Off Topic » The San Jose Sharks head back to the Midwest

SAN JOSE http://www.officialsharks.com/authentic-adidas-brent-burns-jersey , Calif. (AP) for their final road trip of the season looking like a far different team than the one that stumbled its way through a tour of the Central Division just last month.They have the midseason additions of Evander Kane and Eric Fehr to thank for that.With Kane provide a scoring threat and physical play as a top-line wing and Fehr solidifying the fourth line and penalty kill, the Sharks are playing as well as anyone in the NHL down the stretch with a seven-game winning streak that is the team’s longest in five years.During this streak, they have managed to win wide-open games as well as tight checking ones and have managed to negate the speed of teams such as Vegas as well as deal with more physical play like they had Saturday in a 5-1 win over Calgary.”I think that’s something we’re trying to pride ourselves on,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. ”Playoffs you’re going to meet all sorts of teams, speed teams, teams that can play hard down low. I think we’ve got the personnel that we’re able to match up with those. We’re doing things in practice to prepare for them.”The Sharks are in prime position with just two weeks left in the regular season. They have moved within six points of first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division with seven games remaining, giving them an outside shot at a division title. But perhaps more importantly, they entered Sunday six points ahead of Anaheim and Los Angeles in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round.It’s a far cry from last March when a six-game losing streak cost San Jose a chance at the division title and the team was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Edmonton. Now they’re playing their best hockey in March.”We’re a desperate team,” Kane said. ”We need all the points we can get. We haven’t clinched a playoff spot yet. The teams that are right behind us keep winning. We have to keep pushing forward and keep picking up points as we close out the season in order to secure a spot. It’s good to get in that playoff mindset right now.”Kane has provided a major lift since his arrival in a deadline deal with Buffalo on Feb. 26. He has stepped onto the top line with center Joe Pavelski and provided a scoring threat and some needed toughness to help make up for the absence of Joe Thornton, who has missed two months with a knee injury. Thornton has started skating again, but there is no timetable for his return.Kane has seven goals and five assists while helping the Sharks to a NHL-best 10-2 record since he arrived. The team is scoring 4.2 goals per game with Kane in the lineup after scoring just 2.8 goals per game before he arrived.”He’s a crucial part to our team,” center Chris Tierney said. ”You can see how much he brings, whether it’s the physicality side or the goal scoring. He adds a lot of depth to us and he’s been great for us so far. Just gives us an extra layer of everything.”While Kane’s play has gotten most of the attention, the addition of Fehr just a week earlier has also had a big impact. Fehr has filled a hole at fourth-line center Julien Gauthier Jersey Womens , allowing coach Peter DeBoer the freedom to roll through his lines without fear of mismatches, and added an accomplished penalty killer to a unit that ranks second best in the NHL.That line has even provided an offensive boost of late, especially since Jannik Hansen moved back into the lineup alongside Fehr and Barclay Goodrow after Joonas Donskoi went down with a shoulder injury.All three fourth-liners scored goals in a win last Tuesday against New Jersey and Hansen added another in the homestand finale on Saturday against Calgary after failing to score any goals in his first 39 games this season.”It always helps when you’re helping out and you’re producing,” said Hansen, who was a healthy scratch for long portions of the season.”It gets you momentum, it makes you feel good about the game. The puck doesn’t bounce as much, stuff like that. Obviously whenever we can chip in it’s a big part. We want to roll four lines and the fourth line is a part of that.”— PHILADELPHIA (AP) — San Jose went from shut out to blowout in 24 hours.Joe Pavelski scored two of San Jose’s four first-period goals, and Evander Kane also scored twice to spark the Sharks to an 8-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.Flyers fans were still buzzing from the pregame festivities for the home opener, which included rookie mascot Gritty rappelling from the rafters to the ice, when the Sharks pounced.The Flyers turned over the puck at the point, Logan Couture beat the odd-man rush and fired his first goal of the season past Brian Elliott. Pavelski made it 2-0 just 11 seconds later when he knocked in a rebound for his first goal of the season.The Sharks, a Stanley Cup favorite, were just warming up. They had five goals in their first three games — including a 4-0 loss a night earlier to the New York Islanders — and then scored five goals through two periods.“It’s good to see us come out, 60-minute game Womens Evander Kane Jersey , get a little confidence,” Pavelski said. “Guys had some chances, saw some guys score some goals. That goes a long way, getting one early and get going.”With the Flyers set to play Wednesday at Ottawa, Elliott stayed in despite the miserable performance in front of him. He faced 31 shots — 31! — over the first two periods. Flyers captain Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier missed open looks in the first that might have made it a game. Instead, they heard 20,000 fans voraciously boo them off the ice to end the period.Coach Dave Hakstol said he should have benched Elliott, who faced 48 shots, after the second period.“We left him out to dry. He’s our best player tonight,” Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “It could have been 8-0 after the first. It’s a little ridiculous. Some of us really got to look in the mirror on this team. We’ve got to respond tomorrow. When you leave a guy out to dry like that, it’s really not fair.”The Flyers might want to skip the replay of this clunker.San Jose got some help late in the first when replay officials in New York awarded Pavelski his second goal for a 3-0 lead. The puck was in play when Elliott cleared Pavelski’s shot until a whistle stopped the action. Sure enough, the review showed Elliott’s glove was behind the line when he swatted Pavelski’s puck and the no-goal was overturned.“Any time the game kind of gets out of hand like that, it’s easy to relax. That’s when bad things can happen,” Kane said.Not against the Flyers.Kane redirected a puck off his skate late in the first to make it 4-0. It was San Jose’s first power-play goal of the season after a 0-for-12 start.One of the main goals the Sharks had this offseason was improving a power-play unit that ranked 16th in the league last season at 20.6 percent. The Sharks know they have to return to the level they were at in 2015-16 Authentic Joe Pavelski Jersey , when they ranked third on the power play on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.The Flyers had the early (furry) candidate for rookie of the year when they unveiled Gritty in the preseason. After some initial confusion over what exactly the wild-haired, googly-eyed creature was, Gritty was embraced and made surprise visits on most major morning and late-night talk shows. On the concourse, the Flyers’ arena host asked fans what they were most excited about for the opener, and it was near unanimous for Gritty. Sure enough, he swung like a pendulum as he descended from near the retired number banners, and the crowd went wild.Kane added his second of the game and fourth of the season in the second to make it 5-1. Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier and Barclay Goodrow also scored in the third for an 8-1 lead. Aaron Dell stopped 31 shots.Gostisbehere and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers.NOTES: The Flyers named Simmonds an alternate captain for the season, Andrew MacDonald will be an alternate captain for the Flyers on the road, and Couturier will be an alternate captain at home. Giroux will again wear the C, just as he has since 2013. … The eight goals allowed by the Flyers are the most they’ve given up in a home opener in their history.UP NEXTSharks: Play Thursday at New York Rangers.Flyers: Head to Ottawa on Wednesday.