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Flyers Gameday: 3/27/18 @ DAL |
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GAME 77 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS STARS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (38-25-13) are in Texas on Tuesday to take on Ken Hitchcock's Dallas Stars (38-30-8) at the American Airlines Center. Game time is 8:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the inter-conference teams, and the lone game in Dallas.
On Dec. 16 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers earned a 2-1 overtime win. Shayne Gostisbehere notched a pair of power play goals, including the overtime winner. Jakub Voracek earned two assists, while Claude Giroux assisted on the winning goal. Gemel Smith notched the lone Dallas goal. Remi Elie and Martin Hanzal got the assists as Dallas opened the scoring seven-plus minutes into the first period and then held the lead until midway through regulation.
There will be different goaltenders for both sides than in the first meeting. Philadelphia's Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery) and the Stars' Ben Bishop (knee) are rehabbing injuries and currently remain unavailable.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are 3-0-2 in their last five games. Tuesday's game is the middle segment of a road 3-in-4 across three time zones, and the front end of back-to-back set that will conclude on Wednesday in Colorado.
On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Flyers held a 1-0 lead in the first period and a 2-1 lead at intermission. The Flyers soon found themselves trailing by early in the second period before tying the game at 3-3. Sidney Crosby put the Penguins back ahead, 4-3, early in the third period before the Flyers forced OT on a 6-on-5 in the final minute. Brian Rust won the game for Pittsburgh at 2:25 of overtime.
Jordan Weal broke loose on Sunday for the first three-point game (power play goal, two assists) of his NHL career. Travis Sanheim scored the second goal of his rookie season, while Brandon Manning also scored. Sean Couturier netted the tying goal in the final minute of the third period, potting a Gostisbehere rebound.
Alex Lyon got the start in goal against the Penguins but lasted just 22:37. Lyon stopped eight of 11 shots before giving way to Petr Mrazek (19 saves on 21 shots).
Michal Neuvirth is close to being ready to play, and might make his return to the lineup on the current road trip. That is unknown as of this writing, as the Flyers did not practice on Monday. Elliott may be able to return in the final week of the regular season.
Entering Tuesday's game, the Flyers are tied both in points (89) and ROW (36) with the Columbus Blue Jackets but the Blue Jackets hold third place in the Metro Division -- and the automatic playoff spot that comes with it -- via goal differential tiebreaker. Columbus visits the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Three points (and 36-34 ROW) behind the Flyers, the New Jersey Devils host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
STARS OUTLOOK
The Stars are on the bubble of the Western Conference playoff picture, and the bubble is close to bursting after Dallas lost four in a row in regulation and posted just one win in its last 10 games (1-7-2). The Stars are six points and 39-34 ROW behind lower wildcard Colorado and five points and 39-34 ROW behind St. Louis.
Dallas is 24-12-3 on home ice this season but the team's current homestand has not been the springboard the team hoped for after going 0-4-2 on a six-game road trip. The club sustained a gut-punch of a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins last Friday after taking a 2-0 lead into the third period. The Stars were unable to put it behind them as the lowly Vancouver Canucks came to town on Sunday and defeated Dallas, 4-1.
A late first period goal by two-way forward Mattias Janmark (19th of the season) was the lone highlight for the Stars. The Canucks responded on the very next shift; the first of four unanswered goals over the remainder of the game. Dallas hurt its cause with a half-dozen penalties and the Canucks went 2-for-6 on the power play. Kari Lehtonen stopped 23 of 26 shots in a losing cause before a late empty netter sealed the game.
When Hitchcock was hired to take over from Lindy Ruff, the team's top priority was to tighten things up defensively. That mission has been largely accomplished. After years of being ranked near the bottom of the NHL in goals against average -- but near the top in goals scored -- the Stars are now tied with Columbus for the ninth-lowest GAA in the NHL. Unfortunately, the offense has gone with it. Although the Stars have a plus-seven goal differential overall, their 215 goals scored rank tied (also with Columbus) for 21st in the NHL.
Challenged by Hitchcock before the season to become more of a complete two-way player, Tyler Seguin has enjoyed the best all-around season of his career and has also scored 39 goals among his 71 points. Rounding out one of the NHL's most formidable top lines, former Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn has produced 28 goals and 69 points while veteran Alexander Radulov has 26 goals and 65 points. From the back end, defenseman John Klingberg has posted 54 assists among his 61 points.
Veteran second-line center Jason Spezza has been out of the lineup for the Stars due to back issues. Martin Hanzal (spinal surgery) is done for the season and could miss six-plus months.
Hitchcock said on Monday that he was considering some lineup changes for this game. That could mean at least one among defenseman Julius Honka, forward Smith or big defenseman Dillon Heatherington getting into the lineup against the Flyers.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 24 Matt Read
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald - 6 Travis Sanheim
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
34 Petr Mrazek
[49 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 22 Dale Weise (healthy), 8 Robert Hägg (semi-healthy), 29 Johnny Oduya (healthy), 12 Michael Raffl (upper body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, core muscle surgery), 30 Michal Neuvirth (lower body).
STARS
14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 47 Alexander Radulov
21 Antoine Roussel- 12 Radek Faksa - 18 Tyler Pitlick
13 Mattias Janmark -17 Devin Shore - 25 Brett Ritchie
16 Jason Dickinson - 90 Jason Spezza- 40 Remi Elie
23 Esa Lindell - 3 John Klingberg
2 Dan Hamhuis - 29 Greg Pateryn
33 Marc Methot - 28 Stephen Johns
32 Kari Lehtonen
[35 Mike McKenna]
Scratches: 6 Julius Honka (healthy), 11 Curtis McKenzie (healthy), 46 Gemel Smith (healthy), 48 Dillon Heatherington (healthy), 30 Ben Bishop (knee, day-to-day), 10 Martin Hanzal (spinal fusion surgery).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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