Booed off the ice: Sharks send Flyers to 9th straight loss
PHILADELPHIA » Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal late in the first period and the San Jose Sharks extended the Philadelphia Flyers’ longest losing streak in nearly 10 years to nine games with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
Chris Tierney and MarcEdouard Vlasic also scored and Logan Couture had two assists for the Sharks, who kicked off a fourgame trip with their second straight win.
Claude Giroux scored 48 seconds in before the Flyers were blanked the rest of the way by backup Aaron Dell, who made 22 saves.
The Flyers are 0-4-5 since their last win, Nov. 9 against Chicago. It’s the longest skid since an 0-8-2 stretch in February 2008.
The home crowd let the Flyers have it, booing the team off the ice after the second period and intermittently in the third. There were also “Fire Hakstol” chants by some fans in the upper deck. Coach Dave Hakstol mixed up some lines but was unable to halt the worst stretch of his three seasons in charge.
San Jose was without top goaltender Martin Jones, who sustained an unspecified injury near the end of his shutout of Winnipeg on Saturday. Jones traveled and is expected to play on the trip.
After Giroux’s 11th goal, Dell looked sharp. Tierney tied it from the right circle at 10:29, and then Thornton’s 5-on-3 goal with 1:18 left in the first period put the Sharks ahead 2-1.
Vlasic scored with 3:56 left in the second period.
It marked the seventh time in nine games the Flyers have blown a lead during their skid. And undisciplined play continues to be a problem.
Philadelphia took three penalties in 3 minutes late in the first period. Then while trailing 2-1, the Flyers went on the power play early in the second period, only to have it negated 9 seconds later when Jakub Voracek tripped Tomas Hertl.
On the second day of a back-to-back, Michal Neuvirth made 31 saves for the Flyers. Neuvirth started in place of Brian Elliott in his first action since he was pulled after allowing four goals on 22 shots in a 4-1 loss to Vancouver on Nov. 21.
The Sharks earned a split in the season series after losing on opening night to the Flyers 5-3 behind Wayne Simmonds’ hat trick. Simmonds has scored just four goals in 24 games since. NOTES » Sharks F Joonas Donskoi left in the second period with an injury. ... Sharks C Melker Karlsson (upper body) returned after a four-game absence and played on the fourth line . ... After the Flyers hit the post four times in the second period Monday in Pittsburgh, Valtteri Filppula and Shayne Gostisbehere each hit the post less than a minute apart in the first period . ... Flyers D Radko Gudas served the sixth game of his 10-game suspension for slashing. UP NEXT » The Flyers host Boston on Saturday before a three-game trip to western Canada next week.