The Flyers pulled out yet another gutsy effort. With eleven forwards, Philadelphia played a tight game before scoring two empty net goals to defeat San Jose 4-1 on Saturday afternoon. Matvei Michkov got his 100th career point, Travis Konecny got his 60th of the season, and the Flyers stayed in the hunt with a perfect West Coast road trip.

The basics

First period: No scoring
Second period: 2:26 – Owen Tippett (Trevor Zegras, Noah Juulsen), 13:12 – Dmitry Orlov (William Eklund, Macklin Celebrini)
Third period: 1:47 – Christian Dvorak (Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov) (PPG), 18:48 – Travis Sanehim (Unassisted) (ENG), 19:24 – Noah Cates (Christian Dvorak) (ENG)
SOG: 28 (PHI) – 25 (SJS)

Some takeaways

7/11 revisited

The Flyers went with the same format as they had against Los Angeles, namely using seven on the backend and eleven up front. Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, and Luke Glendening all missed their second consecutive games, resulting in Philadelphia using Garrett Wilson in his second game for the Flyers and defenseman Noah Juulsen being the seventh defenseman. And although Philadelphia had a day’s rest between games, the blueprint was the same: win puck battles, keep it simple, and try to take advantage of whatever chances are afforded you.

After taking a 1-0 lead, the Flyers confidence grew a little more, trying to add to their impressive road winning streak. The team looked a bit looser, keeping the puck in the San Jose zone by simply outworking the Sharks shift after shift. Following San Jose tying it up, the Flyers sagged somewhat but goalie Dan Vladar held the fort.

Wilson vs. Reaves

Flyers newcomer Garrett Wilson is no stranger to fisticuffs, and early on he got into it with Sharks tough guy Ryan Reaves. Neither one really did much damage but Reaves looked like he messed up his hand after the fight. It might not have been the wisest course of action given Philadelphia were already starting with 11 forwards. But if it set the tone or got his teammates going, then so be it. Both received five minutes for “chucking knucks” as the referee announced afterwards.

Power play goal, please

The Flyers got an early power play. It took them about 30 seconds to get going and they nearly cashed in on a shot that Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic had some trouble with thanks to some traffic. Unfortunately a bad giveaway by Matvei Michkov resulted in a good chance from Kiefer Sherwood going the other way. The Flyers essentially had a five-on-three for a good chunk of the power play as Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin hobbled around after blocking a shot off his knee, but again, no dice.

The Flyers took their first penalty later in the first. Owen Tippett bowled over Sharks star Macklin Celebrini cleanly but then Trevor Zegras took a dumb interference minor the refs didn’t turn a blind eye to. The Sharks didn’t do a lot and nearly give up a short-handed goal on a rush by Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny, the rebound almost crossing the line before it was swept away by Sherwood. The Flyers were guilty of a bench minor for too many men, yet Philadelphia were able to kill it fairly easily. In the third, Zegras took another dumb one 200 feet from Vladar, tripping up a Shark and giving San Jose their fourth power play.

Emil “Rover” Andrae

Like he did against Los Angeles, Emil Andrae was all over the ice, being a forechecker and defender sometimes on the same shift. It’s not the easiest thing for a defender to be asked to play primarily in the neutral and offensive zones, but Andrae did an admirable job doing the job. Andrae’s only miscue was shooting the puck over the glass in the second, resulting in a delay of game minor. And it was costly, as Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov pinched into the slot and beat Vladar to tie the game 1-1 on the ensuing power play. Andrae had just under five minutes of ice time after two periods but his spot duty was definitely needed given the situation Philadelphia faced.

Tippett once again Tippett-ing

Owen Tippett continues to look like a man possessed. Nearly having two great scoring chances on San Jose’s first power play, Tippett was a bull in the Sharks zone, throwing his weight around and just being a royal pain in the butt towards the San Jose defenders. Alongside Zegras and Nikita Grebenkin, Tippett received a bit of a gift from Nick Leddy as Leddy bobbled the puck early in the second. Seconds later, the Flyers winger picked up the puck, zeroed in on Nedeljkovic, and beat him clean to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. It was also Tippett’s fifth tally in the last eight games, a hot streak the Flyers are happy to see at the right time.

