Flyers at Sharks preview

The defenseman, who was traded to Philadelphia on June 19, spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career with the Sharks and had 154 points (24 goals, 130 assists) in 607 games.

The Flyers have won four straight games, outscoring opponents 19-7 and open a season-long six-game road trip. Carter Hart will start in goal for Philadelphia, which last won five straight games from Nov. 25-Dec. 3.

The Sharks are 0-3-1 in their past four games after losing 3-2 in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. San Jose is 1-8-2 in its past 11 games after going 11-2-0 from Nov. 5-30.

Players to watch

Flyers forward Jakub Voracek has two goals and three assists in a four-game point streak.

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has one goal and three assists in his past four games.

They said it 

"The three-day break for us mentally and physically was good. … we're playing against, in my estimation, a real good team that has a lot of attack from the back end. They have experienced, skilled players up front. … they play hard. It's going to be a good challenge tonight." -- Flyers coach Alain Vigneault

"We're battling right now. It's been a bounce here and there that's going the other team's way. We've got to keep working through it. It has to happen sooner rather than later, but we're all aware of it." -- Sharks forward Patrick Marleau

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk -- Kevin Hayes -- Joel Farabee

Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Morgan Frost -- Jakub Voracek

Andy Andreoff -- Mikhail Vorobyev -- Tyler Pitlick

Ivan Provorov -- Matt Niskanen

Travis Sanheim -- Justin Braun

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Philippe Myers

Carter Hart

Brian Elliott

Scratched: Robert Hagg, Chris Stewart

Injured: Scott Laughton (groin), Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder), Michael Raffl (finger), Oskar Lindblom (illness), Samuel Morin (knee)

Sharks projected lineup     

Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Barclay Goodrow

Timo Meier -- Tomas Hertl -- Kevin Labanc

Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Patrick Marleau

Melker Karlsson -- Joel Kellman -- Stefan Noesen

Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson

Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns

Radim Simek -- Mario Ferraro

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

Scratched: Antti Suomela, Tim Heed

Injured: Dalton Prout (upper body)

Status report

Laughton, who has missed five games with a groin injury, skated Saturday but will miss a couple more days, Vigneault said. ... The Flyers placed forward Andy Andreoff on waivers but he is expected to play. If he doesn't Stewart likely will draw in. Andreoff has one assist in 10 games this season… The Sharks did not hold a morning skate. 

Stat pack

Van Riemsdyk has four goals and two assists in a three-game multipoint streak. … Hayes has a three-game point streak (three goals, two assists). … Thornton needs one assist to tie Adam Oates (1,079) for seventh place on the NHL all-time list. … Hertl has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past seven games. ... San Jose has a minus-26 goal differential in the third period (53-27), tied for worst in the League with the Detroit Red Wings (55-29).