In the third match of a five-game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (28-34-8) are in the Lone Star State on Saturday afternoon to take on Pete DeBoer's Dallas Stars (43-21-4). Game time at American Airlines Center is 2:00 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final meeting of the season series between the teams and the lone game in Dallas. At Wells Fargo Center on January 9, the Stars prevailed by a 4-1 score.
First period goals by Mavrik Bourque and Roope Hintz put the Stars in the driver's seat. Wyatt Johnston finished off a chance created by veteran captain Jamie Benn for a 3-0 edge in the second period. In the third period, now-former Flyers center Morgan Frost broke up Casey DeSmith's shutout bid. Miro Heiskanen rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal for Dallas.
Struggling for offense and depleted by trades and injuries, the Flyers are 1-8-0 over their last nine games and 0-2-0 thus far on the road trip. On Thursday, the Flyers made a valiant effort at a third period comeback against the Washington Capitals but fell one goal short in a 3-2 loss. Ryan Poehling and Sean Couturier were credited with third period tallies in a losing cause.
The Stars have been a dominant home team (25-7-2) this season. In second place in the Central Division, it's likely that Dallas will draw the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Quarterfinal. The Stars enter Saturday's game with just one win (1-1-2) in their last four games, as each of the last three tilts have been decided after regulation. On Thursday, Dallas settled for one point from a 3-2 (3-2) home shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning after recovering from a 2-0 deficit in the second period.
Here are the RAV4 things to watch on Saturday plus an x-factor heading into the game.
1. Between the pipes
Samuel Ersson, who has struggled during several recent starts, was in net against the Capitals on Thursday. He did not play poorly in DC but had little chance of stopping the three goals that got past him on 16 shots. Ivan Fedotov has played well in four of his last five outings but has only one win to show for it. On Monday of this week, Fedotov kept the Flyers close against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but a breakaway goal by Nikita Kucherov and a late-game empty net goal (at 5-on-5) by Jake Guentzel sent the Flyers to a 2-0 loss.
For Dallas, backup netminder DeSmith turned aside 36 of 38 shots from the Lightning during regulation and overtime. Primary starting goaltender Jake Oettinger (31-15-3, 2.55 GAA. .906 SV%, one shutout) last played on Tuesday. Oettinger, who has allowed 16 goals over his four starts, stopped 22 of 25 shots in a 4-3 overtime home win against the Anaheim Ducks.
2. The search for scoring
The Flyers went into the third period of Thursday's game against Washington desperate to avoid suffering a third straight shutout loss for the second time during the 2025 calendar year. Poehling's goal at 5:10 of the third period enabled Philly to avoid that fate. Later, Couturier scored in a scramble at the net to draw within 3-2.
The Poehling tally was actually an own goal: Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun checked the puck off Poehling's stick but accidentally angled the puck into the Capitals net. The Couturier goal was originally disallowed for goaltender interference. The call was reversed on a coach's challenge by Tortorella.
Prior to the Poehling goal against Washington, the checking center was the Philadelphia player credited with their most recent previous goal: a tuck-in late in the second period of the March last Thursday at home against Tampa. In the same game, Bobby Brink had two goals and an assist.
The own-goal marker in Washington credited to Poehling ended a Flyers' scoring drought of just over 170 minutes of regulation and overtime game play. Right now, the Flyers will gladly take goals by any means. An own goal counts the same as a bar-down snipe, and a reversed no-goal call doesn't carry an asterisk on the scoresheet.
Now that the drought is over, perhaps the Flyers may play a little bit more relaxed and instinctively when a scoring chance arises on Saturday. In addition to not finishing chances when they shoot from prime range, the Flyers have been frustrated when passing up open shots to look for far-post tap-ins and slam dunks.
3. The Konecny Factor
Taking an exact two-month sample size of Jan. 22 to March 22, the Flyers rank last in the NHL with an average 2.00 goals scored per game (44 goals in 22 games). Dallas ranks first at 3.90 goals per game (82 goals in 21 games).
Put another way: The Flyers' offensive woes are not about one player or one line going cold. It's a team-wide issue.
That said, the Flyers need Travis Konecny to regain his offensive confidence and timing more than anyone on the club. The 4 Nations Face-Off selectee still leads the Flyers in scoring with 65 points (22 goals, 43 assists) in 70 games.
However, during the Flyers last 24 games, Konecny has only scored two goals (empty-netter at New Jersey on Jan. 18, delayed penalty tally at home against the Penguins on Feb. 8). He has 10 assists in that span.
In the 11 games the Flyers have played since the 4 Nations break, Konecny has four points (0g, 4a). Matvei Michkov leads the club since the break with 11 points (4g, 7a), but has not recorded a goal or an assist in the last five games.
Tyson Foerster has one goal and four assists since the 4 Nations. Foerster's usual center, Noah Cates, has been in an odd pattern of production since late January. He went 11 games in a row without a point, followed by a surge of five points in four games (3g, 2a), followed by a current eight-game pointless spell.
Bottom line: When Konecny is in an offensive groove, there's a bit less pressure on others to take over the burden. But when TK is struggling for production, it becomes tougher to scratch out enough offense to win.
Tortorella has said that Konecny has been over-thinking on the ice and consequently passing up shots he'd been taking before. Most notably, on Thursday in Washington, Konecny elected to pass on a 2-on-0 breakaway where he had a clear lane to try and score the goal. The extra pass resulted in the Flyers not getting a shot on goal from the sequence.
4. Low-event hockey
Tortorella's primary strategy for combating the effects of the roster depth depletions and team-wide struggle to regain offensive confidence: focus on checking and find a way to come out ahead in low-event periods.
At its essence: Take away the middle of the ice, block opposing shots whenever possible, establish consistent puck support, find soft ice with the puck if there isn't a play to be made. Create transition chances off opposition turnovers and THEN make a play.
Excluding opposing empty-net goals, the Flyers have done an OK job in recent weeks in keeping the score down in terms of even strength goals. Philly, however, has struggled on both ends of special teams throughout March.
Entering the game in Dallas, the Flyers are still searching for their first power play goal in March: 0-for-25 with one shorthanded goal against. The Stars, by comparison, are 9-for-25 (36.0 percent) this month on the power play.
On the penalty kill, the Flyers are 17-for-24 this month (70.8 percent). The Stars are 15-for-20 (75 percent).
X-factor: Playing without Risto
Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body injury) has recently been downgraded from day-to-day status for a potential return to the lineup. Tortorella has said that the prospect for a return before the end of the season is not optimistic.
Ristolainen's ongoing absence creates an opportunity for other defensemen to see extended playing time. On Saturday, rookie defenseman Emil Andrae bears particularly close watching.
