Meier gets 1st career hat trick as Sharks top Flyers 6-1
SAN JOSE,Calif. (AP) — A day after experiencing one of the toughest losses of a rocky season, the San Jose Sharks bounced back for a big win against a playoff contender.
Timo Meier had his first career hat trick, Martin Jones stopped 26 shots, and the Sharks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1 on Saturday night.
The Sharks were coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings in which they blew a two-goal lead in the third period.
“You’ve got to bounce back, that’s how the business is,” Meier said. “You’ve got to bounce back from bad games. ... Tonight was pretty good, but I know I can do more. Same as our team, we have to take more steps.”
Rookies Mario Ferraro and Joel Kellman each got his first NHL goal, and Patrick Marleau also scored to help the Sharks snap a four-game skid and win for the second time in 12 games.
“That was important that bounce back,” Sharks interim coach Bob Boughner said. “We talked about it even in the middle of the third period. We did a way better job tonight managing the puck and not turning pucks over and being heavy.”
Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers, who snapped a four-game win streak. Carter Hart finished with 23 saves.
Meier snapped a four-game pointless streak with his 12th, 13th and 14th goals in his second multi-goal game of the season.
Meier scored 9:21 into the second when he tipped in Brent Burns' shot from the blue line that gave San Jose a 3-0 lead.
Provorov got his ninth on a power play 51 seconds into the third to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Sharks extended their lead to 4-1 on Meier’s second goal of the night 45 seconds later as he finished a 2-on-1 with a backhander off a pass from Evander Kane. He completed the hat trick with 7:08 left as he tapped in a shot from just outside the crease off another pass from Kane.
Marleau scored his seventh goal with 2:40 remaining to cap the scoring. Joe Thornton had an assist on the play for the 1,079th of his career, which moved him into a tie with Adam Oates for seventh on the NHL’s all-time list.
Ferraro scored the game’s first goal from the slot off a pass from Barclay Goodrow, who finished with three assists. The 21-year-old was playing in his 34th NHL game.
The 25-year-old Kellman was on a breakaway when he slipped a backhander past Hart to make it 2-0 early in the second. Kellman was playing in his fourth NHL game.
“It was evident from the start that our execution was not there, even though I thought it got a little bit better early on in the third period, for most of the game we had a really hard time making any plays whether it be with the puck or on the forecheck without the puck. That’s why for two periods we didn’t spend any time basically in their end,” ,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.
“We just had a very bad game altogether. I have got nothing positive really to say about one player tonight, that hasn’t happened to me very often this year.”
NOTES: Flyers C Scott Laughton (groin) skated on Saturday but missed his sixth straight game. He will miss a few more days, Vigneault said. ... F Andy Andreoff was placed on waivers but played in Saturday’s game. … The Flyers fell to 8-10-1 on the road. They are 13-2-4 at home. … Former Sharks D Justin Braun played against his former team for the time since San Jose traded him to the Flyers on June 19. ... Sharks C Melker Karlsson left the game after being struck in the head by a slap shot with under eight minutes left in the first. He did not return.
UP NEXT
Flyers: At Anaheim on Sunday.
Sharks: At Detroit on Tuesday.
