(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
The push for eight comes on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers return to the ice after the exciting win that brought their win streak to seven on Thursday.
Awaiting them are the Dallas Stars, who have struggled at times this season after being a force in the Western Conference during the regular season in 2015-16.
The Flyers and Stars are set to face off on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Stars Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
Jake Voracek | 29 | 10 | 18 | 28 | Tyler Seguin | 28 | 10 | 19 | 29 |
Claude Giroux | 29 | 9 | 19 | 28 | Jamie Benn | 28 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
Wayne Simmonds | 29 | 15 | 11 | 26 | Patrick Eaves | 27 | 10 | 8 | 18 |
Brayden Schenn | 26 | 4 | 12 | 16 | Antoine Roussel | 28 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
Mark Streit | 29 | 5 | 10 | 15 | Jason Spezza | 21 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
Player to Watch | |
28 Claude Giroux | 91 Tyler Seguin |
Last 5 Games: 4 G, 4 A, 8 P, +9 | Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, E |
Goalie Matchup | |
35 Steve Mason | 32 Kari Lehtonen |
11-8-3, 2.82 GAA, .905 SV% | 6-8-3, 2.90 GAA, .896 SV% |
For the 13th time in 14 games, Steve Mason is in goal. While Mason didn't fare well on Thursday, he is likely to start on Saturday in the first half of a back-to-back this weekend.
Kari Lehtonen makes his 18th start for the Stars this season. Lehtonen is 2-3-0 in his last five games. Lehtonen claimed his first ever career win against the Flyers last season, bringing his record against them to 1-10-3 with a 3.49 GAA.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Taylor Leier, Nick Schultz, Michael Del Zotto, Sean Couturier, Michal Neuvirth, Matt Read
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 93 Jake Voracek |
11 Travis Konecny | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
27 Boyd Gordon | 25 Nick Cousins | 22 Dale Weise |
Defense | ||
3 Radko Gudas | 32 Mark Streit | |
47 Andrew MacDonald | 9 Ivan Provorov | |
53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 23 Brandon Manning | |
Goalie | ||
35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (2nd, 11th at home), Stars (14th, 10th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (23rd, 22nd at home), Stars (27th, 29th on road)
- Recent History vs. Stars
- Oct. 20, 2015 - The Stars claimed a 2-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn scored in the first period. The Flyers cut the lead to one midway through the third on a goal by Sean Couturier. Antti Niemi made 34 saves to pick up the win while Steve Mason stopped 30 of 32 shots.
- Dec. 11, 2015 – The Stars picked up a 3-1 win over the Flyers in Dallas. The Flyers got on the board first near the halfway point of the game on a goal by Shayne Gostisbehere. But with under six minutes to play in the second, Mattias Janmark scored to tie the game and Antoine Roussel scored with 2:32 left in the period to put Dallas on top. Jamie Benn added an empty-net goal late to seal the win.
- Flyers leaders vs. Stars
- Claude Giroux – 11 games, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points
- Jake Voracek - 19 games, 2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points
- Mark Streit - 11 games, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points
- Steve Mason - 14 games, 5-6-1, 2.64 GAA, .912 Sv%
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic