Forward Filip Zadina scored twice on the man advantage Tuesday to establish a new career high for goals in a season — and keep up the momentum the San Jose Sharks have established in recent games with their power play.
But the Sharks’ thinned-out post-trade deadline roster can only afford so many mistakes, and a third-period miscue against the Philadelphia Flyers proved costly.
After Zadina tied the game with his second power-play goal at the 13:34 mark of the second period, the Sharks fell behind for good in the third period as Owen Tippett, on a delayed penalty call, scored his 23rd of the season to help give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers had the extra attacker on when Tippett charged toward the net and redirected a perfect Travis Konecny seam pass past goalie Magnus Chrona at the 5:09 mark of the third period. No one had an eye on Tippett as the pass went right through the Sharks’ setup on defense,
“We just fell asleep,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “We just got caught puck-watching and allowed that backdoor play.”
Besides the Tippett goal, the Sharks were shorthanded four times. They also went 2-for-5 on the power play, and now have 11 power-play goals in their last seven games.
Chrona, in his fifth career NHL start, established a new high with 39 saves as the Sharks, without the since-traded Anthony Duclair, Tomas Hertl, and Kaapo Kahkonen, not to mention the injured Logan Couture and Mackenzie Blackwood, lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
Hertl was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday just minutes before the NHL trade deadline. Kunin, an alternate captain, will be one of the players relied upon to fill the leadership void.
“He’s a big loss for sure. We know that,” Sharks winger Luke Kunin said of Hertl. “Just do what we do. I don’t think we change who we are as people, or who we are in the room.
“We all get to this point for a reason and I think you’ve got to just do what makes you the best player, best person, best teammate, leader that you are and just hope that guys jump on board.”
The Sharks and Flyers traded power-play goals in the second period.
Just 20 seconds after the Sharks were given a bench minor for too many men, Konecny’s shot went off Henry Thrun right to Morgan Frost, who settled the puck down before he fired it past Chrona for his 19th of the season at the 9:20 mark.
Late in the Sharks’ last power play of the second period, Klim Kostin took a pass from Alexander Barabanov and found Kunin open near the top of the circle. Kunin then passed the puck right to Zadina, who tapped it past Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson to tie the game 2-2.
Trailing 1-0, the Sharks took advantage of their second power play of the first period.
Zadina returned to retrieve the puck and sent a pass ahead to Barabanov, who dropped it off for Kunin. Zadina then went straight to the net, took a pass from Kunin, and beat Ersson with a forehand to backhand move to tie the game at the 19:19 mark.
The goal was Zadina’s 11th of the season, establishing a new career-high in 59 games, and gave the Sharks their ninth power-play goal in the last seven games. Zadina’s previous career-high for goals in a season was 10, set in 2021-2022 when he had 10 goals in 74 games.
The Sharks fell behind by a goal at the 3:29 mark of the first period, as after a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot toward the net was intercepted by Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee took off, accepted a pass from, Frost and beat Chrona between the legs on a breakaway shot for his 19th goal of the season.
INJURY UPDATES: Forward Mike Hoffman missed Tuesday’s game after his mouth was cut in the third period of Saturday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators. Hoffman was checked from behind by Senators forward Brady Tkachuk and had his face go off the glass before he fell to the ice. Hoffman had to be assisted off as the Sharks went on to a 2-1 victory that snapped a nine-game losing streak.
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Defenseman Jan Rutta missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury he incurred on March 7 in the loss to the New York Islanders. It’s unclear if Hoffman or Rutta will be able to return at some point on this road trip, which continues Thursday in Pittsburgh and includes stops in Columbus, Chicago and Nashville.
MILESTONE: Barabanov, who thought he would be traded Friday but wasn’t, played in his 200th career NHL game Tuesday.