Hathaway making smart plays that don’t always appear on the scoresheet

Garnet Hathaway’s numbers might be down this season but his overall contributions are up.
Game after game, the Flyers’ rough-and-tumble right wing makes his presence felt all over the ice.
On Saturday, he was playing his usual physical game and eventually a Shark, none other than Macklin Celebrini, took a run at Hathaway and the Flyers wound up getting a power play.
With the Flyers trying to break an 0-for-20 skid on the man advantage, Christian Dvorak ripped a shot into the San Jose net for a 2-1 lead. The Flyers went on to a 4-1 win at SAP Center at San Jose and a sweep of their California trip.
Hathaway entered the game with just one goal/three points with a minus-9. But the stats don’t really tell the story for his contribution to the Flyers’ all-around game.
Owen Tippett acknowledged Hathaway can be a real pest for other teams. Just prior to the Dvorak goal, a clearly frustrated Celebrini committed an obvious misplay.
“He gets under the other team’s skin,” Tippett pointed out. “He makes a big hit, draws a penalty and we score the game-winner. So that (drawing the penalty) was big.”
Hathaway has had talks with coach Rick Tocchet and basically the coach has told him to keep playing his usual game. He might not be getting those glamour goals but his hard work is appreciated.
“It’s a mindset,” Hathaway said during a televised interview. “And lately I’ve been trying to focus on it. It doesn’t necessarily show up on the scoresheet but it’s one where I’m trying to bring value to these guys.
“You see the effort that we have on this team. You see the work we put in for each other. And so night in and night out, I’m trying to help out. It’s my role and it’s one I take deep pride in.”

>Endurance test for Sanheim

Any time a defenseman plays 28 minutes, 57 seconds in a regulation-time game, you know he’s put in a full night’s work.
You won’t hear any complaints from Travis Sanheim, however. That’s just a few minutes over a normal night’s work for him.
Sanheim also chipped in with his eighth goal of the season in the 4-1 win at San Jose.
The veteran is encouraged by the way his team has played since the Olympic break.
“It’s hard to win in this league,” he said. “It takes a gutsy effort like that, come into a building like this. . .they’ve been playing well this year. They’re a desperate team trying to get in and we were at the end of our road trip, probably the toughest one to play.
“After the back-to-back (Anaheim, Los Angeles) you jump into an afternoon game and your energy is a little low. You try to find a way. But the guys battled hard and pulled through. If we stick with it, we’re going to get looks, we’re going to get opportunities. We’ve been doing a nice job of it.”