The San Jose Sharks allowed two targets within the second interval — together with a backbreaker simply earlier than intermission — in a sluggish 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday at Xfinity Cellular Enviornment.
The Sharks allowed even-strength targets within the second interval to forwards Carl Grundstrom and Noah Cates, with Cates’ aim on the 19:48 mark giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead, as he fired a shot that received previous goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on the quick facet.
The Sharks by no means recovered, shedding for the fourth time in six video games and dropping to 1-2-0 on their five-game highway journey, which continues with stops in Toronto on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Flyers ahead Travis Konecny scored an empty-netter with 1:44 left within the third interval to spherical out the scoring.
Winger Collin Graf prolonged his aim streak to 3 as he scored on the 11:33 mark of the primary interval for a 1-0 Sharks lead. However that was the Sharks’ first shot of the sport on Flyers goalie Dan Vladar, who confronted simply 11 pictures within the first two intervals.
Nedeljkovic made 26 saves because the Sharks have been outshot 29-18 and, per Pure Stat Trick, allowed 12 high-danger possibilities whereas creating simply 5.
San Jose has now been outshot in 27 of 31 video games this season.
Coming into Tuesday, the Sharks, through factors proportion (.517), held the second and last wild card spot within the Western Convention. The Flyers (15-9-3) have gained 4 of their final six video games and are in sixth place within the Metropolitan Division with 33 factors, one level out of a playoff spot.
Nedeljkovic received the beginning on Tuesday as Yaroslav Askarov got here down with an sickness and needed to be scratched from the lineup.
With Askarov unavailable, the Sharks signed former Colgate College goalie Justin Kowalkoski to an beginner tryout contract to again up Nedeljkovic. Kowalkoski, 39, performed at Colgate from 2004 to 2008 earlier than a quick skilled profession.
Nedeljkovic completed with 28 saves, together with 15 within the third interval, to guide the Sharks to a formidable 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Sunday.
Tuesday’s sport marked the primary time this season that Nedeljkovic has began consecutive video games for the Sharks. Earlier than Sunday, Nedeljkovic was 0-3-0 with a .870 save proportion in his final 5 video games.
Nedeljkovic needed to make 16 saves within the first interval, with the one blemish being Christian Dvorak’s aim on the 18:39 mark. Travis Konecny lifted a puck into the impartial zone, the place it bounced off Trevor Zegras and previous Sam Dickinson, the place Dvorak picked it up, went in alone, and beat Nedeljkovic for his seventh aim of the season.
LINEUP NOTES
Warsofsky mentioned Timothy Liljegren, who has been on the Sharks’ high protection pair alongside Dmitry Orlov for a number of video games this season, was questionable to play Tuesday as he handled a lower-body harm.
However Liljegren, who averaged 20:07 of ice time in 24 video games this season earlier than Tuesday, took his common spot within the lineup alongside Dmitry Orlov.
Ryan Reaves, after sitting out the final two video games, drew again into the Sharks’ lineup and begin on the fourth line alongside Zack Ostapchuk and Barclay Goodrow.
With Reaves returning, winger Jeff Skinner can be a wholesome scratch for simply the second time this season. Skinner missed 10 video games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 3 with a lower-body harm earlier than returning to play the Stars and Hurricanes. Warsofsky instructed reporters in Philadelphia that he favored Skinner’s sport in Raleigh, however that he wished to go together with a much bigger lineup in opposition to a heavier Flyers workforce.
The one different time Skinner was a wholesome scratch this season was on Oct. 26 when the Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 6-5 in time beyond regulation. Skinner is three video games shy of 1,100 for his profession.
