*Photo from the Mercury News*
Seeking a strong start out of the holiday break, the San Jose Sharks went to the veteran guys. Logan Couture scored, Tomas Hertl scored in overtime, and the Sharks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night in San Jose.
Coming out of an extended holiday break, the Sharks have now won back to back games at home before embarking on a 4 game road trip to the east coast. Their record sits at 17-14-1 as they hit the road, good for a 5th place spot in the Pacific Division standings. Hertl's OT winning goal extended his point streak to 8 games.
Hertl talked about his OT winning goal and the effects, saying "It was a big goal for us because we needed the two points before the road trip. I think we played way better. We were way better in details and the defensive zone, and we even got more chances than last game. It was a good game."
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead in the first period, when Morgan Frost scored his second goal of the season 15:23 into the period, assisted by Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom. In the second period, Couture provided the game tying goal, making it 1-1 when he scored his 11th goal of the season 5:20 into the period, this one being a shorthanded goal. Exactly two minutes later, Brent Burns scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead after two periods.
The only goal of the 3rd period came courtesy of Joel Farabee, who tied the game 2-2 for the Flyers 15:57 into the period, his 9th goal of the season, assisted by Lindblom and Keith Yandle. With just 31 seconds left in overtime, Hertl got the pass from Erik Karlsson, scoring his 16th goal of the season to send the Sharks home with a 3-2 win.
The winning goalie for the Sharks was veteran James Reimer, who put together a strong performance in this one. Reimer turned aside 23 of the 25 shots on goal the Flyers sent towards him, good for a .920 save percentage in the win. Reimer's record improves to 11-5-1 in 17 starts this season as a result of the win.
Asked about how he thought the game went, Reimer said that "I thought we played a solid game, one of our best this season. When we're committed, we block shots, get huge plays from guys. It's fun to play behind these guys."
On the other end of the ice, Felix Sandstrom made his NHL debut for the Flyers, with Carter Hart in the NHL's Covid-19 protocols. Despite losing in overtime, Sandstrom had a fantastic night, saving 43 of the 46 shots the Sharks put on goal, posting a strong .935 save percentage, ultimately falling to 0-0-1 this season.
Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said that "Tonight I'm going to focus on the positives. I definitely saw some tired mistakes out there. When you're tired sometimes the execution isn't quite there, sometimes your pace isn't quite there. I thought the will and the compete was there all night."
The Flyers continue their west coast road trip with a Saturday matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, with Martin Jones likely to start in net. The Sharks head east to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, with Reimer likely to be back in between the pipes.
Comments
Post a Comment