PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. STARS
Returning to action after a five-night break in the schedule, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-1) host Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (4-1-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network and on CSN Philadelphia in the Delaware Valley. In Dallas, the local broadcast is radio only (The Ticket 1310 AM/96.7 FM).
This is the first of two meetings this season between the teams, and the Stars' lone visit to Philadelphia. The clubs will rematch at the American Airlines Center on Dec. 11. Last season, the teams split two games, with each winning on the other's home ice.
The Flyers are playing the front end of back-to-back games and will return to the ice on Wednesday for a road match against the Boston Bruins. The Stars are playing the third game of a four-game road trip, which will conclude on Thursday night in western Pennsylvania with a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Stars shut out the Pens, 3-0, in the regular season opener.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers enter this game coming off back-to-back home shutouts of the Florida Panthers (1-0) and Chicago Blackhawks (3-0) in their previous two games. Playing in the absence of Steve Mason (emergency family leave), new goaltender Michal Neuvirth recorded 31-save and 30-save shutouts to join Jeff Hackett as the lone goalies to notch shutouts in each of their first two career starts with the Flyers.
With Mason now back with the team, the Flyers' number one netminder could get the start against Dallas, with Neuvirth starting in Boston.
In the game against Chicago, Philadelphia got goals from Sam Gagner (power play), Claude Giroux and Matt Read to provide Neuvirth with all the offensive support he needed.
The Flyers went 1-for-6 on the power play against the Blackhawks and are 3-for-16 overall. Through the first four games, the
second unit has actually outplayed the top unit. On the penalty kill, the Flyers went 6-for-6 against Chicago and are 17-for-21 overall.
R.J. Umberger practiced in full on both Sunday and Monday after suffering an upper-body injury in the season's second game. Although now healthy, he appears likely to be a healthy scratch against the Stars with Gagner staying in the lineup.
At Monday's practice, Matt Read skated the left wing of Sean Couturier's line. Brayden Schenn (two goals, one assist through four games) played right wing on Scott Laughton's unit, with Gagner on the left side.
Dating back to the start of last season, the Flyers are 23-11-7 on home ice. They are just 10-21-12 on the road.
Despite their loss against the Stars when the teams met in Philadelphia last March, the Flyers have generally fared well against the Stars in recent years. Philly is 8-2-0 in its last 10 games against Dallas.
Stars outlook
Dallas has won each of the first two games of its current road trip and brings a three-game winning streak into this game.
Kari Lehtonen has started the last three games in goal for the Stars. He stopped 24 of 26 shots in his last start. Lehtonen was the winning goaltender in the Stars' visit to Philly last year, nipping Mason in a 2-1 decision. Overall, however, Lehtonen has had a rough time against the Flyers in his career. Lehtonen is 1-10-3 in his career games against the Flyers with a 3.49 GAA and .891 save percentage.
Antti Niemi, whom the Stars acquired in the offseason, started the first two games of the regular season. He shut out Pittsburgh in his debut (and even recorded two assists in the game) but then had a so-so outing in a road loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Excluding the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, Niemi is 2-1-0 with a 1.83 GAA and .936 SV% against the Flyers in his career.
Jamie Benn, the Stars' captain and the NHL's reigning Art Ross Trophy winner, has at least one point in all five games the club has played to date. Overall, he has eight points (five goals, three assists). Linemate Tyler Seguin was chosen the NHL's second star of the week for last week. Seguin has racked up eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last four games.
In the Florida game, Seguin racked up a pair of goals and four points. Benn also scored twice. Meanwhile, there is strong offensive depth through the top three lines.
The Stars struggled both defensively and on the power play during the preseason but have opened the season strong on special teams and moving in the right direction in two-way play. On the power play, Dallas is 6-for-18 thus far and have scored at least one power play marker in four of the five matches they have played. In the meantime, Dallas has not allowed an opposition power-play goal in four of their five games played to date; overall, Dallas is 9-for-11 thus far on the penalty kill.
Projected lines (subject to change, will be updated after morning skate)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
89 Sam Gagner - 21 Scott Laughton - 10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
15 Michael Del Zotto - 23 Brandon Manning
82 Evgeny Medvedev - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: R.J. Umberger (healthy), Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), Luke Schenn (healthy).
STARS
14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 10 Patrick Sharp
38 Vernon Fiddler - 90 Jason Spezza - 43 Valeri Nichushkin
13 Mattias Janmark - 20 Cody Eakin - 83 Ales Hemsky
21 Antoine Roussel - 12 Radek Faksa - 22 Colton Sceviour
33 Alex Goligoski - 3 John Klingberg
47 Johnny Oduya - 4 Jason Demers
2 Jyrki Jokipakka - 24 Jordie Benn
15 Patrik Nemeth - 5 Jamie Oleksiak
31 Antti Niemi
[32 Kari Lehtonen]
Scratches: Travis Moen (day-to-day, upper body), Patrik Nemeth (healthy), Jamie Oleksiak (healthy), Patrick Eaves (IR, lower body), Curtis McKenzie (IR, lower body), Brett Ritchie (IR, wrist surgery).
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