GDT: #38 | Flyers at Sharks | Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 | 10:00 p.m. ET |CSN-CA, CSN-PH

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (20-13-4, 8-8-1 away ) vs. SAN JOSE SHARKS (22-12-1, 10-8-1 home )​

BROADCAST INFORMATION​

• Television: CSN-CA, CSN-PH
• Radio: https://www.nhl.com/info/team-audio
• Streams: Posting and soliciting links to illegal streams is prohibited. Do not post or inquire about such streams.[/B]

GAME PREVIEW, NOTES and STATISTICS​

• Preview: https://www.nhl.com/flyers/news/5-things-flyers-vs-sharks--philadelphia-flyers/c-285167054
• Game notes, extensive stats: https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/285168178/binary-file/file.pdf
• NHL Stats: http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm
• Flyers' Stats: http://flyers.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
• Sharks' Stats: http://sharks.nhl.com/club/stats.htm

Team Stats​

Team | GP | Record | Home | Away | Pct. | GF-GA | PP%| PK% | Shots | Shots Ag. | FO%
Flyers |37| 20-13-4| 12-5-3| 8-8-1| .595| 106-105| 22.0| 82.1| 30.4| 28.1| 50.4
Sharks| 35| 22-12-1| 12-4-0| 10-8-1|.643| 88-77| 16.4| 83.7| 30.7| 26.5| 47.7

TEAMS' WEBSITES​

• Flyers' Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philadelphiaflyers
• Flyers' Twitter: https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers
• Flyers' Website: http://flyers.nhl.com/index.html
• Sharks' Website: http://sharks.nhl.com/

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS​

FLYERS' ROSTER
Forwards

Player | No. | Pos. | Shot | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare |78 |LW |L |6' 0" |198 |Mar 6, 1985|Le Blanc-Mesnil, FRA
Nick Cousins |25 |C |L |5' 10" |188 |Jul 20, 1993| Belleville, ON, CAN
Sean Couturier |14| C |L |6' 3" |211 |Dec 7, 1992 |Phoenix, AZ, USA
Claude Giroux (C) |28 |C |R |5' 11" |185 |Jan 12, 1988 |Hearst, ON, CAN
Boyd Gordon |27| C| R |6' 0" |200 |Oct 19, 1983| Unity, SK, CAN
Travis Konecny |11 |C |R |5' 10" |175 |Mar 11, 1997| London, ON, CAN
Taylor Leier | 58 | LW| L| 5' 10" | 174| Feb 15, 1994 |Saskatoon, SK, CAN
Roman Lyubimov |13| LW |R |6' 2" |207 |Jan 6, 1992 |Tver, RUS
Michael Raffl |12| LW| L| 6' 0"| 200| Dec 1, 1988| Villach, AUT
Matt Read |24| RW |R| 5' 10" |185 |Jun 14, 1986| Ilderton, ON, CAN
Brayden Schenn| 10 |C |L| 6' 1" |195| Aug 22, 1991| Saskatoon, SK, CAN
Wayne Simmonds (A) |17| RW|R| 6' 2" |185| Aug 26, 1988| Scarborough, ON, CAN
Chris VandeVelde |76| C |L |6' 2"| 190 |Mar 15, 1987| Moorhead, MN, USA
Jakub Voracek| 93| RW |L |6' 2" |214| Aug 15, 1989|Kladno, CZE
Dale Weise| 22 |RW |R |6' 2" |206 |Aug 5, 1988| Winnipeg, MB, CAN

Defensemen

Player | No. | Shot | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Michael Del Zotto| 15 | L |6' 0" |195 |Jun 24, 1990 |Stouffville, ON, CAN
Shayne Gostisbehere | 53 | L |5' 11" |180 |Apr 20, 1993 |Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
Radko Gudas|3 |R |6' 0" |204 |Jun 5, 1990 |Prague, CZE
Andrew MacDonald |47 | L| 6' 1"| 204 |Sep 7, 1986| Judique, NS, CAN
Brandon Manning |23 | L| 6' 1" |205 |Jun 4, 1990 |Prince George, BC, CAN
Ivan Provorov |9 | L |6' 1"| 201 |Jan 13, 1997 |Yaroslavl, RUS
Nick Schultz |55 | L |6' 1"| 203 |Aug 25, 1982| Strasbourg, SK, CAN
Mark Streit (A) | 32 | L |5' 11" |191 |Dec 11, 1977 |Bern, CHE

