The Philadelphia Flyers, who are winless in their last 11 and have only won 5 of their last 27, will host the Dallas Stars tonight in Philadelphia and try to end their latest slump, the longest without a win since the 1998-99 season.
Forward and former Flyer Michael Raffl will not be playing at Wells Fargo Center for the first time since his trade from the Flyers to Washington last season. Raffl suffered a lower-body injury on Friday against Detroit and is out 10-14 days. Raffl did not appear in either of the Capitals’ matchups in Philadelphia after the trade, so his official return to Wells Fargo Center will have to wait another season as Dallas won’t come to town again this year.
The Stars been up and down this season and they currently sit two points out of a playoff position at the moment, but things are looking up as Dallas has won each of their first two games on this four-game road trip. They are coming off consecutive back-to-back, come-from-behind 5-4 victories in Buffalo and Detroit on Thursday and Friday and are looking to keep things rolling away from home.
Philadelphia, who is already depleted by injuries, will be without Wade Allison, who suffered a sprained MCL in his Flyers season debut on Saturday in Buffalo. Allison has only played in seven games with AHL Lehigh Valley after missing extensive time with ankle and elbow injuries, and this is another blow that will keep him out until the All-Star break. Defenseman Nick Seeler will be suiting up at wing on the fourth line to replace Allison.
PHI Record: 13-20-8, 34 pts, 8th in Metropolitan
DAL Record: 20-16-2, 42 pts, 5th in Central
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (7-13-5, .911 SV%, 2.90 GAA, 1 SO)
DAL Goalie: Jake Oettinger (9-4-0, .905 SV%, 2.73 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #28 Claude Giroux – #89 Cam Atkinson
#23 Oskar Lindblom – #21 Scott Laughton – #11 Travis Konecny
#20 Gerry Mayhew – #48 Morgan Frost – #71 Max Willman
#24 Nick Seeler – #59 Jackson Cates – #17 Zack MacEwen
#9 Ivan Provorov – #6 Travis Sanheim
#45 Cam York – #61 Justin Braun
#3 Keith Yandle – #70 Rasmus Ristolainen
#79 Carter Hart
#35 Martin Jones
DAL Projected Lineup
#21 Jason Robertson – #24 Roope Hintz – #16 Joe Pavelski
#14 Jamie Benn – #91 Tyler Seguin – #34 Denis Gurianov
#25 Joel Kiviranta – #40 Jacob Peterson – #47 Alexander Radulov
#27 Riley Tufte – #13 Riley Damiani – #11 Luke Glendening
#20 Ryan Suter – #3 John Klingberg
#23 Esa Lindell – #4 Miro Heiskanen
#44 Joel Hanley – #2 Jani Hakanpää
#29 Jake Oettinger
#70 Braden Holtby
Last Game PHI: 1/22/22, 6-3 L at Buffalo
Last Game DAL: 1/21/22, 5-4 OTW at Detroit
News and Notes:
– This is the second and final meeting between the two teams this season. The Flyers visited American Airlines Center back on November 13th and lost 5-2 to the Stars. James van Riemsdyk and Ivan Provorov scored the two Philadelphia goals.
– Keith Yandle will tie Doug Jarvis’ ironman streak for most consecutive games played tonight, and will break the record tomorrow against the Islanders. Tonight will be Yandle’s 964th straight game, and while he’s had a very down season, him making some league history in Orange and Black is pretty neat.
– Dallas has not played at Wells Fargo Center since October 19th, 2019, when they defeated the Flyers 4-1 on four answered goals to give Philadelphia their first home loss of that season.
– This is the 156th all-time meeting between the Flyers and Stars dating back to Dallas’ beginnings as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967. Philadelphia maintains a 76-46-32-1 all-time series lead. This is the 40th game between them since the North Stars franchise moved to Dallas in 1993 and became the Stars, in which the Flyers trail since 14-15-9-1.
– Claude Giroux scored two goals on Saturday and has four points in his last three games. Cam Atkinson assisted on both of Giroux’s goals in Buffalo and has three points in his last three games. Look for the linemates to work their usual magic tonight as they’ve been the Flyers’ top two players this season.
– Tonight’s game officially marks the second half of the season for the Flyers, as it is game number 42 of 82. With a decrepit 13-20-8 record halfway through the season, things can’t get much worse…can they?
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+, Radio – 93.3 WMMR
Injuries:
PHI – Patrick Brown (MCL), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Kevin Hayes (adductor), Joel Farabee (upper-body), Nate Thompson (shoulder), Wade Allison (MCL), Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Derick Brassard (hip)
DAL – Michael Raffl (lower-body), Radek Faksa (illness)
