Flyers Hope to Stop Skid in Dallas
By Scott Cole
No the Dallas Stars are not as hated in Philly as the Cowboys. But when you are playing any of our Philadelphia sports teams, there is no love here waiting for you. And so the Flyers, in the midst of another losing streak, head to Dallas to take on the Stars.
The Stars, unlike the Flyers, are playoff bound and are one of the teams trying to take a higher seed in the West, as only six points separate top seeded Vegas from the currently fifth and sixth seeded Dallas and Minnesota. And while John Tortorella doesn’t like to call themselves “spoilers“, the Flyers do have an opportunity to play the role of spoiler here.
In their only matchup of the season so far, Dallas trounced Philadelphia 5-1 with the lone goal coming from Travis Konecny with Felix Sandstrom taking the loss.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 29-35-13 (71 points, 7th in Metro)
Starting with an OT loss in Ottawa, the Flyers have lost four in a row. This has been in large part due to the absence of starting goaltender Carter Hart. And to be fair, they have been playing better teams. Buffalo and Pittsburgh are fighting for two of the final three Eastern Conference playoff spots. St. Louis just missed the playoffs this season, but still have a lot of talent. Thankfully, Hart is expected to be back in net tonight.
Morgan Frost continued his hot streak. He has five goals and two assists in his last five games. If this is the sort of production we can expect in the future, the Flyers future could be bright. It took him a while to get rolling this year, but he’s been blooming late. And he’ll turn just 24 in May.
James van Riemsdyk also scored a goal. That was his first since they played Buffalo right after St. Paddy’s Day. I know a lot of people were upset that Chuck Fletcher didn’t move him, but with a high priced talent who has just scored his 11th goal (even after being injured), it could be nobody wanted him. He’s kind of disappeared lately on the third line.
Projected Lineup
Owen Tippett — Noah Cates — Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee — Morgan Frost — Wade Allison
James van Riemsdyk — Scott Laughton — Nicolas Deslauriers
Kevin Hayes — Tanner Laczynski — Brendan Lemieux
Ivan Provorov — Cam York
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler — Ronnie Attard
Carter Hart
Dallas Stars
Record: 42-21-14 (98 points, 2nd in Central)
The Stars are tied with the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the Central with 98 points, but because they have fewer wins, are currently in second. Nevertheless, they are among the teams vying for that mad scramble at the top of the Western Conference standings. They are also really good. They are 8th best in goals score, 7th best in goals against, 7th in power play percentage, 3rd best in penalty kill (behind only Boston and Carolina ), and have taken the 5th fewest penalties. In short, they can score, defend, and are well disciplined.
Because they are fighting for a home ice advantage in the playoffs, they will be coming out hot and heavy. This is going to be a hard fight. However, that’s what Tortorella wants. He wants the Flyers to bring it, even if they lose, and the opposing team to bring it. And that’s what’s going to happen tonight. Tough competition makes a team better.
Projected Lineup
Jason Robertson — Tyler Seguin — Joe Pavelski
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Evgenii Dadonov
Max Domi — Ty Dellandrea — Joel Kiviranta
Fredrik Olofsson — Radek Faksa — Luke Glendening
Ryan Suter — Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell — Jani Hakanpaa
Thomas Harley — Colin Miller
Jake Oettinger
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 8:30 PM
Where: American Airlines Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: FuboTV
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