SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks’ last home game of the 2022 calendar year ended in typically bitter fashion.
The Sharks coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period then saw Tony DeAngelo score 70 seconds into overtime, as the Philadelphia Flyers earned a 4-3 come-from-behind win before a sellout crowd of 17,562 at SAP Center on Thursday night.
Tomas Hertl had three points, Erik Karlsson reached 50 points for the season and goalie Kaapo Kahkonen had 22 saves as he was denied his first victory in a month.
Hertl scored in both the first and second periods and now has four goals in his last five games, but the Sharks fell to 4-10-6 at home this season. San Jose’s next game is on New Year’s Eve at American Airlines Center against the Dallas Stars.
Hertl’s second goal came on a power play, as he stood beside the Flyers’ net and redirected a pass from Timo Meier past goalie Samuel Ersson to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead at the 8:29 mark of the second period.
Hertl and Karlsson also assisted on a third period even strength goal by Kevin Labanc, who snapped a shot past Ersson at the 52-second mark of the third period for a 3-1 Sharks lead.
Owen Tippett and Scott Laughton scored in the third period for the Flyers.
Karlsson, who leads all NHL defensemen in points, also assisted on Hertl’s first period even strength goal, finding him in the slot as he stood in the corner to the left of the Flyers’ net.
Karlsson’s two-point night extended his point streak to a career-best 11 games, the longest point streak by a defenseman in Sharks franchise history.
Philadelphia Flyers’ Tony DeAngelo (77) celebrates his game-winning goal against the San Jose Sharks in overtime at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Nico Sturm (7) passes the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) fights for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers’ Travis Konecny (11) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44) fights for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers’ Nicolas Deslauriers (44) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier (28) takes a shot against Philadelphia Flyers’ Kevin Hayes (13) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (36) blocks a shot against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates his goal with San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (65) against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) high-fives the bench after scoring his second goal of the game against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Jonah Gadjovich (42) fights for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers’ Joel Farabee (86) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Alexander Barabanov (94) fights for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers’ Nicolas Deslauriers (44) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Kevin Labanc (62) is congratulated on his goal by Sharks’ Matt Nieto (83), Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) and Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (65) against the Philadelphia Flyers in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Philadelphia Flyers’ Tony DeAngelo (77) celebrates his game-winning goal against the San Jose Sharks in overtime at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The last time a Sharks player had a point streak of 11 games or longer was during the 2005-06 season, when Jonathan Cheechoo had points in 12 straight games from Dec. 26, 2005 thru Jan. 24, 2006.
Karlsson’s play helped the Sharks come into Thursday with the NHL’s sixth-best power play for the month of December, as the unit had connected on 10 of 35 attempts with the man advantage.
Prior to the game with the Flyers, the Sharks’ power play ranked 14th in the NHL at 22.8 percent. It was 19.7 percent at the start of the month.
Kahkonen came into Thursday with a 0-2-0 record, an .831 save percentage and a 4.88 goals against average in three games this month. His last start before Thursday was Dec. 18 at home against the Calgary Flames, as he allowed five goals on 25 shots in a 5-2 Sharks loss.
Kahkonen stoped eight of nine shots in the first period, including key stops on Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo and forward Travis Konecny.