Goalies

Player | No. | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Steve Mason| 35 | 6' 4" |210 |May 29, 1988 |Oakville, ON, CAN
Michal Neuvirth |30 | 6' 1" |209 |Mar 23, 1988 |Ústí nad Labem, CZE
Anthony Stolarz| 41 | 6' 6" |210 |Jan 20, 1994 |Edison, NJ, USA

FLYERS' POSSIBLE LINEUP
Lines

Left Wing | Center | Right Wing
12 - Michael Raffl | 28 - Claude Giroux | 93 - Jakub Voracek
58 - Taylor Leier |10 - Brayden Schenn | 17 - Wayne Simmonds
25 - Nick Cousins| 14 - Sean Couturier| 22 - Dale Weise
76 - Chris VandeVelde |78 - Pierre-Édouard Bellemare | 27 - Boyd Gordon

Pairings

Name | Name
9 - Ivan Provorov | 47 - Andrew MacDonald
15 - Michael Del Zotto | 23 - Brandon Manning
55 - Nick Schultz | 53 - Shayne Gostisbehere

Goalies

Name | Name
35 - Steve Mason (expected starter) | 65 - Anthony Stolarz

FLYERS' INJURIES and SCRATCHES

Player | Status | Description
Radko Gudas | will not play, day-to-day| upper body, reported as back pain
Travis Konecny | healthy| could be scratched
Roman Lyubimov | healthy| could be scratched
Michal Neuvirth| LTIR; with team, could return early January|sprained left knee
Michael Raffl| will play| knee sprain, Dec. 22
Matt Read |LTIR; practiced briefly Dec. 27; out until early January | oblique muscle pull
Mark Streit | IR; practiced Dec. 27; questionable to play this trip| sprained left shoulder

FLYERS' POWER PLAY UNITS

Unit | Name | Name | Name | Name | Name
No. 1| Brayden Schenn | Claude Giroux | Wayne Simmonds |Jakub Voracek | Shayne Gostisbehere
No. 2| Dale Weise/Travis Konecny | Nick Cousins |Sean Couturier | Ivan Provorov | Michael Del Zotto

SAN JOSE SHARKS​

SHARKS' POSSIBLE LINEUP
Lines

Left Wing | Center | Right Wing
12 - Patrick Marleau | 19 - Joe Thornton | 8 - Joe Pavelski
62 - Kevin Labanc | 39 - Logan Couture | 89 - Mikkel Boedker
28 - Timo Meier | 50 - Chris Tierney | 27 - Joonas Donskoi
68 - Melker Karlsson | 38 - Micheal Haley| 42 - Joel Ward

Pairings

Name | Name
7 - Paul Martin| 88 - Brent Burns
44 - Marc-Edouard Vlasic| 61 - Justin Braun
4- Brenden Dillon| 5- David Schlemko

Goalies

Name | Name
31 - Martin Jones| 30 - Aaron Dell (expected starter)

SHARKS' INJURIES and SCRATCHES

Player | Status | Description
Dylan DeMelo | healthy | could be scratched
Tomas Hertl |injured reserve | right knee surgical procedure, Nov. 22
Matt Nieto | healthy | could be scratched
Tommy Wingels | healthy | could be scratched

SHARKS' POWER PLAY UNITS

Unit | Name | Name | Name | Name | Name
No. 1| Logan Couture | Joe Thornton |Joel Ward |Joe Pavelski | Brent Burns
No. 2 |Mikkel Boedker |Patrick Marleau |Kevin Labanc |Marc-Edouard Vlasic |David Schlemko

