Flyers at Stars
After falling short in their first two bids to climb over the .500 mark, the Philadelphia Flyers hope the third time is the charm on Saturday afternoon, when they visit the Dallas Stars. Philadelphia braved Winter Storm Cleon to enter the Lone Star State, but Mother Nature prevented the team from practicing on Friday by contributing to a power outage at the arena. The Flyers also weathered the storm after a franchise-worst 1-7-0 start and improved to 9-3-1 in their last 13 games with a 6-3 triumph over Detroit on Wednesday.
While Philadelphia is 2-1-0 on its six-game road trip, the home front has not been kind to Dallas of late. The Stars have dropped six of seven (1-2-4) at American Airlines Center and suffered a 3-2 overtime road loss to Toronto on Thursday. In addition to the setback, defenseman Trevor Daley suffered a lower-body ailment and was placed on injured reserve Friday - a tough blow for a team already dealing with life without veteran Stephane Robidas (broken leg).
TV: 2 p.m. ET, CSN (Philadelphia), KTXA (Dallas)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (13-13-2): Sean Couturier collected a career-high four points with two goals and two assists on Wednesday. While the sputtering offense received a jolt versus Detroit, Philadelphia has been kept off the ice for the past two days due to travel and bad weather. "We didn't practice yesterday, and you'd like to get on the ice and get some work in, get some skating going, get the goalies some shots," coach Craig Berube said. "It is what it is, so we've got to deal with it."
ABOUT THE STARS (13-9-5): Kari Lehtonen has been Dallas' go-to goaltender, but the Finn has limped to an 0-10-2 mark with a 3.50 goals-against average versus Philadelphia. Tyler Seguin returned from a two-game absence due to a concussion to be held off the scoresheet for the fifth consecutive contest. Seguin has feasted on the Flyers in his career, however, recording five goals and three assists in 10 games.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia suffered a 3-1 loss to Florida on Nov. 25 and a 2-0 setback to Minnesota on Monday in its previous two attempts to rise over .500 this season.
2. Dallas LW Ryan Garbutt sat out Thursday's game after taking a puck to his lower leg in a 4-3 victory at Chicago. Garbutt is expected to play versus the Flyers.
3. Philadelphia C Vincent Lecavalier shares the team lead in goals with RW Matt Read, but he will miss his third consecutive game due to back spasms.