Tomas Hertl scored with 31 seconds left in overtime and the San Jose Sharks beat the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Thursday night.
Philadelphia still managed to extend its season-high point streak to seven games (5-0-2) following an 0-8-2 rut.
Down 2-1 late in regulation, the Flyers took advantage of a San Jose turnover in the neutral zone, and Joel Farabee beat James Reimer (23 saves) on the far side to level the contest with 4:03 to go.
Once in overtime, Hertl converted — his team-leading 16th goal of the season — off a two-on-one with Erik Karlsson in the waning seconds.
The Sharks have earned back-to-back wins for the first time since a three-game run Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
The loss overshadowed a strong performance by Philadelphia netminder Felix Sandstrom in his NHL debut. With Carter Hart on the COVID-19 reserve list and ex-Shark Martin Jones having played Wednesday night, the 24-year-old Swede stepped in to make 43 saves — more than any other Flyers goalie in his first NHL contest.
San Jose outshot Philadelphia 12-7 and had two power-play chances through the first 20 minutes Thursday, but Sandstrom weathered that storm and the visitors managed the only goal of the opening period. Off a three-on-two push, nifty passing from Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny set up Morgan Frost for a tap-in and a 1-0 Flyers lead with 4:37 to go in the first.
While the Sharks couldn’t get it done early on the power play, they did come through on the penalty kill. Logan Couture took a pass intended for Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle, then broke in alone and beat Sandstrom on the stick side to tie the game 5:20 into the second period.
San Jose went up 2-1 just two minutes later when Hertl’s backhanded pass found Brent Burns alone in the slot. Burns corralled the puck and easily beat Sandstrom.
In addition to Hart, Philadelphia was also without forwards Scott Laughton and Derick Brassard on the COVID list. The Flyers also placed Sean Couturier on injured reserve Thursday due to an upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media