SHARKS' ROSTER
Forwards

Player | No. | Pos. | Shot | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Mikkel Boedker |89 |LW |L |6' 0" |210| Dec 16, 1989 |Brondby, DNK
Logan Couture (A)| 39| C| L |6' 1" |200| Mar 28, 1989| Guelph, ON, CAN
Joonas Donskoi| 27| RW |R |6' 0"| 190 |Apr 13, 1992| Raahe, FIN
Micheal Haley| 38| C |L| 5' 11" |205| Mar 30, 1986 |Guelph, ON, CAN
Tomas Hertl |48 |C| L| 6' 2" |215 |Nov 12, 1993| Praha, CZE
Melker Karlsson| 68| C| R |6' 0" |180 |Jul 18, 1990| Lycksele, SWE
Kevin Labanc |62| RW |R |5' 11"| 185 |Dec 12, 1995| Brooklyn, NY, USA
Patrick Marleau| 12| LW| L| 6' 2"| 215 |Sep 15, 1979| Aneroid, SK, CAN
Timo Meier |28| RW |L| 6' 0" |210 |Oct 8, 1996 |Herisau, CHE
Matt Nieto |83| LW| L| 5' 11"| 190| Nov 5, 1992 |Long Beach, CA, USA
Joe Pavelski (C) |8 |C |R |5' 11" |190| Jul 11, 1984 |Plover, WI, USA
Joe Thornton (A) |19 |C |L |6' 4" |220 |Jul 2, 1979 |London, ON, CAN
Chris Tierney |50| C| L |6' 1"| 195 |Jul 1, 1994| Keswick, ON, CAN
Joel Ward| 42| RW |R |6' 1" |225 |Dec 2, 1980 |North York, ON, CAN
Tommy Wingels |57| C| R| 6' 0"| 200| Apr 12, 1988 |Evanston, IL, USA

Defensemen

Player | No. | Shot | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Justin Braun |61 |R |6' 2"| 205 |Feb 10, 1987| Minneapolis, MN, USA
Brent Burns| 88 | R |6' 5"| 230| Mar 9, 1985| Barrie, ON, CAN
Dylan DeMelo |74 | R| 6' 1" |195| May 1, 1993 |London, ON, CAN
Brenden Dillon| 4 | L |6' 4" |230 |Nov 13, 1990| New Westminster, BC, CAN
Paul Martin| 7 | L| 6' 1" |200| Mar 5, 1981 |Minneapolis, MN, USA
David Schlemko |5 | L| 6' 0" |190 |May 7, 1987 |Edmonton, AB, CAN
Marc-Edouard Vlasic| 44 | L| 6' 1" |205 |Mar 30, 1987| Montreal, QC, CAN

Goalies

Player | No. | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Place of Birth
Aaron Dell| 30 | 6' 0" |205 |May 4, 1989| Airdrie, AB, CAN
Martin Jones | 31 | 6' 4" |190 |Jan 10, 1990 |North Vancouver, BC, CAN

FLYERS vs. SHARKS SERIES HISTORY​

Regular Season Record

Opponent | W-L-T-OTL | Home | Away
San Jose Sharks |

14-14-4-5​

|

6-6-2-4​

|

8-8-2-1​

Playoffs Record

Opponent | Series | W-L | Home | Away
San Jose Sharks | 0-0|0-0|0-0|0-0

Regular Season Streaks (unless noted)

Opponent | W-L-T- OTL | Home | Away
San Jose Sharks|1-11-2-5 in the last 19 |0-4-1-4 in the last 9 |1-7-1-1- in the last 10

The Flyers most recent home win came December 21, 2000. The Flyers have lost the last five in this series (0-3-2).​