This post Olympic version of Owen Tippett is scorching hot. Tippett opened the scoring and hes now netted five goals in his last eight games, 1-0 Flyers.

Goal: Tippett (24) pic.twitter.com/dD0Gc3JJlZ

— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) March 21, 2026

After Rasmus Ristolainen was dragged down, Philadelphia had another power play. While having some good offensive zone time, and a few good looks, their best chance was from Alex Bump. Bump — who earlier in the period looked like he stickhandled his way out of a phone booth, slid into the bumper position. Jamie Drysdale fed him the pass and the shot went wide. Tippett nearly put Philadelphia up 2-0 when he blew down the side and was stopped by Nedeljkovic who stood his ground. And he drew a penalty late in the second thanks to William Eklund trying to rein in the bucking bronco. This time another bumper attempt, this time by Noah Cates, nearly broke the tie.

Zegras hit, Celebrini nailed

Speaking of Cates, the center answered the bell for a heavy hit on Trevor Zegras from Barclay Goodrow. Zegras wasn’t injured but Cates dropped the gloves seconds later. Philadelphia was rather fortunate Cates didn’t take an instigator penalty, which would’ve negated the rest of the power play on the Eklund hold. As for Zegras, he was back on the ice for the rest of the power play which, again, failed to capitalize.

In the third, Celebrini got clocked clean by Garnet Hathaway who timed the collision perfectly, knocking the star forward off his feet. Hathaway also drew a penalty on the hit as San Jose tried to respond. The Flyers’ fourth power play had Zegras in close but stymied, but Philadelphia made no mistake on the next shift on a pretty passing play finished off by Christian Dvorak. The goal, their first power play of the day, also marked Matvei Michkov registering his 100th point in his National Hockey League career. Konecny earned his sixtieth point of the season, his fifth 60-point season in his career and third consecutive.

Rejoice!

The Flyers finally cash in on the man advantage and it’s courtesy of Christian Dvorak. Matvei Michkov picked up his 100th career point on the goal, 2-1 Flyers.

Goal: Dvorak (14) pic.twitter.com/qLm5CZDf1J

— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) March 21, 2026

Oh Danny boy …

Dan Vladar got the nod again, his second start on this three-game West Coast swing. The netminder was busy in the first before the Flyers started getting their legs going. Although the Sharks had only 10 hits halfway through regulation, Vladar’s best save in the first 30 minutes came on Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini took the puck in close, made a nice move, but the Flyers keeper made a better save. A pad save on Adam Gaudette minutes later was also a key stop. Sadly, he had no chance on the one-timer Orlov had on the power play which made it 1-1.

After the Flyers made it 2-1, Vladar saw San Jose push but Philadelphia had some good sticks and a bit of good luck as Michael Misa had a great chance but his stick broke. Vladar was also stellar on San Jose’s fourth power play as they survived the full two minutes in their own end. A few blocked shots kept the Sharks off the board but Celebrini had a few howitzers that either hit the post or went wide. Vladar got his collarbone on one from Will Smith he deflected over the net. The goalie stopped 24 of 25 shots for a highly impressive .960 save percentage.

And last but not least, Travis Sanheim!

With the Sharks having pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker down a goal, Flyers horse Travis Sanheim broke up a pass, skated up ice a bit and gave the Flyers an insurance goal, making it a 3-1 game. Seconds later, San Jose pulled their goalie again and, after Owen Tippett hit iron, Noah Cates made no mistake, making it a 4-1 affair and capping off a tremendously successful West Coast swing. Sanheim played 28:57 and had two blocked shots to boot. Both he and Rasmus Ristolainen (24:39) held strong as San Jose applied pressure in the final frame.