Sharks Rout Flyers 7-3 To Start Post-Olympic Sprint

Feb 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) watches the replay of his third goal of the game against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

It feels like it’s been forever since the San Jose Sharks have had the luxury of a fully healthy roster.

Tonight, they got close to it as they started their post-Olympic stretch and their three-game home stand in Philadelphia against the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite still being without rookie Tomas Hertl, the Sharks almost repeated their 9-2 rout earlier against the New York Rangers this season with a 7-3 stomping of the Flyers with goals by Raffi Torres, Joe Pavelski, and Logan Couture.

Raffi Torres Strikes First, But Flyers Take One-Goal Lead

The Sharks opened up the scoring as Torres (Assists: Andrew Desjardins, Jason Demers) put the puck past Flyers goalie Steve Mason. But the Flyers came back on goals by Andrej Meszaros (Assists: Steve Downie, Matt Read) and Brayden Schenn (Assists: Vincent Lecavalier, Wayne Simmonds) to take a 2-1 lead for Philadelphia.

Second Period Scoring Galore Gives The Sharks A Commanding 6-2 Lead

San Jose didn’t let the one-goal deficit weigh them down in the second period. No, they got a scorer’s delight as Joe Pavelski had his second career NHL hat trick (goal 1 PPG assists: Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle; goal 2 assists: Marc Eduoard-Vlasic; goal 3 assists: Matt Irwin, Joe Thornton), Logan Couture (Assists: Patrick Marleau, Jason Demers) got one past Flyers’ back-up net minder Ray Emery, and Torres (Assists: Mike Brown, Andrew Desjardins) got his second of the night.

Third Period FINish

Couture (Assist: Tommy Wingels) scored a short-handed goal for his pair, and although Matt Read (Assists: Sean Couturier, Nicklas Grossman) tipped the puck past Alex Stalock to close the gap to 4 goals but the gap was still too big.