Back on track: Philadelphia Flyers vs. San Jose Sharks Preview

The San Jose Sharks (18-16-1) are in Philadelphia tonight to take on the Flyers (13-15-6) in their final matchup of the season. The Flyers are still riddled with injuries and COVID issues, but look to get on a winning track after losing to San Jose just a week ago (7 PM/NBCSP).

The lines as of yesterday’s skate is as follows:

They’re kinda cycling through different d-pairs, but the forward lines are something like:

Farabee-Laughton-Mayhew
Willman-Hayes-JvR
Lindblom-Frost-No One
Bunnaman-Brown-MacEwen

Cue jokes about No One

— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) January 7, 2022

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Connor Bunnaman and Egor Zamula have been sent back to the taxi squad as Jackson Cates and Nick Seeler are finished with COVID protocol.

Transactions: Jackson Cates and Nick Seeler have been removed from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. Cates has been added to the active roster from the club’s Taxi Squad.

Connor Bunnaman and Egor Zamula have been added to the Taxi Squad from the active roster.

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 8, 2022

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San Jose will have Adin Hill in net, while Martin Jones gets the start for Philadelphia against his former club. Hill has a record of 7-9 with a .901 SV% on the season. Jones only has a slightly better record and overall statistics.

It’s no secret that this skeleton lineup the Flyers are deploying is atrocious. Missing Ivan Provorov and Claude Giroux feels like a nail in the coffin of seeing a decent performance. Even when fully healthy, they still look like a lost pickup team at times so I barely have any expectations at this point. The team statistics comparison tells the story of how awful Philadelphia has been.

Tomas Hertl seems to have a knack for producing against the Flyers and he has 3 goals in his last 5. Timo Meier is absolutely their hottest hand with 7 points in his last 5 appearances. On the other hand, Philadelphia has had a lifeless stretch of games lately with minimal standout performers.

The Sharks have dealt with plenty of COVID issues as well and look to be without key names in Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson tonight.

Sharks announce that Nick Bonino and assistant coach John MacLean have entered COVID-19 protocl. That means San Jose will be without three centers (Couture, Bonino, Pederson) and two of their top-four defensemen (Karlsson, Middleton) tonight against the Flyers.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) January 8, 2022

I know the lineup is riddled with injuries but we have to play with heart and show any sign of life. There’s been too many times this season I’ve seen this team wilt away and collapse under adversity. Show some pride.

Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Flyers