April 28, 2025
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Flyers at Sharks recap: Wayne Train runs over Sharks in season-opening win

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The Flyers used a potent power play and a Wayne Simmonds hat trick to beat the Sharks, 5-3, in their season opener on Wednesday night in San Jose.

Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Voracek had three assists each and the Flyers went 3-of-5 on the man-advantage to help overcome a pair of blown leads (2-0, 3-2) to spoil the Sharks’ home opener.

Brian Elliott stopped 32 of 35 shots to earn the win in his Flyers debut.

First period

The Flyers looked out of sorts early as the Sharks hemmed them in their own zone, picking up a couple scoring chances from the stick of Brent Burns, but Brian Elliott stood tall to avoid putting the Flyers in an early hole.

And those saves from the new guy in goal would turn out to be huge as the Flyers would get their offense going sooner rather than later.

Travis Konecny nearly opened the scoring, but the second-year forward was beaten by the post next to Sharks goalie Martin Jones on a breakaway just under five minutes in.

But not long after captain Claude Giroux would strike first to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the 8:28 mark off a nice feed from Jake Voracek. A hard forecheck by the Flyers forced a turnover that ended up moving quickly from Voracek to Giroux to the back of the Sharks’ net.

The Flyers would grab the first power play of the game a few minutes later and they’d cash in with a Jordan Weal goal off the rush to push the lead to 2-0. Travis Konecny made a nice chip pass to Weal, who caught the Sharks’ netminder off guard with the quick shot from the right circle.

San Jose would answer back with an impressive tip-in from Kevin Labanc at the 17:17 mark to pull the Sharks to within a goal at 2-1. Brenden Dillon and Joe Pavelski assisted on the goal. Dillon’s point shot deflected off Elliott into the air and Labanc was there to swat it out of the air and into the back of the net.

But the Sharks weren’t done yet. With just 18.9 seconds left in the period Labanc would score his second goal of the night — this one on the power play — to tie things up at 2-2. A failed Dale Weiss clearing attempt ended up on Labanc’s stick as the Sharks erased the Flyers’ short-lived two-goal lead.

Second period

If you didn’t think momentum carried over between periods, all you had to do was look at the way the Sharks closed the first and how they opened the second.

The Sharks would get the jump on the Flyers to start the second aided by an early penalty to Robert Hagg, playing in his first NHL game. The Flyers would kill off the penalty but Brian Elliott would have to withstand somewhat of a shooting gallery from the Sharks on the power play and in the first six minutes of the frame.

After spending the first half of the period chasing around the Sharks, the Flyers would get a golden scoring chance from Sean Couturier, but Paul Martin was there to block the stuff attempt to save his goaltender. Moments later it was Jones’ turn to bail out his defense, robbing a Couturier shorthanded attempt after a bad Brent Burns turnover to keep the score tied at 2-2.

The Flyers made their push toward the end of the period, getting a couple nice shifts from the Giroux line and earning a power play with 2:32 left.

Wayne Simmonds didn’t need long on the power play to give the Flyers back the 3-2 lead at the 17:36 mark. Off the faceoff Gostisbehere let loose a rocket from the point that redirected off Simmonds’ skate and past Jones.

In was a busy period for Brian Elliott, who turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the frame — including some nice saves late — to preserve the Flyers’ lead heading to the third.

Third period

After killing off three-straight penalties after Labanc’s second goal, the Flyers couldn’t kill a fourth-straight early on in the third.

Logan Couture tied the game at 3-3 with a bank shot off the skate of Andrew MacDonald in past Elliott just 3:12 into the period. The Flyers were playing a dangerous game with all the penalties and it would cost them in the form of an unlucky bounce. Brent Burns and Joe Thornton would get assists on the tying goal for the Sharks.

The Flyers would nearly re-take the lead off a pair of nice deflection chances inside of 13 minutes from Valterri Filppula and Travis Konecy, but neither was able to beat Jones. The Sharks would answer with a great chance of their own, but Elliott was able to stop Labanc in close.

After a bad offensive zone penalty to Labanc following the Elliott save, the Flyers were back on the power play and looking to add to their already two power play goals on the night.

Wayne Simmonds’ second of the game would break the tie and give the Flyers a 4-3 lead at the 9:27 mark. Simmond tipped home a Gostisbehere wrist shot this time around to beat Jones. Voracek and Gostisbehere both picked up their third assists of the game on the goal.

The Flyers’ lead would get saved by the post to the left of Elliott with eight minutes to play, as Joonas Donskoi broke in on a breakaway and beat the netminder but drew iron instead of a tying goal.

Still in need of a tying goal, the Sharks would put the Flyers on the man-advantage for the bulk of the remaining 4:44 of regulation. They survived the first penalty to Melker Karlsson, but the second call to Joe Pavelski for high-sticking Dale Weise would bleed the clock down even further.

Even after a Radko Gudas boarding call, the Flyers weren’t to be denied on this night. Wayne Simmonds skated to a loose puck and fired the puck into the empty net for the hat trick and the exclamation point on the Flyers’ 5-3 win.

Next up: Flyers at Kings, Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBCSPhiladelphia and on 97.5 The Fanatic

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