Flyers, Sharks no strangers to great hockey
Last Updated: Friday, November 20, 2009 | 3:42 PM ET
By Chris Iorfida, CBC Sports
Scott Hartnell, right, and Mike Richards, are 1-2 in power play scoring for the Flyers. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)The Philadelphia Flyers will go for their eighth win in nine games this season when they play the Sharks on Friday night, with fans in San Jose hoping for a reprise of last year's classic.
Hardcore hockey fans will remember well two games played by the Flyers and Sharks last season.
The teams met twice in a span of four days. San Jose rallied from two goals down at home with Dan Boyle scoring the winner in a 5-4 overtime game on Oct. 18, 2008, one of the best-played games of the NHL regular season.
The return match in Philadelphia was very sloppy but thrilling in its own way, taken by the Sharks in the shootout 7-6.
The first meeting this season wasn't quite up to those standards. San Jose skated to a 4-1 win in Philly on Oct. 25, a game that featured the backup goalies for each team.
Manny Malhotra scored twice for the Sharks, with Thomas Greiss making 37 saves. Brian Boucher stopped 24 shots for Philadelphia, whose lone goal came from grinder Darroll Powe.
Boucher got his second start of the season Wednesday, stopping 20 of 37 shots in the third period in a 3-2 win over Los Angeles. It was the first of a five-game road trip for the Flyers.
"I didn't think we had our A game by any means, but I think good teams find a way to grind out and get a win," said coach John Stevens.
Solid goaltending has fuelled the Flyers of late. Starter Ray Emery is 6-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average in his last seven starts.
It doesn't hurt to have the top power play in the league, operating at 27.6 per cent efficiency.
Scott Hartnell has been helping in that regard. Hartnell has five goals in the last nine games after a slow start, and all six of his goals this season have come with the man advantage.
San Jose (14-5-4) leads the Western Conference but lost consecutive games to close out their recent road trip, allowing the streaking Chicago Blackhawks to gain ground.
The Sharks have yet to lose in regulation at home, however, with a 6-0-2 ledger at HP Pavilion.
Dany Heatley leads the club with 14 goals, one more than Patrick Marleau. Joe Thornton is tied for second in the NHL with 20 assists.
No. 1 netminder Evgeni Nabokov has not lost in regulation in his last 10 starts.
Defenceman Rob Blake is back on the ice but still some days away from returning from an upper body injury that's kept him out since last week.
With files from The Associated Press
