Flyers vs Sharks Preview and Pick
The NHL has just a few dates left prior to its Olympic break and tonight east meets west when the Philadelphia Flyers visit the San Jose Sharks.
The Flyers come into the matchup with an overall record of 27-23-6 for 60 points. The Flyers are currently in fourth place in the Metropolitan division 18 points behind first place Pittsburgh.
The Flyers are 4-4-2 over their past 10 games played. Philadelphia is in 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings but tied in points with Detroit and Columbus.
San Jose is in second place in the Pacific division with a record of 35-15-6 with 76 points and is 9 points behind first place Anaheim. San Jose is 7-3-0 over its past 10 games played. The Sharks are in fourth place in the Western Conference three points behind second place St. Louis.
This will be the first meeting of two between the Flyers and Sharks this season. They will play again in late February in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is wrapping up a road trip of three games in California. The Flyers opened the trip with a loss to Los Angeles by the score of 5-3, but bounced back to beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Saturday.
San Jose is playing its second game of a four-game home stand. They opened their home stand with a 2-1 win in a shootout against Chicago on Saturday.
The Flyers Vincent Lacavlier is having problems adjusting to his new position. The veteran has been asked to play wing after playing center his entire career after only scoring 12 goals in the first 43 games of the season.
San Jose played well against the defending Stanley Cup champions in their shootout win on Saturday but had little time to celebrate facing the Flyers on Monday.
The Sharks know the Flyers have been up and down this season, but are playing better leading up to the break for this week’s start of the Olympics in Sochi.
Steven Mason, the Flyers goalie, has had shutouts in two of his last three games. He stopped all 35 shots on goal on Saturday against Los Angeles.
Claude Giroux the captain for the Flyers scored a goal and one assist on Saturday, which gives him three goals and three assists over his past four games played.
Joe Pavelski, the San Jose forward recorded his 29th goal this season on Saturday. Pavelski has eight goals and three assists over his last nine games played.
Both teams have a number of injuries and the upcoming break for the Olympic Games will give the players time to recover. For Philadelphia, Kimmo Timone is questionable with a foot injury.
San Jose’s Tyler Kennedy and Raffi Torres are currently day-to-day. Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Adam Burish and Jason Demers are all out with injuries for the Sharks.
San Jose will recall Matt Tennyson, a defenseman from its Worchester affiliate, in the American Hockey League on Monday.
The game should be very closely fought with both clubs playing well coming into the matchup.
I like the Sharks on their home ice to win 3-1.