FLYERS' UPCOMING SCHEDULE​

http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyseason.htm?team=PHI

Date | Game | Time (ET) | Television (could change)
Sunday, January 1, 2017 | Philadelphia at Anaheim| 8:00 PM|NHL Network, PRIME, CSN-PH
Wednesday, January 4, 2017| NY Rangers at Philadelphia| 8:00 PM | NBCSN, TVAS
Saturday, January 7, 2017|Tampa Bay at Philadelphia|1:00 PM| NHL Network, SN1, CSN-PH, SUN
Sunday, January 8, 2017| Philadelphia at Columbus | 6:00 PM|FS-O, TCN-PH
Tuesday, January 10, 2017| Philadelphia at Buffalo | 7:00 PM |MSG-B, CSN-PH
Thursday, January 12, 2017|Vancouver at Philadelphia | 7:00 PM |CSN-PH, SNP

MEDIA COVERAGE​

Name | Link

Broad Street Hockey​

| http://www.broadstreethockey.com/

Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/BroadStHockey

Bucks County Courier Times​

| http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/flyers/

Wayne Fish's Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/waynefish1

Center Ice Philly​

| http://centericephilly.com/

Anthony Mingioni's Twitter​

| http://twitter.com/AnthonyMingioni

Comcast Sports Philadelphia​

| http://www.csnphilly.com/pages/flyers

Tim Panaccio's Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/tpanotchCSN

Courier-Post of South Jersey​

| http://www.courierpostonline.com/sports/flyers

Dave Isaac's Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/davegisaac

Fourth Period, The​

| http://www.thefourthperiod.com/Philadelphia/

David Strehle's Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/DStrehleTFP

HockeyBuzz.com ​

| http://www.hockeybuzz.com/team/Philadelphia-Flyers

Bill Meltzer's Twitter​

| http://twitter.com/billmeltzer

Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer​

| http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/

Blog​

| http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/flyers

Sam Carchidi's Twitter​

| http://twitter.com/broadstbull

Sons of Penn​

| http://sonsofpenn.com/

Twitter​

| https://twitter.com/SonsOfPenn

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area |​

http://www.csnbayarea.com/sharks

Kevin Kurz's Twitter |​

https://twitter.com/kkurzcsn

San Francisco Chronicle|​

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/sharks/

Ross McKeon's Twitter ​

| https://twitter.com/rossmckeon

San Jose Mercury News |​

http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks

Curtis Pashelka's Twitter |​

https://twitter.com/CurtisPashelka

GAME DAY THREAD MUSIC​

"Hook In Mouth" by Megadeth
​

Click to read more...

 

[Maurice of Orange]

This is going to be perhaps the toughest game this season for the Flyers, as San Jose is running on all cylinders, with the exception of losing Tomas Hertl to injury.

San Jose is the 1st place team in the Pacific division.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

We need to play better than last night. That was a weird and disjointed game, which isn't that surprising after the holidays.
Hopefully we come out angry and take the fight to them. And hopefully our weak spots don't trip us up like last night.
I'm looking at you, Farmer Andy.

 

[TheKingPin]

This is going to be perhaps the toughest game this season for the Flyers, as San Jose is running on all cylinders, with the exception of losing Tomas Hertl to injury.

San Jose is the 1st place team in the Pacific division.

Looks like they are the opposite of the blues. Pretty bad home team at just above .500. In a lot of ways you can expect the same effort in the last two games for different reasons. Let's hope it at least wears off before all of the division games coming up.

 

[Curufinwe]

The PK is down to 19th after conceding four goals in the past two games.

And due largely to that, Mason is down to 36th best SV% among goalies with 12 or more games played.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

We're pretty ****ed I think. Just their first line alone can **** is pretty hard.

 

[dats81]

This game could turn into an important marker down the road: they win against a top team and shake up the growing doubt, or they get blown out and are fully dragged into the slump.
I have a very bad feeling about this roadtrip already...

 

[BringBackHakstol]

I really hope someone in the organization is recognizing the need to shake up the bottom 6.

Our PK stats before the recent slide were fools gold. Anyone could see it was more luck than anything. We continue to get manhandled when short handed. I think that the PK right now is the #1 threat to cause the team to miss the playoffs.

 

[Curufinwe]

The bottom 6 will be shaken up as soon as Raffl and Read are fit, unless you think they are going to be healthy scratches.

