PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eric Karlsson and Steven Lorentz scored in the second period, James Reimer stopped 31 shots for his 26th career shutout, and the San Jose Sharks beat Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Sunday night.
“”I think we wanted to flush the Xs and Os down the toilet and just do our jobs to a man,” Reimer said. “It was about working hard and playing our butt off. And that’s what the boys did in and protected me.”
Nico Sturm added an empty-netter with just under 4 minutes remaining as the Sharks won for the second time in three games. San Jose snapped a season-opening five-game skid with an overtime win at the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
“When you are in the situation we are in and you are 1-6, you need something to build on,” Sharks head coach David Quinn said after winning twice on their four-game trip. “Obviously, this is a tough trip. But it was a great way for us to finish this trip at .500, get back home and get back into our normal routine.”
Felix Sandstron had 22 saves for Philadelphia, which looked flat in the second of a back-to-back after a 3-1 win at Nashville on Saturday night. The lackluster play could have been a reason why new Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella held two of his veteran forwards- Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny without any ice time for the entire third period.
“I’m going to keep that in the room,” Tortorella said when asked about the cut in ice time.
Shortly after a goal by Philadelphia’s Joel Farabee was reversed by video replay after it was ruled that Scott Laughton was offsides on a 2-on-1 break, Karlsson gave the Sharks the lead with a one-timer following a pass from Tomas Hertl at the top of the circle that whistled past Sandstrom’s right pad at 9:34 of the second.
Lorentz made it 2-0 with 1:31 left in the period when he deflected a shoulder-high point shot from Jaycob Megna that snuck over Sandstrom’s glove after the goaltender committed a turnover on an outlet pass to Tony DeAngelo.
“It was a bad play from me,” Sandstrom said. “I should be able to put a better pass, so (DeAngelo) can handle it right away.”
The rest of the night belong to Reimer, who made two critical saves on a Philadelphia power play in the third period to hold the Sharks’ two-goal lead.
“You just play one game at a time and one puck at a time,” Reimer said. “I approach every game and every practice the same way by working hard and being honest.”
LINDBLOM RETURNS TO PHILLY
San Jose LW Oskar Lindblom returned to Philadelphia for the first time in an opposing uniform. Lindblom was bought out of his contract during the offseason after playing parts of five seasons with the Flyers. In 2019, Lindblom was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and was treated at the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center. “I had a great time here,” Lindblom said before the game. “I loved it.” The organization played a tribute video to Lindblom during the first period, drawing an ovation and stick taps from both teams.
INJURY
Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk did not return to the game after blocking a shot from Sharks forward Kevin Labanc with his hand.
EMPTY SEATS
There were several empty seats at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night. Part of the reason for that was the massive celebrations that were taking place in the streets around Philadelphia’s sports complex following the Phillies’ 4-3 series-clinching win over the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
Flyers: Host Florida on Thursday night.
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