Flyers collect combined shutout in win over Sharks

The Philadelphia Flyers played the San Jose Sharks in their third game on the West Coast trip. They picked up a needed win but lost Samuel Ersson to injury. Aleksei Kolosov came in and shut the door. A combined shutout was collected and the Flyers improved to 17-17-4 on the season.

Nick Seeler gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the 5:59 mark of the first period. He pulled a Matvei Michkov and banked the puck off Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Jamie Drysdale received the lonely assist.

The Flyers got the game's first power play at the 12:29 mark of the first period as Ty Dellandrea was called for high-sticking. Ersson had to make a big save while shorthanded as Luke Kunin was on a breakaway. The Flyers also thought they capitalized off a deflection by Morgan Frost but the play was offside.

The Sharks got their first power play at the 14:38 mark of the first period as Sean Couturier was called for tripping. The Flyers did a great job getting into shooting lanes and clearing the puck when given the opportunity.

Ryan Poehling gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead at the 12:09 mark of the second period. He collected the rebound off of Egor Zamula's shot from the blue line and put a backhanded shot past Georgiev and into the net. Bobby Brink helped set up the play with some good work along the boards. Zamula and Brink tallied the assists.

Mikael Granlund got called for tripping at the 13:35 mark of the second period which gave the Flyers their second power play. They capitalized on the opportunity as Owen Tippett sent a laser pass over to Travis Konecny who then sent a slap shot past Georgiev. This gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead. Tippett and Drysdale picked up assists.

Aleksei Kolosov replaced Samuel Ersson to begin the third period. Ersson was injured on a play where he came way out of his net and got run into by a Shark player.

The Flyers got their third power play just 15 seconds into the third period as Cody Ceci got called for high-sticking. They didn't capitalize on this opportunity but had a few good chances.

Zamula gave the Flyers a 4-0 lead at the 2:30 mark of the third period. He banked the puck off the back of Georgiev with a wrist shot and into the net. This is another goal for the Flyers off-the-bank play. Brink and Noah Cates collected the assists.

The game went to four-on-four at the 11:53 mark of the third period as Konecny and Kunin were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kolosov made some great saves off of Macklin Celebrini and Jan Rutta to keep the Sharks off the board.

The Flyers went one for three on the power play and killed off the Sharks only advantage.

Ersson left the game before the start of the third period. He was perfect after two saving all 15 shots sent his way. Kolosov took over and saved all seven shots. The two goaltenders would combine for a shutout.

Goal Summary

1st Period:

Seeler (3) Assists: Drysdale (5)

2nd Period:

Poehling (3) Assists: Zamula (6), Brink (13)

Konecny (17) (Power Play) Assists: Tippett (12), Drysdale (6)

3rd Period:

Zamula (3) Assists: Brink (14), Cates (7)

Flyers Next Game

Flyers next game is Thursday, Jan. 2 in Vegas against the Golden Knights.