The Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-1) return to action tonight for the first time in six days. The Flyers will welcome the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars (4-1-0) to the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:30.
This is the first of two meetings between the two clubs and the lone game in Philadelphia. They will meet in Dallas on December 11th.
Last season the teams split their season series with each team winning on the road.
Prior to the long layoff, Philadelphia won their previous two games. Michal Neuvirth pitched back to back shutouts in wins over Florida and defending champion Chicago. The back up netminder was outstanding filling in for starter Steve Mason who was unavailable to attend to family issues.
Mason has returned to the team and figures to be back between the pipes tonight.
Brayden Schenn , two goals and one assist, leads the team in scoring through the first four games. Matt Read has also chipped in two goals so far.
Claude Giroux scored his first goal of the season in Wednesday's game against the Blackhawks while last year's points leader Jakub Voracek recorded his first point of the year with an assist.
Dallas comes into the game tonight boasting the highest goals per game average in the early season. The Stars average 3.80 goals for per game through their first five contests.
Benn and Tyler Seguin are tied for the team lead with eight points each. Jason Spezza sits one point behind those two with seven points.
Kari Lehtonen , 3-0-0 with a 2.35 goals against average and a .920 save percentage, is the Stars number one goalie and figures to get the start tonight. Last season's 2-1 victory in Philadelphia was Lehtonen's first career win over the Flyers in 14 games. He is now 1-10-3 lifetime against the Flyers.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (T-17th, T-20th at home), Stars (21st, T-7th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-17th, T-1st at home), Stars (T-1st, T-1st on road)
- Last season Spezza and Seguin led Dallas with four points each in the two games against Philadelphia
- Voracek also notched four points in the two games a year ago.
- Milestone Watch: Mark Streit needs three points to reach 100 as a Flyer.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Sam Gagner-Scott Laughton-Brayden Schenn
Line 4: Chris VandeVelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan White
D-Pair 1: Nick Schultz-Mark Streit
D-Pair 2: Michael Del Zotto-Brandon Manning
D-Pair 3: Evgeny Medvedev-Radko Gudas
Goalie: Steve Mason
Scratches: Luke Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier, R.J. Umberger
Where to Watch
TV: CSN Philly
Radio; 97.5 FM
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
