Nearing the end of a five-night break in the game schedule, the Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-1) practiced on Monday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, in preparation to play the Dallas Stars (4-1-0) on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Based on the line rushes, it seems as if R.J. Umberger -- who has practiced in full each of the last two days -- will sit out one more game. The most frequent combination of reps on the third line saw Scott Laughton centering left winger Sam Gagner and right winger Brayden Schenn. Matt Read was on Sean Couturier's line. All other forward combinations and defense pairs were the same as last game.
While it is unconfirmed at this point, it seems that Steve Mason will get the start in goal following his return from family-related leave. Although Mason came out together with Michal Neuvirth shortly before the start of practice to work with goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh -- Mason more typically comes out alone the day before a start -- Mason practiced in what is usually the "next night starter's net" once all of the players were on the ice.
Dallas in one of the NHL's best skating teams and can overwhelm an unprepared opponent with their offensive arsenal. Defensively, the Stars still have plenty of room for improvement but thus far a playing a little better away from the puck than they did last season or during a rough preseason.
The one thing the Flyers want to do is avoid getting into "track meet" of trading off chances with the Stars, even though Philly prevailed in overtime in such a game against the Stars in Dallas early last season.
"We've played some pretty good teams here in the early going," said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol, whose team has already played against both Stanley Cup finalists from last season.
"For sure, Dallas is another team that can create offense and they can do it pretty quickly. So we've got to be good without the puck. In turn, we've got to have an attack mentality but we've got to make sure we're doing it our way. Sometimes that means you've got to put a puck to an area and make it hard on the other team. For me, it's about making good decisions with the puck, knowing when to put it to an area and when to attack with possession."
Last season, the Stars' team 3.13 goals against average ranked tied for 25th in the NHL. Actually, the team tightened up its two-way game down the stretch to finish where it did. For much of the season, the team GAA hovered around 3.30 and ranked neck-and-neck with Edmonton and Buffalo as the worst in the NHL.
In the early going of the new season -- following a brutal preseason in which neither the team defense nor the goaltending looked good at all -- the Stars have shown some improvement away from the puck. There have still been some horrific gaffes, such as one that led to a 2-on-0 breakaway goal by Florida's Brandon Pirri last game -- but at least things have moved in the right direction overall.
Defensively, the addition of Johnny Oduya has helped the Stars on the blueline. The defense corps remains a mobile one that can trigger rapid breakouts, even with the subtraction of Trevor Daley. Second season NHLer John Klingberg is one of the top young puck-movers in the league and can also put some points, as can veteran Alex Goligoski. Overall, though, the Stars still lack physical presence with their current starting six and stil need a little more consistent backchecking puck support from the forwards.
Young defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak have yet to appear in a game this season. One or both could start against the Flyers, although the Stars' record in the early going could prompt Ruff to stay with the same blueline lineup.
The Stars practiced in Sunrise, FL on Monday morning before departing for Philadelphia in the afternoon. In a video posted on the team's official website after practice, Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff said the team's two-way game is still a work in progress.
"We're trying to strike a balance where lines can be good defensively but still be good offensively," Ruff said.
New acquisition Antti Niemi started the first two games of the regular season in goal, and shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins in his regular season debut. He did not fare very well in the second game in Denver against the Avalanche, but the entire team had a rough overall game in what was the club's lone loss to date.
Kari Lehtonen has started the last three games in goal for the Stars. He has played well. Victorious for the third straight start, Lehtonen stopped 24 of 26 shots in his last start. The Big Finn did a good job of giving his team a chance to win when it seemed like frustration was close to setting in against the highly structured Florida Panthers. Last season, Lehtonen got torched in his first start against Philly. In March, he finally won a game against the Flyers for the first time in his career. Lehtonen is 1-10-3 in his career games against the Flyers with a 3.49 GAA and .891 save percentage. Niemi is 2-1-0 with a 1.83 GAA and .936 SV%.
Offensively, the Stars are deep and very dangerous, with three lines capable of scoring.
It was only a matter of time until Dallas Stars top-line sniper Tyler Seguin started to heat up offensively, and the team's deadly top line overwhelmed an opponent. On Saturday night in Sunrise, Seguin's line with reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn and veteran standout Patrick Sharp detonated against the Florida Panthers.
Leading the charge in a comeback 4-2 victory after trailing 2-0 midway through the game, Seguin broke loose for his second and third goals of the young season and also added a pair of assists. Team captain Benn scored third period power play and empty net goals off crucial plays by Seguin to knot the score at 2-2 and then to seal the victory after Seguin put Dallas ahead with just 3:02 left in the game.
Sharp, who briefly left the game in the first period after unsteadily leaving the ice following a clean hit along the offensive zone boards from Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson, got into the act with a pair of assists. It was Sharp who fed Seguin for a breakaway goal in the second period that cut the gap to 2-1 at a time where the game seemed to be on the brink of getting away from the Stars. Later, Sharp got a helper on Benn's empty net goal following a crucial blocked shot by Seguin.
Even beyond the top line, the Stars have numerous weapons up front. Jason Spezza, who notched a hat trick in the Stars' 4-2 home win over the Edmonton Oilers, anchors the second line. Ales Hemsky, a disappointment in an injury-plagued first season in Dallas, has an early-season rivival and rookie Mattias Janmark has followed an excellent preseason with a strong start to the regular season. Third-line center Cody Eakin is an underrated two-way presence.
Stars' 2012 first-round pick Radek Faksa made his NHL regular season debut in Saturday's game. Meanwhile, 2013 first-round pick Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup after sittng out the previous two games as a healthy scratch. Nichushkin saw some time on the Seguin line while Sharp was briefly unavailable during the first period.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
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 (per Dallas media coverage of morning skate)
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 / 27 Travis Moen
33 Alex Goligoski - 3 John Klingberg 47 Johnny Oduya - 4 Jason Demers 2 Jyrki Jokipakka - 24 Jordie Benn 15 Patrik Nemeth - 5 Jamie Oleksiak
32 Kari Lehtonen / 31 Antti Niemi