There was also a pretty big change just last night with the Bellemare line getting ~6 minutes at ES.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

The bottom 6 will be shaken up as soon as Raffl and Read are fit, unless you think they are going to be healthy scratches.

There was also a pretty big change just last night with the Bellemare line getting ~6 minutes at ES.

There's no viable 3C on the team as currently constructed. Then outside of EV, Hak leans on PEB and VDV heavily for the PK as well and they simply aren't good enough. Unless you can see him shifting away from them on PK - which I'm not sure about.

 

[Curufinwe]

I don't mind Schenn at center as much as a lot of people. But I would give him easier match ups now Couturier is back, and play him with two solid possession wingers. I think Konecny is too aggressive to be a good fit with Schenn. We saw that last night where they all got caught deep and the Blues came down and scored the 4th goal.

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Konecny-Couturier-Simmonds
Read-Schenn-Weise
VdV-Bellemare-Lyubimov
Cousins

Leier demoted, Gordon waived

 

[BringBackHakstol]

I don't mind Schenn at center as much as a lot of people. But I would give him easier match ups now Couturier is back, and play him with two solid possession wingers. I think Konecny is too aggressive to be a good fit with Schenn. We saw that last night where they all got caught deep and the Blues came down and scored the 4th goal.

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Konecny-Couturier-Simmonds
Read-Schenn-Weise
VdV-Bellemare-Lyubimov
Cousins

Leier demoted, Gordon waived

I agree that this is probably the best that can be done for now.

What would you do with the PK? Coots - Read as the #1 option?

 

[Curufinwe]

Sure.

But if we're firing the coach, I'd also waive VdV and keep Leier up as 4LW.

 

[Hiesenberg]

They need to put Cousins back at 3C and just ride it out. He was fine last year, I don't believe he's magically started sucking. I think Hakstol lost patience.

Put the Couturier line back together, it's time to break up the Big 2, depth is a major problem again.

 

[Curufinwe]

He was never really the 3C. Bellemare always got more ES ice time.

 

[TheKingPin]

Wiese really needs to get going. He's been horrendous. I'd put him with G and Jake again and ride it out. He should have success there.

 

[Curufinwe]

He's really more of a RW than a LW. I think he will score playing RW with Schenn or Couturier.

He's not going to score much playing with Bellemare, or getting 4th line minutes with Cousins.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Schenn needs to stop being a center immediately. He's terrible there. Put him back on the wing.

 

[Curufinwe]

He was much more terrible on Giroux's wing this season than he has been at center. No goals, 1 assist in 172 5 on 5 minutes with G.

And Schenn going to wing means Bellemare goes back to 3C.

 

[Hiesenberg]

He was much more terrible on Giroux's wing this season than he has been at center. No goals, 1 assist in 172 5 on 5 minutes with G.

And Schenn going to wing means Bellemare goes back to 3C.

Giroux/Couturier/Cousins/PEB Center combo is better than putting Schenn there in any way.

 

[Curufinwe]

Only if you want no scoring from your 3rd line and a bad faceoff guy on the 4th line.

Again, Hakstol always plays Bellemare ahead of Cousins down the middle. You writing them in reverse order doesn't change that fact.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Only if you want no scoring from your 3rd line and a bad faceoff guy on the 4th line.

Oh, I forgot out dominant Brayden Schenn has been at 5v5.

 

[Curufinwe]

I never said he was dominant. But it's a fact that PEB generates less 5 on 5 offense than any regular player on the team.

 

[Hiesenberg]

PEB is going to play 3C regardless. I don't know why he has anything to do with it.

Cousins is better at C than W, Schenn is better at W than C. These two things are obvious and I don't know why Hakstol is forcing this. These two things are ****ing up 2 other lines.

 

[Rebels57]

The next time Hakstol sets up our all of our lines/d pairs perfectly based on player strengths, weaknesses, common knowledge/logic..will be the first time. Berube was actually better at this aspect of coaching..somehow.