The Philadelphia Flyers haven't won a game this season and they haven't beaten the San Jose Sharks in nearly eight years - both skids that were extended in their most recent defeat.

They didn't have to wait long for another chance to end both.

The NHL's last winless team will try to shed that label when the Flyers and Sharks complete a rare cross-country home-and-home series Wednesday night at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center.

The Flyers (0-3-2) finished 2007-08 in impressive fashion, advancing to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Pittsburgh. But this season's team has started out looking more like Philadelphia's 2006-07 club, which had an NHL-low 56 points.

Defensive struggles have plagued this season's Flyers, as they've allowed 22 goals in five games for a league-worst 4.40 goals-against average. Starting goalie Martin Biron has a 5.74 GAA in three starts - all regulation losses - while backup Antero Niittymaki took the loss despite making 40 saves Saturday, when Philadelphia closed a three-game road trip with a 5-4 overtime defeat at San Jose.

"It's not the start we envisioned," Niittymaki said. "It is what it is right now. We just have to paddle through it and find a way to win. At least we played better this game."

The Flyers will try to regroup with Niittymaki again in net, as the goalie - 0-0-2 with a 2.84 GAA this season - will earn another start on Wednesday in place of the struggling Biron.

"I just felt that he really earned us a point there with his play," Flyers coach John Stevens told his team's official Web site. "Niitty made some goal-saving saves (Saturday) and made a lot of saves on effort and I just feel like you reward that kind of effort and give him a chance to win the game this time."

The loss extended the Flyers' winless streak against the Sharks to eight games, as they've scored just 13 goals and gone 0-5-1 with two ties over that span. They last beat San Jose on Dec. 21, 2000.

The Sharks (5-1-0) are off to a much better start to the season than Philadelphia. On Saturday, they outshot the Flyers 45-17, but still trailed for most of the game until Devin Setoguchi tied it late in the third period and defenseman Dan Boyle scored his first San Jose goal in overtime.

"It was a pretty resilient effort on our behalf, and I think our players can take something from that," first-year Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "They have the ability to come back, but we don't want to be in that spot very often."

They'll hope to avoid more deficits by tightening up their defense. After allowing just four total goals during their 4-0-0 start, they've given up four in each of their last two contests. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov has allowed all eight goals on just 37 shots over that span, though he remained unbeaten (4-0-0 with two ties) with a 1.98 GAA in seven career starts against the Flyers.

Wednesday's matchup concludes the season series, but opens a three-game East Coast swing for San Jose.

The Sharks were the NHL's best road team last season, going 27-10-4, but they struggled on their most recent trip, losing 4-0 at Anaheim Friday despite outshooting the Ducks 38-20.

As one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, the San Jose Sharks have high expectations - which don't include barely getting by the league's only winless team in consecutive games.

The Sharks look for a more complete effort on Friday, when they try to defeat the Florida Panthers for the seventh consecutive time.

After winning the Pacific Division in 2007-08, San Jose (6-1-0) has gotten off to another strong start. The Sharks have earned 12 of a possible 14 points, although they had some trouble in their last two games defeating Philadelphia, which has a league-low three points

After a 5-4 overtime win over the Flyers at HP Pavilion on Saturday, San Jose needed to go to a shootout Wednesday night in Philadelphia before winning 7-6 to complete the home-and-home sweep. Jeremy Roenick and Joe Pavelski scored shootout goals to help the Sharks salvage the victory after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period.

"Deep down we can't be very satisfied with our defensive effort," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "We weren't very happy with the way we played, with the way we turned the puck over."

The Sharks will now try to open with seven wins in eight games for the first time in their 17-year history. They appear to have a good chance, as they've won six straight meetings with the Panthers (3-3-0) since a 3-all tie on March 7, 2001.

San Jose has outscored Florida 30-8 during the winning streak. Patrick Marleau, who had two goals and two assists against the Flyers on Wednesday, has three goals and six assists in those games.

These teams have not met since San Jose's 2-1 victory at Florida on Oct. 31, 2006.

Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has been struggling, going 2-1-0 with a 4.51 goals-against average in his last three starts after opening the season 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA. He has been solid against the Panthers, though, posting a 1.75 GAA and one shutout to win his last four starts versus them.

While San Jose is trying to win its third straight game, Florida is looking to win back-to-back contests for the first time in 2008-09.

The Panthers have alternated wins and losses in their first six games, including Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Ottawa.

"As you win games, and we won this game, you get confident that you'll hang in and get the win," center Stephen Weiss told the team's official Web site. "After a while it becomes second nature."

To win again, Florida could use the type of defensive effort it had Wednesday. The Panthers have allowed three goals in their victories, but 15 in their losses.

Thomas Vokoun is expected to be back in net for this contest after backup Craig Anderson made 41 saves - including 38 in the final two periods - against the Senators.

Although the Panthers have had no luck against the Sharks lately, Vokoun has enjoyed plenty of success against them. Vokoun, who played for Nashville from 1998-2007, is 9-1-1 with a 2.28 GAA and one shutout in his last 11 games versus San Jose.

