PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. STARS

Returning home from a disastrous weekend on the road, Craig Berube's Philadelphia Flyers (28-26-13) play host to Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (29-27-10) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia and in Texas on Fox Sports Southwest Plus.

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Oct. 18 in Dallas, the Flyers earned their first win of the 2014-15 regular season with a seesaw 6-5 overtime victory.

Tuesday's game is the Flyers' fourth game in six nights. The club played back-to-back road games in Boston on Saturday and Newark on Sunday. On Thursday, the Flyers have a road game in St. Louis and then host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

The Stars are in the third game of a five-game road trip. The trip opened with a game in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers on Thursday and then a Saturday night tilt with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tuesday's game is the first segment of a three-in-four. The road trip will conclude this week with back-to-back games in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and in DC against the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Flyers outlook

On Saturday in Boston, the Flyers were 15 seconds away from closing to within two points of the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference wildcard chase. Instead, the Flyers sustained a 3-2 overtime defeat that left them five points out of the chase. On Sunday, coupled with a Boston win over Detroit, the Flyers fell seven points out after an ugly 5-2 loss in New Jersey.

The Flyers have been a much better home team than road club this season. At home, Philly is 19-8-6, with a 93-78 overall goal differential (2.81 GPG, 2.36 GAA) and a 30-21 special teams goal differential (25.7 percent power play, 83.3 percent penalty kill). Philadelphia's home record ranks 12th in the NHL and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

In Sunday's game, Steve Mason yielded five goals on 21 shots. This was the first time in the 2015 calendar year where he's given up more than two goals in regulation, and the first time since Nov. 14 that he's yielded more than three regulation goals. At home this season, Mason has a 12-4-4 record, 1.96 GAA, .935 SV% and one shutout.

The Flyers have gained at least one point in 16 of their last 20 games (10-4-6). In each of the last five matches, the Flyers have yielded the game's first goal and have won twice with six of 10 possible points.

Nicklas Grossmann sustained an upper-body injury while blocking a shot early in the second period of a Feb. 28 home win over the New York Rangers. He has missed the last four games. Grossmann skated on his own on Monday, and Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said there is an "outside chance" the veteran defenseman could start on Tuesday against his former team. Carlo Colaiacovo has started the last four games in his place.

Fellow defenseman Michael Del Zotto sustained an injury in the first period of Saturday's game in Boston. He returned to finish the game but it was announced on Sunday that he will be out for seven to 10 days. The Flyers recalled Brandon Manning from the Phantoms on Saturday, and Manning started in Del Zotto's spot against New Jersey.

Stars outlook

The Stars enter play on Tuesday staring at a 10-point gap in the Western Conference wildcard chase. At the trade deadline, the club traded impending unrestricted free agent left winger Erik Cole to the Red Wings in exchange for a Swedish prospects Mattias Janmark and Mattias Bäckman as well as a 2015 second-round pick.

Thus far on their road trip, the Stars are 1-1-0. On Saturday, two nights after downing Florida 4-3 via shootout, the Stars coughed up a third period lead in Tampa and went down to a 5-4 regulation loss. Overall, the Stars are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.

An inability to close out games when leading after two periods has been a chronic problem for the Stars this season, especially since the All-Star break. Dallas' winning percentage when leading after two periods (21-3-5 record, .724 percentage of emerging with two points, 47 of a possible 58 points) ranks 28th in the NHL, ahead of only Edmonton (.692) and Buffalo (.579).

Dallas has a lot of mobility on its blueline but not enough muscle and physicality. Paired with a spotty two-way commitment from the forwards, a tendency to turn pucks over in dangerous areas of the ice and inconsistent goaltending, the Stars enter play on Tuesday with a team 3.29 goals against average. On a league-wide basis, the Stars' GAA ranks ahead of only Edmonton (3.31 GAA) and Buffalo (3.35 GAA).

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who has never beaten the Flyers in his career, had always been a rock of consistently solid play (when healthy) since his arrival in Dallas. That has not been the case this season. The big Finn has been extremely inconsistent in his puck tracking and short-side angle coverages from game-to-game -- sometimes from period to period -- en route to posting a 2.98 GAA and .905 save percentage thus far this season. He does have four shutouts on the campaign, however.

The Stars recently acquired Jhonas Enroth from the Sabres as a rental in the hopes of upgrading their backup goaltending to the point that perhaps Enroth could even push Lehtonen for playing time. Thus far, however, Enroth has been mediocre. The undersized but athletically gifted Swede has posted a 1-5-0 record, 3.35 GAA and .873 save percentage thus far in seven appearances with the Stars. Enroth took the loss in Tampa.

Enroth’s lone win as a Star came in relief of Lehtonen, whom he replaced midway through the win over the Panthers that opened the current road trip. In fact, the only three wins for Dallas' backup goaltenders this season -- including two for Anders Lindbäck, who was traded to Buffalo for Enroth -- have been in relief appearances. In the combined 14 games started by Enroth (five), Jussi Rynnäs (one) and Lindbäck (eight), the Stars are 0-14-0.

The one thing the Stars do very well is attack with speed and put the puck in the net. Dallas enters this match averaging 3.09 goals per game. That ranks third in the NHL, behind only Tampa Bay (3.28) and the New York Islanders (3.10).

