Sharks vs. Flyers Preview: It's a trap
San Jose has a chance to win four-straight...if they avoid playing down to their competition.
When the Sharks hosted Columbus a few weeks ago, I wrote that it wasn't really a trap game because the Blue Jackets weren't really as bad as their record would indicate. Let me start by saying the opposite about the Philadelphia Flyers. They are bad, they should feel bad and also — they are bad.
The Flyers ran 27th in corsi-for percentage (even strength, score adjusted) and 27th in goals-for per 60 (1.6 at even strength) and while their goals-against per 60 is respectable, it's largely because they're getting great goaltending. So, this is a game the Sharks should win pretty handily. So, naturally, this is a game worth being a little concerned over.
Tale Of The Tape
 | @ |  |
| 10-8-0, 20 points | Record | 6-8-4, 16 points |
| t-2nd in Pacific | Rank | 6th in Metropolitan |
| 51.8% | Score-Adj. Fenwick | 46.2% |
| 99.3 | PDO | 98.1 |
| 15.1 | PP% | 14.8 |
| 76.8 | PK% | 75.4 |
4PM PDT | Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN-CA, CSN-PH | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Broad Street Hockey
Projected Sharks Lineup
Melker Karlsson – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Nikolay Goldobin – Patrick Marleau – Joel Ward
Joonas Donskoi – Tomas Hertl – Tommy Wingels
Matt Nieto – Chris Tierney – Mike Brown
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Matt Tennyson
Projected Flyers Lineup
Brayden Schenn – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Matt Read – Sean Couturier – Wayne Simmonds
Taylor Leier – Scott Laughton – Sam Gagner
Michael Raffl – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Chris VandeVelde
Michael Del Zotto – Radko Gudas
Nick Schultz – Luke Schenn
Brandon Manning – Shayne Gostisbehere
Michal Neuvirth
Last Meeting
It took a shootout, but the Sharks downed the Flyers.
Storylines
- Patrick Marleau is just a point away from tallying his 1,000th.
- The Sharks have a three-game winning streak going in general and against the Flyers. Let's move 'em both to four.
- Martin Jones is getting another start. He'll (hopefully) start against Pittsburgh on Saturday, too, with Stalock getting the nod on Sunday.
- The Flyers' special teams are even weaker (by percentages) than the Sharks — could be a good opportunity to pump up San Jose's numbers. /