GAME NOTES
METRO & WILD CARD RACE
M1 - WSH: 82 pts - 20 games left / 1 vs Flyers
M2 - PIT: 80 pts - 21 games left / 1 vs Flyers
M3 - PHI: 77 pts - 20 games left
WC1 - NYI: 76 pts - 21 games left / 1 vs Flyers
WC2 - CBJ: 76 pts - 18 games left
CAR: 74 pts - 21 games left / 1 vs Flyers
NYR: 70 pts - 21 games left / 3 vs. Flyers
FLA: 70 pts - 20 games left
QUICK STATS
Season Series: 0-1-0
All-Time Record: 44gp (16-18-4-6)
Leading Scorer:
PHI - Sean Couturier: 55-pts (19g-36a)
SJS - Brent Burns: 42-pts (12g-30a)
1. OPPOSITES MEET
The Flyers enter tonight's game on a three-game winning streak and are looking for their fourth separate four-game winning streak of the season... They're also on a stretch in which they are 13-5-1 since returning from the post-holiday road trip in early January, which is the third-best record in the NHL since then... The Sharks come in having lost four straight games, which is their fifth separate winless streak of four or more games this season... The Flyers also have four straight wins against teams from the Western Conference, while the Sharks have dropped five straight against the Eastern Conference.
2. BUT THAT OTHER STREAK...
The Flyers and Sharks meet for the second and final time this season... The Flyers suffered a 6-1 loss in San Jose as part of that post-holiday road trip and have now dropped four straight meetings against the Sharks (0-3-1), as well as 10 of their last 12 meetings (2-7-3)... The Sharks goaltending duo of Aaron Dell (3-0-1) and Martin Jones (4-1-0) have a combined 7-1-1 lifetime record, a .939 save percentage and 1.65 GAA against the Flyers.
3. WHAT'S YOUR GOAL?
The Flyers have scored three or more goals in their last eight games and 13 of their last 14 to move into the Top 10 of the league in goals per-game (3.24) and rank 11th in goals-against per-game... The numbers are even better at home - ranking 5th in the NHL with 3.57 goals per-game, while leading all NHL teams in fewest goals-against (2.07)... The Sharks have scored fewer than three goals in four of their last five games and are ranked 28th in the NHL in goals scored (2.53) and 6th in the league for most goals allowed (3.26) per-game.
4. PLUS & MINUS
The teams also went in opposite directions at the trade deadline on Monday... The Flyers added two forwards in Nate Thompson and Derek Grant, both of whom are expected to be in the lineup tonight... Grant is having a career-year in goals (14), while Thompson enters the Flyers locker room with the second-most games played on the team in both regular season (760) and playoffs (62) only to Claude Giroux... The Sharks subtracted three players from their lineup in a pair of forwards in Barclay Goodrow, longtime legend, Patrick Marleau, and defenseman Brenden Dillon - all three of which came to the Eastern Conference.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH
FLYERS (C: #14 - Sean Couturier)
Couturier enters tonight's game on a six-game point streak, recording four goals and six points... He is now two points shy of 400 in his NHL career, sitting at 398 with 153 goals and 245 assists in 640 games, which leads all members of his draft class (2011), while his plus-minus of +91 ranks third among his draft class and leads all Flyers since that year.
SHARKS (RW: #28 - Timo Meier)
Meier has points in two straight games, as well as seven of his last nine, posting four goals and five assists in that stretch... Against the Flyers, Meier has also scored goals in each of his last three meetings totaling six goals in that span, including a hat trick in this year's only meeting.
