Sharks defeat Flyers for 1st win of season, end 11-game skid

SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks ended a season-opening 11-game skid with a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center on Tuesday.

"It feels unreal," San Jose forward Tomas Hertl said. "We finally passed it, we got the first win. We're really excited. It was a grinder, but it took all 20 guys, and it was amazing. Huge win for us tonight."

Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 38 saves for the Sharks (1-11-1), who allowed 10 goals in each of their previous two games and were off to the second-worst start in NHL history (the 1943-44 New York Rangers started 0-14 with one tie).

"Those last two games before here were such an aberration," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I give these guys so much credit. They've been such a great group to coach, they never stop working. They're attentive, they work hard in practice. There were so many things that went into tonight and at some point you say, 'Enough is enough.'"

Joel Farabee scored for the Flyers (5-7-1), who went 0-for-4 on the power play in the opener of a four-game road trip. Samuel Ersson made 17 saves.

"It's not like they were going to go 0-82," Philadelphia center Sean Couturier said of the Sharks. "It [stinks] that we couldn't get out of here with two points, but 5-on-5 we played well. Special teams are really killing us right now."

Duclair gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the first period after Kevin Labanc set him up with a cross-ice pass.

"That first goal is huge," Quinn said. "There's a level of, 'OK, you can breathe.'"

William Eklund made it 2-0 on a power play at 16:18 of the second period when Duclair set him up for a one-timer from the right face-off circle.

Farabee one-timed a feed from Travis Sanheim at 18:51 that a video review determined completely crossed the goal line for the 2-1 final.

"We never got down at all, even after they scored," Blackwood said. "We just kept playing. I think that's important for us. In other games, maybe the other team would score a goal or two and we would get down on ourselves, and that can't happen. So, I thought we did a great job tonight and I'm proud of the team."

Blackwood secured the Sharks’ first win with 15 saves in the third period.

"We couldn't find a way to finish," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we had a lot of 'almost chances' and just didn't finish at the net, some of them. Territorially, I thought we controlled it, but just didn't get enough quality chances."

NOTES: Duclair has consecutive multipoint games for the first time since Jan. 14-15, 2022. He had a goal and an assist in a 10-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. … Blackwood’s 38 saves were the second-most by a goalie in his first win with the Sharks (Troy Grosenick, 45 on Nov. 16, 2014). … Hertl won 17 of 23 face-offs (73.9 percent). … Couturier had two shots on goal and won six of 19 face-offs in 22:20 of ice time after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. … Sanheim is the second Flyers defenseman in the past 10 years to have 10 assists in 13 or fewer games (Shayne Gostisbehere, eight games in 2017-18). … Philadelphia played its third straight game without No. 1 goalie Carter Hart, who is day to day with a mid-body injury.