FLYERS-STARS GAME PREVIEW (3:00 AM EST)
Looking to pull above the .500 mark for the first time this season, the Philadelphia Flyers (13-13-2) are in Big D today to take on Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (13-9-5). Game time at the American Airlines Center is 2:00 p.m. eastern. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on March 20.
The Flyers bring a six-game winning streak against the Stars into this game. Both teams have undergone significant changes since they last played each other on Dec. 21, 2011. That match, a 4-1 Flyers win in Dallas, was a chippy affair in which Claude Giroux returned from a concussion in grand style with a goal and three assists. However, that game is probably most remembered for a verbal confrontation between then-Stars forward Steve Ott and then-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette at the end of the first period.
After today's game, the Flyers head to Ottawa. On Monday, they will play the Senators (for the third time in less than a month) in the fifth game of Philly's current six-game road trip. That game kicks off a three-game-in-four-night stretch that will see the Flyers end their road trip on Wednesday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and then return to Philadelphia to play the Montreal Canadiens the following night.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a rare win in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. On Wednesday night, Philly erased deficits of 1-0 and 3-1 to score five unanswered goals and skate off with a 6-3 victory over the Red Wings.
Sean Couturier, who turns 21 years old today, enjoyed the first regular-season four-point game of his career; scoring the game-winning goal and an empty netter in the third period to add to a pair of assists. Linemate Matt Read triggered the Flyers comeback with a late second-period tally. The line's third member, Steve Downie, scored a power play goal in the first period to knot the score at 1-1.
The Flyers went 3-for-3 on the power play in the Detroit game. Apart from the Downie goal, Claude Giroux wired home a game-tying goal and Scott Hartnell provided an insurance marker in the third period. For the season, the Flyers improved to 18th in the NHL on the power play at 17.3 percent efficiency (18-for-104).
Penalty killing was a big part of the Flyers creating momentum for themselves in the Detroit game. Philly killed off six of seven penalties, including one of a pair of five-on-three disadvantages. Of late, the Flyers have righted their ship on the penalty kill after a tough stretch that, fortunately, coincided with a streak of shutout play at five-on-five. For the season, the Flyers are 12th in the NHL on the penalty kill at 83.8 percent.
Despite the Flyers' strong penalty kill, it is a must for the team to reduce the frequency of bad penalties they take. Philly has played shorthanded 117 times this season; the second most in the NHL. A large percentage of the penalties -- including three in the Detroit game -- have been unnecessary and undisciplined minors.
Steve Mason made 32 saves against the Red Wings. Mason continued his streak of having yet to yield more than three goals in any game since joining the Flyers from Columbus at the trade deadline last season.
With each passing game, concern is growing over the severity of the back spasms experienced by Flyers' second-line center Vincent Lecavalier. He has missed the last two games and has been ruled out of today's game as well. Lecavalier remains officially on a day-to-day basis.
For my in-depth personal scouting report on things to watch today regarding the Flyers,
click here.
STARS OUTLOOK
The Stars have had some ups and downs of their own lately, going 2-0-3 in their last five games. However, the club has captured at least one point in 11 of their last 14 games.
Dallas is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss in Toronto, in which the club outshot the Maple Leafs by a 50-24 margin. In their previous game, the Stars were widely outshot and outchanced by Chicago but skated off with a 4-3 win in regulation after Chicago rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the second period.
One odd season-long trend for the Stars to date this season is that the club has often played better on the road that at home. Dallas is just 4-3-4 at the AAC, while it is 9-6-1 in away games. The Stars will look to start correcting that today.
Top line center Tyler Seguin returned to the Dallas lineup in Toronto after missing the two
previous games with concussion-like symptoms. He did not get on the scoresheet, but racked up eight shots on goal.
Seguin's linemate, Stars captain Jamie Benn, has been in a point drought of late. He has just one assist in the last five games and has gone eight games without a goal. However, he seems to be on the brink of a breakthrough. Benn generated seven shots on goal in the Toronto game and came close several times to getting back in the scoring column.
Of late, the Stars have been getting a lot of their scoring from the supporting cast of players. Energy line players such as Ryan Garbutt (who is dealing with a foot bone bruise but is expected to play today) and Antoine Roussel have been chipping in offensively with some regularity in recent games.
With the exception of fast-rising young defenseman Brenden Dillon, the Stars' blueline is in a state of flux and disarray. Team leader Stephane Robidas was recently lost for 4-to-6 months with a fractured right leg. Trevor Daley, arguably the Stars' most mobile defenseman, went down in the Toronto game with a high ankle sprain. He, too, will be lost for a significant amount of time.
One thing the Stars are almost always able to count on is stellar goaltending from Kari Lehtonen. The big Finn has been the number one reason why the Stars even got close to making the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and he's off to another strong start this season.
On the special teams front, the Stars have been, well, nothing special. They rank next the bottom of the NHL on the power play at 12 percent (11 for 92), and 20th on the penalty kill at 80.5 percent (70-for-87). However, despite the abundance of aggressive players (mostly forwards) in the Dallas lineup, only six teams have taken fewer penalties to date.
For my in-depth scouting report on the strengths and weaknesses of the Dallas team,
click here.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
12 Michael Raffl - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 9 Steve Downie
37 Jay Rosehill - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Vincent Lecavalier (back spasms), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
STARS
14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 43 Valeri Nichuskhin
13 Ray Whitney - 20 Cody Eakin -12 Alex Chiasson
72 Erik Cole - 10 Shawn Horcoff - 17 Rich Peverley
21 Antoine Roussel - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 16 Ryan Garbutt
4 Brenden Dillon - 5 Jamie Oleksiak
55 Sergei Gonchar - 23 Kevin Connauton
33 Alex Goligoski - 24 Jordie Benn
32 Kari Lehtonen
[30 Dan Ellis]
Possible scratches: Dustin Jeffrey (healthy), Aaron Rome (muscle tissue injury), Trevor Daley (IR, high ankle sprain), Stephane Robidas (IR, right leg fracture).
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