5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Sharks

GAME NOTES
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (13-15-6) host Bob Boughner's San Jose Sharks (18-16-1) at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the interconference clubs and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Dec. 30 in San Jose, the Flyers were largely outplayed but scratched out one point from a 3-2 overtime loss.
Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee scored for the Flyers. Logan Couture (shorthanded goal) and Brent Burns tallied in regulation for San Jose. Tomas Hertl won the game in overtime. In his NHL debut, Felix Sandström stopped 43 of 46 shots. James Reimer earned the win with 23 saves on 25 shots.
That game marked the final match of a Flyers' seven-game point streak and the start of a current four-game winless streak (0-3-1). Since that time, the Flyers have suffered losses by scores of 6-3 (at Los Angeles), 4-1 (at Anaheim) and 6-2 (home vs. Pittsburgh).
In Thursday's blowout loss to the Penguins, the Flyers trailed 3-0 by the end of a lopsided first period. Philadelphia's play picked up all around in the second period but the Flyers were only able to shave one goal off the deficit on a Cam Atkinson tally off a setup by Farabee. Midway through the third period, Pittsburgh put another rapid three-goal surge that made the rest of the game academic. Oskar Lindblom subsequently scored a power play goal off a Morgan Frost centering pass, which only represented the difference between a five-goal loss and a four-goal defeat.
Since playing the Flyers, the Sharks embarked on a four-game road trip. The team is 1-2-0 thus far on the trip. San Jose lost 8-5 to the Penguins after trailing 5-1 through the first period and then suffered a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings.
On Thursday in Buffalo, the Sharks struck for three first period goals on tallies by Matt Nieto, Timo Meier and Hertl. The Sabres got back with one goal and pressured heavily at times but Adin Hill (37 saves) and company held on for a 3-2 victory.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Playing through adversity.
This has been a too-frequent theme with the Flyers, both in 2020-21 and during the current season: When something goes wrong, the team has too often struggled to overcome it. Too often, the issues have compounded and the team's play has unraveled with competitiveness levels and energy noticeably dropping.
An example: The Flyers have yielded the game's first goal in 17 of the 34 games played to date. In those games, Philly has only won twice (2-13-2). The team's .118 winning percentage when trailing first ranks 29th in the 32-team NHL. When scoring first, the Flyers are 11-2-4 (.647 winning percentage, ranked 19th).
After Thursday's game, Yeo minced no words in saying the team needs to adopt a more competitive mentality no matter what challenges it faces due to lineup absences or in-game adversity. He said that -- separate from execution of systems on the ice -- the issue of needing to be mentally tougher is a big picture challenge, not just limited to an ugly loss in a game where the team was exceptionally shorthanded against a scorching hot Pittsburgh club.
"For me, the biggest message was, more than anything, we can talk about x's and o's and game plans and everything else. It's just about how hard you fight. We can look at where we are at in the season, and we can just sort of accept our fate for the rest of our way and just say it's not our year, bad luck, this and that. You can do the same in the game," Yeo said.
"You can fight and determine your own fate… regardless of what the circumstances are. There's gonna be times where maybe you don't get the result you're looking for. You're gonna go down swinging if that's the case. I don't think we did that tonight and I think that's the biggest thing we have to address."
The resiliency theme carried over into Friday's practice at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. Longtime Sharks player Justin Braun was asked about how his former team handled adversity when it arose, and whether the Flyers need to improve in that area.
"We had that culture for a long time there, when I showed up. It was: 'We're gonna be tough to play at home.' You had to be ready to go every night or you were gonna hear it from either the guys or the coach. The accountability there was good. I think we need to get to a point where we're like that here. We're ready to go from the drop of the puck, we know we're not gonna lose that night. You've just got to have that mindset that no matter if a bad thing happens, you're just gonna keep working through it and you're gonna get the job done," Braun said.
2. Five-man units and structure.
Prior to the extended holiday break, the Flyers seemed to be on the right track in terms of playing with more cohesive two-way structure and puck support. The team defended a bit better and was finally starting to score with more regularity, both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. Those improvements have largely gone by the wayside since the team's return to action.
Even in earning three of four possible points in the first two games of the western road trip, the Flyers overrelied on their goaltenders and opportunistic offense. That could only work for so long. Now the team has lost three in a row in regulation, and given up 16 goals in the process.
Even if the Flyers had a reasonably full and healthy roster, it would be tough to win without adhering to improved structure. When all the injuries and pandemic-related absences are added in, every game of late has felt like an uphill climb.
In the Pittsburgh game, the Flyers' lineup was missing six players due to COVID-19 protocol (Claude Giroux, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler and Jackson Cates) and three more on the Injured Reserve list (Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis and Nate Thompson). There is a chance that at least one of Seeler and/or Cates could exit protocol and return to the lineup against San Jose. However, none of the other players in protocol are eligible yet to return to play.
