John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers (16-17-4) play the final game of the 2024 calendar year and the third game of a five-game road trip, facing Ryan Warsofsky’s San Jose Sharks (11-22-6) on Tuesday. Game time for the New Year’s Eve game at SAP Center is 8:00 p.m. EST.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with a 24-hour online simulcast on Flyers Radio.

This is the second and final meeting of the season series between the Flyers and Sharks. On November 11, the Flyers earned a 4-3 (2-0) shootout victory at the Wells Fargo Center. Travis Konecny ​​​​and Matvei Michkov scored regulation and shootout goals, respectively. Erik Johnson also scored for the Flyers, while Samuel Ersson stopped 28 of 31 shots. Vitek Vanecek made 40 saves for the Sharks, who overcame a 3-0 deficit to force overtime.

The Flyers come into this game after suffering a tough 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Philly had a 4-2 lead in the second period and a 4-3 lead in the third period, but lost in regulation time. Overall, December was a tough month for the Flyers (4-7-1),

The Sharks last played on Saturday and suffered a 3-1 home loss to the Calgary Flames. December was one of the worst months for the Sharks in their recent history. The team has only won two of twelve games (2-9-1).

Here are five things to keep in mind for Tuesday’s game:

1. Michkov vs. Celebrini

As the calendar prepares to turn to 2025, Flyers rookie winger Michkov and Sharks rookie center Macklin Celebrini are among the top candidates for the Calder Trophy. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson is also in the Calder race for the first three months of the season, along with New York Islanders winger Maxim Tsyplakov.

At the start of Tuesday’s game, Michkov and Celebrini are tied at the top of the table among rookies with 12 goals each. Michkov, who broke a seven-point losing streak with a goal and an assist in Sunday’s game, has topped all NHL rookies in assists (17) and total points (29).

In the final game of the season between the Flyers and the Sharks, tensions flared between Michkov and Celebrini. Celebrini incited Michkov to take a harsh penalty at the end of regular time. The Flyers were able to successfully end the resulting 4-on-3 situation in overtime. Michkov got the last laugh that night when he scored the winning goal in the penalty shootout.

2. Couturier line

After Sunday’s game in LA, Tortorella said that “most” players in the Flyers lineup made positive contributions to the game. He did not provide any information about which players he thought fell short of that mark.

However, based on the eye test and stat sheet, Tortorella may have felt that Sean Couturier’s top line of Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny ​​against the Kings did not live up to the head coach’s expectations. In fact, Couturier sat on the bench while the game was still open in the crucial phase of the third period.

The Flyers captain has been challenged by Tortorella before, including twice this season when he was either moved down the lineup or, very briefly, moved from center to left wing. Both times Couturier responded with big plays.

Couturier’s five-point game (hat trick, two assists) against the Minnesota Wild on October 26 came shortly after he was deployed on the left wing of the fourth line at the start of the home game against Vancouver the previous week. At the time, Tortorella publicly stated that longtime center Couturier might be more effective as a winger at this stage of his career because it would require him to cross less ice.

With the five-point explosion against a very good Minnesota club, Couturier made a clear statement that he can still play center (and play in the top lineup) in the NHL.

Most recently, Couturier was briefly moved to the fourth center line in the game on Dec. 18 in Detroit. Couturier came into the game with just one point (zero goals, one assist) in his last seven games. The captain’s response? He had two assists in the game, including a perfect assist to Ryan Poehling for a slam dunk at the far post.

On Tuesday in San Jose, the Flyers could use another big reaction game from their captain. Flyers top scorer Konecny ​​(16g, 25a, 41 points in 37 games played) is also a breakout candidate against the Sharks after the road trip began with back-to-back individual performances that weren’t up to his usual standard.

Tippett (11g, 11a, 22 points) was on a red-hot run until just before the holiday break. He has cooled off a bit in his last three games. Overall, Tippett has scored six goals and 10 points in the team’s 12 games so far in December.

Tortorella will likely keep Tippett along with Konecny ​​​​and Couturier at least at the start of Tuesday’s game. However, the Flyers’ head coach is not at all shy about throwing line combinations into a blender in any given game, and he often does so fairly early in a game when they feel that certain combinations may need a rework.

3. Flyer special teams

The Flyers are riding an 0-for-16 power play drought heading into Tuesday’s game. The club has fallen to 29th in the NHL in power play success rate (14.7 percent) throughout the season. San Jose ranks 17th in penalty kills at 79.1 percent.

At Thanksgiving, Philadelphia ranked third in the NHL in penalty killing with 85.7 percent PK. However, in the 16 games since Thanksgiving, PK has been difficult (61.8 percent, second to last in the NHL).

Overall, the PK fell to 22nd place league-wide (77.9 percent). The Sharks’ power play enters the game in 21st place (18.2 percent).

4. Attention to Detail: Winning Key Draws

In several recent editions of 5 Things, we have dedicated sections focusing on issues that have arisen regarding puck management and defensive structure. The Flyers have generally made some positive progress in the first two games since the holiday break, although there were still a few costly misses.

Before we play San Jose, let’s look at another aspect of the game: winning faceoffs. On a pure stat sheet, all faceoffs are the same, regardless of zone, number of men on the ice and other game situations.

In reality, some confrontations are more important than others. This is especially true for the first faceoff in the offensive zone of a power play and the draw in the defensive zone that triggers a penalty. The Flyers have struggled in both situations lately, with several opposing goals scored within seconds of a clean faceoff win in the Flyers’ end zone.

5. The F Troop: Farabee, Foerster and Frost

Joel Farabee ended the holiday break with goals in back-to-back games to begin the current five-game road trip. Overall, he scored six goals and scored 14 points in all 37 games.

Tyson Foerster, a third of the Flyers’ strongest team with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, has scored four goals and contributed two assists for six points in his last five games. He increased his total season output to 10 goals and 17 points in 36 games.

Center Morgan Frost has five points (3g, 2a) in his last five games. He is currently linked to Scott Laughton and Michkov and was previously linked to Tippett and Michkov. Overall, Frost has 17 points (7g, 10a) in 33 games played.