After edging a resilient Carolina team, 6-5, on Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars return to the ice and shift their focus towards the Philadelphia Flyers, who will pay them a visit tonight at the American Airlines Center. Can they continue imposing their will in this one? Or will the Flyers pull off the upset? Read on as we break down this intriguing clash.
Line: Philadelphia Flyers (+1.5) at Dallas Stars (-1.5); total: 5.5 – view all NHL lines
Betting on the Philadelphia Flyers (12-11-6)
Behind Claude Giroux’s goal and two assists, the Philadelphia Flyers snapped their two-game slide at the expense of the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, 4-2. That win marked their 12th of the season and the seventh on the road. Up next on the Flyer’s schedule is a trip to Texas for an encounter with the No. 1 team in the Central Division—Dallas Stars.
[sc:NHL240 ]Key to Philadelphia’s victory would be to sustain their offense that’s managed to notch at least three goals in the past seven games despite ranking second-to-the-worst in league in scoring (2.0). The pair of Giroux and Wayne Simmonds is a testament to this offensive success. Both have already combined for 39 points (17 goals and 22 assists) across 28 games this and could prove to be troublesome for Dallas later.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Michal Neuvirth will get the much-deserved break after negating 35-of-37 shots against St. Louis. Steve Mason is expected to get the start this time around and he will be carrying a 5-8-4 record with a 2.93 GAA and .905 SV% through 18 contests (17 starts).
This should also be pretty good news for the Flyers, who are 6-4 SU and 4-5-1 AU in their previous 10 road games, because Masons’ fared solidly in this matchup with a 2.64 GAA and .912 SV% throughout 14 career starts. Philadelphia’s lost its last two meetings with the Stars, however.
Just when you thought that the Dallas Stars were about to cruise to an easy win on Tuesday night, things became really interesting down the stretch. The Stars held a 5-1 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes upon entering the third period. But then, their opponents apparently found their groove and tied things up at 5 apiece.
Well fortunately, left-winger Patrick Sharp was there to save the day for them. He delivered the biggest play of the match when he scored the goal on a power play with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to give his team the 6-5 triumph. That was also Sharp’s 10th goal across 28 games this season.
Now, the Stars will strive to build on this momentum and ultimately emerge victorious once again tonight. They’ll be up against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, who are 7-6-2 on the road. Dallas is 3-2 SU and OU in their last five meetings with them.
Offense shouldn’t be a problem for the Stars in this one. They have their fearsome duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who are both tied for second-place in the league with 39 points on the year, to lead them against a Flyers defense that’s allowing 2.71 GPG and 31.8 SPG. Both have fared quite well throughout their careers in this matchup, combining for 29 points (13 goals and 16 assists) in total.
It’s worth noting, though, that the Flyers seem to have woken up from its offensive slumber by averaging 3.7 GPG in their previous seven contests. Given this, a lot of pressure will be on the Stars’ netminder—Antti Niemi—to prevent Philadelphia from pouring in the points. Niemi holds a 7-2-0 record with a 2.53 GAA and .909 SV% through 10 home games (eight starts).