Veteran forward Derick Brassard, who has been bothered by a nagging lower-body issue and then spent a stint in COVID protocol, made a one-game return to the Flyers lineup against Pittsburgh. On Friday, Brassard did not practice with the team. He is back to being listed on day-to-day status. Yeo said Brassard's availability against San Jose is "doubtful."
Atkinson took a maintenance day on Friday but will play against San Jose. The Flyers may also have Cates and/or Gerry Mayhew (day-to-day, upper-body injury) and/or Cates available for duty. Mayhew practiced with the team on Friday.
Martin Jones will get the start in goal on Saturday against his former team. The Flyers will not hold a morning skate. Based on Friday's practice combos, the lineup could look something like this:
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
71 Max Willman - 13 Kevin Hayes - 25 James van Riemsdyk
23 Oskar Lindblom - 48 Morgan Frost - ???
??? - 38 Kevin Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
Candidates for lineup: 82 Connor Bunnaman (healthy), 59 Jackson Cates (may exit COVID protocol), 20 Gerry Mayhew (day-to-day injury), 19 Derick Brassard (doubtful).
45 Cam York - 61 Justin Braun
54 Egor Zamula - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - ???
Candidates for lineup: 8 Kevin Connauton (healthy), 24 Nick Seeler (may exit COVID protocol).
35 Martin Jones
[79 Carter Hart]
Note: The American Hockey League postponed the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' games on Friday and Sunday due to a COVID outbreak on the Phantoms' roster. The Flyers' top farm team currently has nine players in protocol, including NHL-contracted players Maksim Sushko and Isaac Ratcliffe.
As a result, the Flyers' call-up options from Lehigh Valley are temporarily quite limited. This won't be an issue in terms of the Flyers being able to dress a full lineup of 18 skates against the Sharks (12 forwards plus six defensemen or 11 forwards with seven defensemen) unless additional COVID cases arise on the Flyers on Saturday.
3. Inside the Numbers.
The second period was by the best period the Flyers played in Thursday's game against the Penguins. That has been an anomaly this season, as the Flyers' biggest struggles have statistically come in the second period.
Both the Flyers and San Jose have had trouble keeping the puck out of their respective nets in five-on-five situations. Both clubs have struggled on the power play overall. The Sharks have been very good on the PK, however. The Flyers had been over 80 percent on the PK for most of the season but the numbers have taken a beating in the recent games and the team has slipped just under the 80 percent mark.

4. Behind enemy lines: San Jose Sharks
When the Flyers last met with the Sharks, holdover San Jose veteran Couture and Burns combined to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 San Jose lead. Couture's shorthanded goal was one of six the Flyers have yielded this year. After Brian Boyle scored shorthanded for the Penguins on Thursday, the Flyers dropped to a tie with the New Jersey Devils for the most shorthanded goals yielded by any team in the NHL this season.
At the time of their overtime win against the Flyers, Boughner and company expressed optimism that the game could be a springboard to a successful road trip. So far, the trip has not gone as planned. As with the Flyers' recent games since the one in San Jose, the Sharks have given up goals at an alarming rate on the current road trip. The team has often been its own worst enemy.
However, with a win in Philadelphia on Saturday, the Sharks can salvage a .500 road trip with two victories and two losses. The Sharks are currently one point behind the now-struggling Edmonton Oilers for the lower wildcard seed amid a wide-open field of teams on the bubble of playoff contention.
Meier has consistently been one of the Sharks' best players all season and is also leading the team in scoring (14g, 22a, +11 in 36 games). He's posted two goals and seven points over the Sharks' last five games. During that stretch, the Flyers were the only team than managed to hold him off the scoresheet.
Couture is second in scoring on the Sharks with 29 points (12g, 17a) in 32 games played. Impending unrestricted free agent Hertl leads the Sharks with 17 goals (including his overtime winner against the Flyers on Dec. 30) and third on the team in points with 28.
Veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson leads San Jose's blueline with 22 points (8g, 14a) in 26 games played. Burns has 20 points (4g, 16a).
5. Players to Watch: Frost and Barabanov
Flyers rookie center/winger Morgan Frost is still looking for greater shift-in and shift-out consistency and a higher volume of puck touches. However, in most of the games he's played since his recall from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the playmaking forward has created at least one or two scoring chances per game with high-skill passes to find open teammates. Frost easily could have several more than his current four assists in 15 games. There have been multiple near-misses on the potential finishing end of scoring opportunities he has created.
Frost has also shown improved ability to initiate contact and hold his own in puck battles. Defensively, he's been adequate but can still improve further. Overall, the Flyers would like to see the 22-year-old forward play more at his quickest pace (he's at his best at the pro level when his feet are moving), get to shooting lanes more consistently and use his quick hands to shoot the puck more often.
Russian forward Alexander Barabanov has been hot of late for the Sharks. Over the team's past five games, he has posted three goals and five points. In that span, the Flyers were the only team that prevented the elusive 27-year-old winger from getting on the scoresheet.