The Tampa Bay Lightning finally gave new coach Barry Melrose a victory. Making it two in a row won't be an easy task as they host the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

After opening with five straight losses, Tampa Bay (1-2-3) blew a two-goal lead but won 3-2 in overtime over Atlanta on Tuesday for Melrose's first victory with the Lightning and first since 1995 when he was coaching the Los Angeles Kings.

"I'd like an easier one," Melrose said. "I'd like a 7-0 or something. But this is probably a really important win for us because of us coming back and winning after giving up a 2-0 lead."

Vincent Lecavalier scored the winner, while Vinny Prospal and Mark Recchi each added a goal. Martin St. Louis recorded a pair of assists in Tampa Bay's fourth straight overtime contest.

"When you're up 2-0, you don't want to go to overtime," said Lecavalier, who has scored his team-leading three goals over the last four games. "But the guys stayed positive and we kept playing hard. We battled through and got the game."

Mike Smith made 31 saves to improve to 1-1-2 with a 1.92 goals-against average for Tampa Bay, which faces San Jose for the first time since losing 4-2 at home to the Sharks on Oct. 29, 2006.

It's uncertain if defenseman Marek Malik will make his debut after signing a one-year deal with Tampa Bay on Thursday. The 33-year-old veteran played in 42 games with the New York Rangers last season, recording two goals and 10 points.

Lecavalier and St. Louis had a goal apiece in the most recent contest with San Jose, and both Tampa Bay stars have tallied three goals and three assists each in their careers against the Sharks.

The pair will likely need to be at their best Saturday as they face San Jose (6-2-0), which owns a Western Conference-high 12 points and has matched its best start in franchise history after eight games set in 2005-06.

The Sharks, though, hope to conclude their three-game road trip by bouncing back from a 4-3 loss at Florida on Friday. Patrick Marleau scored his team-leading fifth goal and Evgeni Nabokov made 30 saves for San Jose, which has allowed four goals or more in each of its last four games where it is 2-2-0 during that span.

"I hope we're figuring out that four is sort of the magic number," said San Jose coach Todd McLellan, whose team lost 4-0 at Anaheim on Oct. 17. "We're not going to win many games giving up four goals."

Nabokov, a first-team All-Star last season, was in goal for each of the last four games, giving up 18 goals for an .820 save percentage during that span.

"It's early in the season and he's working on his game," said McLellan of Nabokov, who is 2-3-0 with a tie and a 2.78 GAA against Tampa Bay. "Our confidence in him hasn't wavered one bit. He's still one of the top goalies in the league."

With a back-to-back situation presenting itself, Brian Boucher could make his second start after recording 21 saves in a 1-0 win at Los Angeles on Oct. 12. Boucher is 5-4-0 with a tie and a 2.87 GAA against the Lightning.

Marleau has three goals in his last two games and eight goals with five assists in 14 versus Tampa Bay. He has five goals with an assist in his last five contests against the Lightning.

A two-game goal flurry has helped the San Jose Sharks remain hot.

They haven't needed too much production on offense to dominate the Minnesota Wild in recent years.

The Western Conference-leading Sharks look to remain perfect at home and defeat the Wild for the eighth consecutive time when the teams meet Tuesday night.

San Jose (10-2-0), which has won four straight overall, has scored nine goals in its last two games after being held to three or fewer in each of its previous three contests.

This matchup opens a three-game homestand for San Jose, which has averaged 3.8 goals while winning all six of its games at HP Pavilion this season.

The Sharks, though, have won seven straight against Minnesota (7-2-1) mostly due to dominant defense, outscoring the Wild 20-10 in regulation. They haven't lost to the Wild since a 4-1 defeat at home on Oct. 21, 2006.

Minnesota is tied with Calgary atop the Northwest Division, but faces a tall order against a San Jose team coming off one of its best offensive efforts of the season. The Sharks got two goals each from Devin Setoguchi and Milan Michalek in a 5-3 victory at Colorado on Sunday night.

"Everyone is putting up points," said Setoguchi, one of five San Jose players with at least 10 points. "Every line, when they can contribute like that, it's tough for other teams to match lines. It's pretty effective for our team."

Setoguchi, the eighth overall pick in the 2005 draft, has seven goals in 12 games after scoring 11 in 44 contests as a rookie last season. The 21-year-old winger, though, has been held off the scoresheet in three career games against the Wild.

Despite its history in this series, Minnesota is a threat to slow down Setoguchi and the Sharks. The Wild improved to 4-1-0 on the road with a 3-2 win over Phoenix on Saturday night to open a four-game trip.

Minnesota, already without Marian Gaborik and Owen Nolan due to lower-body injuries, lost defenseman Brent Burns minutes before Saturday's game to an upper-body injury sustained in warmups. Tomas Mojzis, originally on the list of scratches, dressed and left in the second period with an upper-body injury.

Nolan, Burns, and Mojzis are all listed as day-to-day. Gaborik is on injured reserve and has missed eight straight games.

As the injuries continue to mount, the Wild have asked Eric Belanger to play a number of roles. On Saturday, the center scored with 9:25 left to lift Minnesota over the Coyotes.

"I feel good out there and I'm playing with a lot of confidence," Belanger said. "My legs feel great. I'm playing in every situation, and as a player you can't ask for any more."

Mikko Koivu also scored after being held off the scoresheet in the two previous games. The fourth-year center leads the Wild with 14 points (two goals, 12 assists).