless stanza. In the second period, goals by Erik Karlsson and Steven Lorentz gave San Jose a 2-0 lead. From late in the second period until the end of the game, Tortorella benched Flyers leading scorers Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny. Additionally, on his fifth shift of the game, James van Riemsdyk suffered a broken right index finger (JVR would miss the next five weeks).
In the third period, Tortorella rotated just nine forwards. Reimer was bombarded by 16 shots -- including a breakaway and a point-blank power play chance by Morgan Frost -- but slammed the door. Players such as Frost (18:06 TOI), Wade Allison (17:42), Zack MacEwen (16:41 TOI), Nicolas Deslauriers (15:22 TOI), Tanner Laczynski (11:52) and especially Scott Laughton (20:30 TOI) and Joel Farabee (20:37 TOI) saw extended ice time. Nico Sturm tacked on an empty net goal to make the game a 3-0 final.
Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:
1. Ersson Gets the Start.
Carter Hart will begin the road trip on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury sustained in a helmet-to-mask collision with Carolina's Seth Jarvis in the Flyers' 6-5 loss in Raleigh on Dec. 23. Hart is on the road trip with the Flyers. Barring any setbacks, Hart is slated to be activated from IR by the weekend in order to start on Saturday in Los Angeles and Monday in Anaheim.
Samuel Ersson will get the start in San Jose, backed up by Felix Sandstrom. A highly regarded prospect, Ersson made his NHL debut as the starter in the Carolina game. He was strafed for five goals on 22 shots -- only one of which was arguably stoppable -- before giving way to Hart. After Hart was injured and unable to continue, Ersson returned to the net and stopped each of the final eight shots he faced. Ersson finished the game with 25 saves on 30 shots.
Ersson had an outstanding training camp and (due to an injury to Felix Sandstrom during camp) opened the season on the NHL roster. He subsequently had another brief NHL recall but did not see game action. For the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, Ersson has posted a 9-8-1 record, 2.72 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Sandström missed the final two games before the leaguewide holiday break due to illness. He will back up Ersson in this game. Sandström has seen little work as of late. Dating back to Nov. 26, he's only played in two games. For the season, he has made eight starts and one relief appearance (1-6-1, 3.37 GAA, .888 save percentage).
For the Sharks, Kaapo Kahkonen has appeared in 13 games (3-7-2, 3.83 GAA, .872 SV%, one shutout). Reimer has played in 20 games (7-10,3, 3.14 GAA, .898 SV%). and recorded the aforementioned shutout on the road against the Flyers. Kahkonen is slated to start the home game against the Flyers.
2. Turning the Page: Part 1
With the Flyers having last played back on Dec 23, the entire team is in turn-the-page mode, In terms of individual momentum from an offensive standpoint, the following players were trending well in recebt games entering the break:
3. Turning the Page: Part 2
At least from an offensive standpoint, these Flyers have the opportunity to regroup after the holiday break:
4. Flyers Line Play
Before departing for the western road trip, the Flyers held practices on Tuesday and Wednesday at the FTC in Voorhees. The forward lines were the same as before the holiday break, with the exception of Olle Lycksell being recalled from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday and Max Willman being placed on waivers for purposes of AHL assignment. On defense, Tortorella and assistant coach Brad Shaw took a look at Cam York playing right defense alongside Ivan Provorov; a combination that saw time together for several weeks in the second half of last season. Tortorella indicated after Wednesday's practice in Voorhees that York would at least start out the road trip paired with Provorov.
As the road trip begins, the Flyers rank 29th offensively in the NHL, scoring at a modest 2.57 goals-per-game clip. The team ranks 20th defensively at a 3.37 GAA. The power play ranks next-to-last (31st) in the NHL at a 15.2 percent success rate. The penalty kill ranks 24th at 74.5 percent. However, the Flyers were on a run of shorthanded goals in the games leading up the holiday break. For the season, the Flyers' six shorthanded goals -- three by Laughton, two by Konecny and one by defenseman Sanheim -- are tied for the second-most in the NHL. Only Vegas, with seven SHGs, has scored more.
Potential Flyers line combinations (subject to change):
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
33 Samuel Ersson
[32 Felix Sandström]
Available to play: 61 Justin Braun, 62 Olle Lycksell.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are 4-10-5 on home ice so far this season. The club is 3-5-2 over its last 10 games, exiting the holiday break with a 6-2 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Bo Horvat victimized the Sharks for two goals and two assists. For San Jose, Timo Meier scored power play and even strength goals to account for the two Sharks' goals. Karlsson assisted on both goals. Reimer saw 25 shots and stopped 19.
Defenseman Matt Benning sustained an injury during the second period, returned very briefly (one shift) in the third period and then left the game. Benning practiced with the team on Wednesday. He is considered questionable for tonight's game but will dress if possible.
Entering tonight's game, the Sharks rank 23rd offensively at 3.03 goals per game on average and 27th defensively with a team 3.64 goals against average. Special teams have been a team strength for San Jose. The power play ranks 14th at a 22.8 percent success rate, while the Sharks' penalty kill ranks No. 1 in the NHL at 84.9 percent (opponents are 16-for-106 on the power play) with one shorthanded goal scored. Where the Sharks have gotten themselves in trouble 5-on-5 play. The team has scored 76 goals at 5-on-5 (9th most in the NHL) but has yielded 95 (tied for the most 5-on-5 goals against in the league).
From an offensive standpoint, veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson has had a resurgent season, leading the team with 48 points (13g. 35a) and an average 25:11 of ice time in 36 games. Maier leads the team in goals with 20 tallies among his 36 points in 36 games. Tomas Hertl has posted 32 points (11g, 21a) in 34 games. Veteran team captain Logan Couture has contributed 14 goals and 29 points. Russian winger Alexander Barbanov has posted 21 points -- 4g, 17a including one power play goal and eight power play assists --in 31 games played. Barbanov took a maintenance day on Wednesday but is expected to play against the Flyers.
Former Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom has dressed in 34 of the Sharks' 36 games this season. Largely confined to fourth-line duty, Lindblom has averaged just 10:04 of ice time per game and 15.8 shifts per game. The 26-year-old Swede has started a career-low 45.7 percent of his non on-the-fly shifts in the offensive zone and a career-high 54.3 percent in the defensive zone. As such, there aren't many scoring opportunities nowadays for Lindblom, and this reflects within his scant output of two goals and six points so far this season.
Potential starting lineup (subject to change):
28 Timo Meier - 39 Logan Couture - 94 Alexander Barabanov
83 Matt Nieto - 48 Tomas Hertl - 62 Kevin Labanc
13 Nick Bonino - 7 Nico Sturm - 10 Evgeny Svechnikov
73 Noah Gregor - 16 Steven Lorentz - 23 Oskar Lindblom
24 Jaycob Megna - 65 Erik Karlsson
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 5 Matt Benning
38 Mario Ferraro - 4 Scott Harrington
36 Kaapo Kahkonen
[47 James Reimer]