Wrapping up a whirlwind west coast trip, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (33-23-12) visit Ryan Warsofsky's San Jose Sharks (32-29-6) on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers bring a six-game road winning streak into this match.
Philadelphia will play its third game in less than four nights. On Wednesday, Tocchet's team captured a 3-2 overtime victory against the Anaheim Ducks. The next night, the Flyers defeated the Los Angeles Kings via shootout, 4-3 (2-0). In fact, all six games of the road winning streak have been decided beyond regulation.
Game time at SAP Center is 4:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The Flyers are a banged-up team right now but have found ways of late to collect desperately needed standings points. Philly is 7-2-1 over its last 10 games and 4-0-1 in its last five. The Sharks, two points behind the Kings for a Western Conference wildcard spot with one game in hand, have lost three games in a row in regulation and are 4-4-2 in their 10 matches.
Travis Konecny (25th goal of the season), Noah Cates (14th) and Travis Sanheim (7th) scored second period goals for the Flyers in Los Angeles. They temporarily turned 1-0 and 2-1 deficits into a 3-2 lead. Later, Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov converted their shootout attempts to secure the bonus point. Backup goaltender Samuel Ersson earned the win in net.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in San Jose on Saturday.
1. All hands on deck (again)
The Flyers have played a lot of hockey lately and overcome both injuries and fatigue factor disadvantages. Saturday's game is nothing new, although Thursday's circumstances in Los Angeles were unusual. With three forwards out with injury -- Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey and Luke Glendening -- Emil Andrae split shifts between defense and fourth line center. Veteran winger Garrett Wilson made his Flyers debut.
The Flyers hope to have at least one of their injured forwards back in the lineup. In any event, it's another challenge for the team to dig deep. The Flyers' resiliency is one of the team's best traits. They handle adversity well.
2. Cates setting a tone
Center Noah Cates (14g, 23a, 37 points, +17) exemplifies how the team has found ways to stay around the playoff race. The two-way center has done yeoman work in the trenches, especially in key situations.
Cates, in fact, leads the Flyers in scoring since the Olympic break. He's produced 11 points (4g,7a) over the 12-game game while keeping strong attention to detail. Cates has been a tone setter and clutch performer just when his team needs it the most.
3. Vladar back in net
Barring injury or illness, it's a safe bet to project Dan Vladar to start Saturday's game despite the team-wide rest day on Friday and the lack of a morning skate in San Jose due to the early start time.
The Czech Olympian has consistently given the Flyers a chance to win. He's made difficult saves at vital times. Moreover, Vladar has shown outstanding mental toughness when he's faced adversity. It's rubbed off on the entire team.
Entering Saturday's tilt, Vladar brings a 22-11-7 record for the season. He's posted a 2.44 goals against average and .907 save percentage. Beyond the stats, he's been a consummate team player. Vladar has emerged as the favorite to win the Bobby Clarke Trophy as team MVP this season.
4. Special teams
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Flyers' push since the Olympics: they team has had to work around issues on both ends of special teams.
The penalty kill had been in an excellent post-Olympic groove until a disastrous night against the New York Rangers on March 9. Since then, the Flyers have allowed at least one opposing power play goal in nearly every game.
Meanwhile, the power play remains dormant. Sometimes the process -- gaining entries, moving the puck around once set up, creating looks at the net -- seems improved. Other times, the man advantage reverts to looking disorganized. Power play faceoffs are a chronic problem. Whatever the particulars, the payoff hasn't been there. The team has had to find different ways to scratch out enough offense to win.
The Flyers' power play has dropped to last in the NHL (32nd) at a 14.7 percent success rate. The PK, which flirted with getting back to an 80 percent success rate for the season (79.9 percent heading into the March 9 game with the Rangers), had dropped to 78.0 percent overall. Consequently, the team ranking fell from 14th in the NHL to 22nd in the span of 12 days. Rankings rarely fall or rise that dramatically by the final quarter of the regular season.
San Jose's power play ranks tied for 18th in the NHL at 19.7 percent. The PK enters Saturday's game ranked 17th (79.0 percent).
