The Philadelphia Flyers (11-17-7) and their suffocating penalty killing defense are on the road to face the San Jose Sharks (11-19-6), one of the league’s weakest power play offenses, at SAP Center at San Jose on Thursday.
Philadelphia is coming off a high-scoring 6-5 loss against the Hurricanes on Friday. The Flyers committed four penalties in the game, conceding two power play goals. Five players found the net for the Flyers. Samuel Ersson only had 25 saves on 30 shots against (.833%) after starting in the loss.
San Jose fell 6-2 to the Canucks on Tuesday. Timo Meier was the leading goal scorer for the Sharks, netting twice. James Reimer saved only 19 of 25 shots against (.760%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Sharks won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 3-0 victory in October, their third straight win against Philadelphia. Erik Karlsson, Steven Lorentz, and Nico Sturm were on the scoresheet for San Jose. Reimer saved 30 shots to earn the shutout win.
FACING OFF
Philadelphia is averaging 2.57 goals per game for the season, 29th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Sharks team that is allowing 3.64 goals a game (27th).
Meanwhile, San Jose has found the net 3.03 times a game on average, 23rd in the league, and the Flyers are allowing opponents to score 3.37 goals per game (20th).
The Flyers’ 31st-ranked power play offense (15.24%) will be put to the test against the Sharks, who are the league’s second-best penalty killing team (84.91%).
San Jose, meanwhile, has scored on 22.77% of their power play opportunities (14th), which the home team will be looking to build on against Philadelphia’s 24th-ranked 74.53% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes have been the top skaters for the Flyers this season with 32 and 30 points. In the net, Carter Hart (10-11-6) is Philadelphia’s top goaltender. He has a 2.89 GAA and a .911% save percentage.
Karlsson leads the Sharks in scoring with 48 points (7th in the league). He has 13 goals and 35 assists (4th) in 36 games. Reimer (7-9-3) has the best goals against average for San Jose at 2.99. He has a save percentage of .904%.
HOME AND AWAY
Philadelphia is 4-8-6 on the road this season. San Jose is 4-10-5 at SAP Center at San Jose this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
SJ Sharks (-165)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
