San Jose spoils Flyers’ home opener in rout
PHILADELPHIA >> Joe Pavelski scored two of San Jose’s four first-period goals, and Evander Kane also scored twice to spark the Sharks to an 8-2 win over the Flyers Tuesday night.
Flyers fans were still buzzing from the pregame festivities for the home opener, which included rookie mascot Gritty rappelling from the rafters to the ice, when the Sharks pounced.
The Flyers turned over the puck at the point, Couture beat the odd-man rush and fired his first goal of the season past Brian Elliott. Pavelski made it 2-0 just 11 seconds later when he knocked in a rebound for his first goal of the season.
The Sharks, a Stanley Cup favorite, were just warming up. They had five goals in their first three games — including a 4-0 loss a night earlier to the New York Islanders — and then scored five goals through two periods.
With the Flyers set to play Wednesday at Ottawa, coach Dave Hakstol refused to pull Elliott despite the miserable performance in front of him. He faced 31 shots over the first two periods. Flyers captain Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier missed open looks in the first that might have made it a game. Instead, they heard 20,000 fans voraciously boo them off the ice to end the period.
The Flyers might want to skip the replay of this clunker.
San Jose got some help late in the first when replay officials in New York awarded Pavelski his second goal for a 3-0 lead. The puck was in play when Elliott cleared Pavelski’s shot until a whistle stopped the action. Sure enough, the review showed Elliott’s glove was behind the line when he swatted Pavelski’s puck and the no-goal was overturned.
Kane redirected a puck off his skate late in the first to make it 4-0. It was San Jose’s first power-play goal of the season after a 0 for 12 start.
One of the main goals the Sharks had this offseason was improving a power-play unit that ranked 16th in the league last season at 20.6 percent. The Sharks know they have to return to the level they were at in 201516, when they ranked third on the power play on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Flyers had the early (furry) candidate for rookie of the year when they unveiled Gritty in the preseason. After some initial confusion over what exactly the wild-haired, googly-eyed creature was, Gritty was embraced and made surprise visits on most major morning and late-night talk shows. On the concourse, the Flyers’ arena host asked fans what they were most excited about for the opener, and it was near unanimous for Gritty. Sure enough, he swung like a pendulum
NOTES
The Flyers named Simmonds an alternate captain for the season, Andrew MacDonald will be an alternate captain for the Flyers on the road, and Couturier will be an alternate captain at home. Giroux will again wear the C, just as he has since 2013.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Play Thursday at New York Rangers.
Flyers: Head to Ottawa on Wednesday.