Flyers at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks have eschewed their devil-may-care, high-octane offense in favor of coach Peter DeBoer's defense-first mentality in a bid to return to the Stanley Cup final for the second time in as many seasons. The Pacific Division-leading Sharks look to post their eighth win in nine outings overall and 19th in their last 20 contests with the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday when the teams met at SAP Center.
"We don't need to score four to win," DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News on Thursday. "A lot of nights, two is enough with the way we defend and the pride we take in that, and the goaltending we get." Netminder Martin Jones has yielded just five goals during his three-game winning streak and has turned aside 51 of 53 shots to win both career outings versus Philadelphia. Goaltending is once again the issue in the City of Brotherly Love as workhorse Steve Mason has cooled off following an hot streak, yielding five goals on 24 shots in a 6-3 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday to see his save percentage plummet to .897 in his last eight games. The inconsistent netminding is starting to take its toll on the Flyers, who have answered a 10-game winning streak with losses in four of their last five (1-3-1) - including the first two contests of their four-game road trip.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (20-13-4): Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds each had a goal and an assist on Wednesday to continue their respective torrid stretches, as the former has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past eight while the latter has nine (six goals, three assists) in his last 11. Captain Claude Giroux has struggled on the road of late with one assist in his last five contests, but could heat up against a San Jose club that he has torched in his career (six goals, four assists in 11 encounters). Fellow forward Jakub Voracek has also struggled away from home, recording just one of his 11 goals on the road.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (22-12-1): DeBoer slotted rugged Joel Ward into the spot held by Patrick Marleau on the team's top power-play unit in a bid to end the club's 4-for-35 slump with the man advantage. "We're looking at different options, we're kind of at that point," DeBoer said following Thursday's practice. "We need to explore everything." San Jose scored three power-play goals in a 4-2 win against Philadelphia on Dec. 30, 2015, and faces a team that has has permitted two man-advantage goals in each of its last two games.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose's Brent Burns, who capped his second straight multi-point performance with an OT goal in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Anaheim, leads all defensemen in goals (14) and points (34) this season.
2. Philadelphia is 1-for-19 on the power play in its last seven games.
3. Sharks captain Joe Pavelski is riding a four-game point streak overall and has nine goals and three assists in 12 career contests against the Flyers.