One thing the Flyers had going for them when the final buzzer sounded Tuesday night was that the game ended at 1:10 a.m. on the East Coast.
John Tortorella's club will have to live with being a punching bag over the next couple of days. It's going to take some shots after losing, 2-1, to the previously winless Sharks, a team that was off to a historically bad start.
The Flyers (5-7-1) trailed for all but 1:42 minutes at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
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They've been outscored 7-1 in their last two games and have dropped seven of their last nine (2-6-1).
The Sharks (1-10-1) came in winless through 11 games and with a minus-43 goal differential. The 11 consecutive losses to start a season tied an NHL record. Their past two losses were by a combined score of 20-3.
Against the Flyers, San Jose had its first two-goal lead of the season. When time on the third-period clock expired, it had its first win of the season.
• Look, the Sharks were going to eventually win a game; you just didn't want to be the opponent.
NHL
And that turned out to be the Flyers.
What's ugly about it is that the Flyers couldn't get things going offensively against a San Jose team that was surrendering 4.91 goals per game. The Sharks had been outscored 32-4 in their previous five games.
But the Flyers could scratch across only one goal on 39 shots three days after being blanked by the Kings, 5-0.
When San Jose picks up a few more wins along the way, many will probably forget the Flyers were its first. In the grand scheme, it's not that big of a scar for the Flyers. The fact is they've dealt with worse, like a 13-game losing streak and a pair of 10-gamers.
The Flyers, in a rebuild, will have another chance to play the Sharks and plenty of opportunities to alleviate any shame from the loss.
• Sean Couturier was back in the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury.
His presence couldn't spark the club's goal-scoring efforts.
The power play hurt the Flyers again. It went 0 for 4 and is now 4 for 45 on the season.
Joel Farabee was the team's lone goal scorer Tuesday night. The marker came late in the second period after video review deemed Farabee's shot on San Jose netminder Mackenzie Blackwood actually cleared the goal line.
• The numbers may not show it but Samuel Ersson was fine. He finished with 17 saves on 19 shots and was not a problem.
The 24-year-old gave the Flyers a very good chance to win.
William Eklund extended the Sharks' lead to 2-0 with a 4-on-3 power play goal during the second period.
Blackwood has faced the Flyers a bunch from his days with the Devils. The 26-year-old entered 8-2-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .917 save percentage lifetime against the Flyers. He stopped 38 of their 39 shots Tuesday night.
• Anthony Duclair's goal 1:43 minutes into the action was an important one because it put the pressure squarely on the Flyers.
Under two and a half minutes later, Nicolas Deslauriers and Givani Smith dropped the gloves. Deslauriers was defending Sean Walker after the defenseman took a hit in the back from Luke Kunin.
Despite outshooting San Jose 13-4, Tortorella's team was sloppy in the first period.
• After being benched for the third period last Saturday, Cam York was taken off the power play against the Sharks.
Walker quarterbacked the second unit. Perhaps the Flyers were looking to manage York's minutes, lessening the load on his shoulders. The 22-year-old defenseman has played a lot.
But, still, York should be on the man advantage moving forward. It's one of the biggest ways he can help the Flyers.
• Morgan Frost was a healthy scratch and has sat for more than half of the Flyers' games.
• The Flyers finish their three-game trip through California with a back-to-back set. They visit the Ducks on Friday (10 p.m. ET/NBCSP+) before facing the Kings on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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