Dallas' offense got a boost on Saturday when Tyler Seguin returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a knee injury. He scored two goals in a losing cause against Tampa Bay. For the season, Seguin has 31 goals and 61 points in 56 games.

Team captain Jamie Benn leads the club in overall point scoring with 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) in 66 games. Jason Spezza is third on the club with 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) in 66 games.

Rookie blueline standout John Klingberg left Saturday's game early with a knee injury. He skated in Frisco on Monday and is officially day-to-day. He is questionable for Tuesday's game in Philadelphia but Ruff noted on Monday that the team is hopeful Klingberg will be available against the Flyers. For the season, the Swedish blueliner has posted 10 goals, 36 points and a plus-four rating in 52 games. The rookie hasn't been infallible defensively but has shown a high level of two-way potential.

On Sunday, the Stars recalled defense prospect Jamie Oleksiak (the club's 2011 first-round pick)
from the AHL's Texas Stars. Now in his third full pro season, the 6-foot-7 Oleksiak has excelled in the American Hockey League but has frequently struggled with decision making and positional play when playing at the NHL level. Ruff told Stars Inside Edge on Monday that the team wants to see more consistency and more physicality from the 22-year-old defenseman, who packs 250 pounds on his massive frame and has good mobility for a man his size.

Veteran defenseman Trevor Daley, who scored two power play goals against the Flyers on Oct. 18, has been having a career year offensively but has sacrificed defense while posting 16 goals and 33 points. Daley will not play on Tuesday against the Flyers as he continues to rehab a sprained knee.

Back on Oct. 18, Stars rookie defenseman Patrik Nemeth -- a player in the mold of ex-Star Grossmann but perhaps with superior mobility -- sustained a grisly forearm laceration from a skate cut accidentally inflicted by the Flyers' R.J. Umberger on the first shift of the game. Nemeth missed most of the season but has since returned to play after initially being projected to miss the entire year.

Elsewhere on the Stars' injury front, the 2014-15 season has been a lost season for 2013 first-round pick Valeri Nichushkin. A rookie standout at certain junctures of last season -- including a dominating performance in a Dec. 2013 home win over the Flyers -- Nichushkin suffered through a nagging hip/groin problem from the start of training camp this season and was eventually shut down (after just four games with the big club and a short AHL rehab stint) to undergo hip surgery. He remains on injured reserve but has resumed skating in a non-contact jersey.

Veteran left winger Travis Moen is also on the shelf for Dallas. The 32-year-old, who has dressed in 40 games this season (one goal, six assists), remains sidelined with an upper-body injury.

On many nights, the Stars go only as far as Benn and Seguin take them. The duo is capable of taking over a game. However, opposing teams also have to be aware of Spezza (especially on the power play), defensemen pinching up on the weak side and of the antics of agitating wingers Antoine Roussel (12 goals, 24 points, 126 penalty minutes) and Ryan Garbutt (seven goals, 21 points). Two-way forward Cody Eakin (15 goals, 30 points) is arguably the club's most underrated forward. Free agent signee Ales Hemsky (nine goals, 26 points in 60 games) has battled nagging injuries and inconsistent play this season, which included a brief stint as a healthy scratch.

When things are going well for the Stars, they go long stretches where they dominate puck possession and are a threat to score whenever they break out of their own end with speed through the neutral zone. When things are going wrong, opposing teams feast off turnovers and buzz around the net with impunity while throwing shots on net from every possible angle that have a chance of sneaking past a Dallas goaltender.

Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.60 (21st), Stars 3.09 (3rd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.81 (24th), Stars 3.29 (T-27th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.97 (22nd), Stars 0.93 (24th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 22.8% (T-3rd), Stars 18.1% (16th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 76.2% (28th), Stars 80.1% (22nd)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.6% (9th), Stars 51.2% (13th)


Projected lineups (Subject to change, will be updated)

FLYERS

10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
25 Ryan White - 12 Michael Raffl - 18 R.J. Umberger
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 36 Zac Rinaldo

55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
43 Brandon Manning - 22 Luke Schenn
26 Carlo Colaiacovo - 47 Andrew MacDonald

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Scratches: Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), Nicklas Grossmann (questionable, upper body), Michael Del Zotto (upper body), Radko Gudas (IR, knee surgery).

STARS

14 Jamie Benn - 90 Jason Spezza - 91 Tyler Seguin
21 Antoine Roussel - 20 Cody Eakin - 16 Ryan Garbutt
11 Curtis McKenzie - 10 Shawn Horcoff - 83 Ales Hemsky
22 Colton Sceviour - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 18 Patrick Eaves

33 Alex Goligoski - 3 John Klingberg
24 Jordie Benn - 4 Jason Demers
37 Patrik Nemeth - 2 Jyrki Jokipakka

32 Kari Lehtonen / 1 Jhonas Enroth

Scratches: Jamie Oleksiak (healthy, will play if Klingberg is unable to go or if someone else is removed from the lineup), John Klingberg (questionable, knee), Travis Moen (IR, upper body), Valeri Nichushkin (IR, hip surgery).

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